Statement by Collegium Civitas regarding the teaching of classes in the summer semester 2020/2021
For the sake of the health of the entire Collegium Civitas community – students, teachers, research and administrative staff – pursuant to the statutory rights on the autonomy of higher education institutions and the regulations on ensuring safety, and in light of the current, still very serious pandemic situation in Poland and other countries, as well as the forecasts for the pandemic’s course, the Rector of Collegium Civitas has decided to extend online teaching to all summer semester classes in 2020/2021 for undergraduate and graduate studies. A similar approach applies to postgraduate studies, the University of the Third Age and the Children’s College. Online work will also be maintained for administrative employees, ensuring efficient and effective operations of the university as a whole, as well as its individual areas and departments.
Forecasts by experts in the field of medicine, epidemiology and virology from Poland and other countries regarding the epidemic’s third wave predicted for spring 2021, as well as the related decisions of state authorities in Poland and other countries to introduce additional restrictions at the turn of the year were among the factors contributing to the university authorities’ decision.
Considering our university’s profile and formula, we are ready to carry out all classes online without negatively impacting our curricula and classes, and to ensure the highest quality of education in this regard. In the winter semester we have successfully completed over 1000 courses online. We constantly improve the tools and methods used to conduct online classes, and our activities in this area are greatly appreciated both by students and listeners, as well as by the Collegium Civitas research and teaching staff. We will also spare no effort to further improve and perfect online education, work and communication within the scope of equipment, IT and e-learning tools.
Our students were offered various forms of support, including significant psychological and financial aid. This will carry over to the 2020/2021 summer semester, also in the form of legal aid. All such support is provided and financed by the university.
Together, we have demonstrated our ability to educate and work in completely exceptional conditions: not only classes, exams and tests were held during the exam session, but also online thesis defences for doctoral studies, and student internships. The university administration has also worked remotely, based on duty hours, and this mode will be maintained.
Detailed guidelines on conducting classes and the university’s functioning in the 2020/2021 summer semester are published in separate orders of the Rector of Collegium Civitas and remain valid until further notice.