Teaching and studying at the CAU in the winter semester 2020/21

Dear employees,
dear students,

During the current term we all have experienced possibilities and limits of digital communication. This applies to all areas at the CAU. The fact that we successfully managed it to cope with the Corona crisis is the result of the great commitment of many people at our university. This was a great effort. Presumably, all those involved in the project are now hoping for a recovery, but also for better planning. For the preparation of the coming winter semester, which will further be affected by Corona, we would like to lay down some guidelines. These have been jointly prepared by the Presidential Board, the faculties and the crisis management team.

The guidelines base on the assumption that the winter semester will mainly be designed in digital form. In addition, attendance courses shall be possible. These have to take into account the current distance and hygiene rules. This means that the available space further will be severely limited in the winter semester. The usual free booking of rooms by individual lecturers is therefore not possible at present. We will develop a joint framework concept soon for which the faculties will then prioritise and coordinate bookings.

All lecturers and students have to face the fact that during the course of the winter semester lectures, general conditions may change at short notice due to regulations of the state. This would be the case, for example, if the number of infections rises again significantly during the cold season. A working group has been set up to draw up the joint concept and to enable presence to complement digital teaching. All faculties as well as the student representatives are involved in this working group.

The following principles are valid for this further concretization, for which the faculties will provide further information:

1. We remain digital, but create opportunities for direct encounters: the majority of courses will be realised as digital teaching-learning events in the winter semester. On the one hand, this is due to the distance and hygiene regulations of the state, which continue to apply to universities. According to current estimates, these regulations will also apply in the winter semester. On the other hand, this decision is based on the positive feedback we received for formats of asynchronous teaching, i.e. the flexible and repeated use of lecture recordings, not only at the CAU.
   The imparting of knowledge is a fundamental component of a course of study. But it is also the direct encounter with science in all subjects, the joint discussion and elaboration as well as the acquisition of indispensable practices. Therefore, we would like to plan presence in a coordinated and certainly limited form. On the basis of a common framework concept, the faculties are currently specifying and prioritising the courses of study that are to be offered in presence, while observing the hygiene regulations.
   You find more detailed information about the faculties on our Corona website.
   Starting points for this planning are time corridors, group regulations and methodical concepts that combine presence with digital connection or supplementation. The limiting factor remains the limited spatial capacities, since the distance rule must be maintained in all rooms to protect the health of all participants. For this reason, room bookings will only be possible on the basis of prior prioritisation in the faculties.
2. Practice is indispensable: This summer semester, one thing has been missed out: the joint work and practice of students. We will also develop concepts for this that will allow small group work on campus again, if the incidence of infection allows it.
3. New students are welcome: The beginning of a course of study is a lively mixture of curiosity about one's own subject, getting to know other students and a very special campus culture. The working group and the study information teams will therefore create formats, especially for first semester students, which will certainly make this possible in a different way than before, but still with great support. This also includes the orientation and introductory events.
4. We are also expecting new international students: You have some specific questions, for example about visas, enrollment, German courses and direct contact persons at the International Center? We will answer your questions at the website of the International Center. We also offer a special orientation program for international students. For more information, please visit.

We would like to thank you all for your cooperation and support, both with a view to the coming and the still pending completion of the current semester, which has demanded a great deal of all of us!

We have learned and experienced a lot this semester and would like to prepare and organise the winter semester in the best possible way. If our cooperation continues to be as successful as it has been so far, we are very confident that the winter semester 2020/21 will also be a different one, but still a good one.

With best regards
Your university management consisting of the Executive Board and the faculties