Coronavirus

Dear Students,

We are faced with an extreme situation that none of us have ever experienced before. It is a strain on all of us, and it also requires drastic measures for our university. We cannot rely on existing contingency plans or draw on experience for this. It means that we are constantly having to evaluate the situation for the university and make decisions under changing conditions.

On the one hand, we assume responsibility for society as a whole and take the most far-reaching measures possible to try and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus. On the other hand, we see it as our mission to ensure that the university can continue to operate to the necessary extent—especially as this crisis will most likely continue for quite some time.

Important information for you: The state government has postponed the start of the semester, cancelled attendance courses and examinations until 19 April 2020, and is allowing oral examinations only in cases of hardship. As far as possible, teachers are converting their courses into a digital format so that they can continue to impart the competencies you need to complete your studies successfully. The same applies for alternative exam formats. We assume that it will not be possible for you to attend the university in person during the summer semester. However, credit points will be given as far possible for alternative study courses and exams. We shall continue to press the authorities to extend the entitlement to student grants (BAföG-Berechtigung) by one semester. The administrations of all universities and universities of applied sciences are striving actively to achieve such solutions.

We have already been responding to the crisis systematically since the end of January and have successively modified and scaled back our operations. If possible, we want to avoid closing the university completely, because this would greatly jeopardize the success of work by students and academics as well as many projects.

We believe that we have found a good way to deal with the current situation. Academics should not work on campus unless absolutely necessary. The standard workplace for staff in the service units is the home office. Where operationally necessary or technical requirements are lacking, they still work at the university, but then in individual offices.

Unfortunately, no workplaces are available for you at the university in the current situation.

The library has switched to a reduced basic service restricted to staff and students of Bielefeld University. It is only possible to borrow media that are indispensable for individual research activities or for studies provided these are not available in electronic form. Personal advice will only be provided electronically (by email, chat, or telephone). The reading areas are also closed.

All service units of the university can now be reached only by email or telephone. I ask for your understanding when all your concerns cannot be dealt with as quickly as usual. Nonetheless, contracts for student assistants and tutors will continue to be processed and issued.

The Studierendenwerk has closed the university canteen (Mensa) and the cafeterias.

We are now also closing the university buildings to the public. The main entrance to the main building and the entrance to building X at the security control centre are open. Only persons who still have to work on site or need to borrow media from the library may enter the university.

I am very much aware that the current situation is very difficult for you. You may also even be facing financial difficulties through losing your job—whether in gastronomy or trade. I am sure you have a great number of questions: What will happen with my studies? How will the situation affect my grant (BAföG) or my scholarship? What about my exams? Unfortunately, many of your questions simply cannot be answered at present. In a number of cases, we are waiting for decisions by the national or state government. However, I can assure you that with regard to anything we can regulate ourselves, we shall do everything in our power to be exceptionally fair. Nonetheless, I must ask you to be patient. We shall keep you informed about all developments.

Our goal is to carry on offering courses during this time so that the semester is not completely lost, even though we cannot work with you directly in seminars and lectures. We are already experiencing how teachers are using the opportunities provided by e-learning and how many of them also see that it offers new possibilities. Nonetheless, it cannot and will not be a complete replacement for direct teaching in lectures, seminars, and the like. In the coming semester, we shall only be able to offer you very restricted courses.

I am also aware that many of you are being very committed during this time. For example, you are organizing neighbourhood help schemes or engaging in other social activities. I find this very impressive, and it also makes me proud of you.

We hope that despite the distance and the reduction in personal contacts, we shall move closer together and that our university will be even stronger when we survive the crisis.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

The current regulations for reduced operations can be found here.

May you and your families stay healthy.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer

Rector

Dear ladies and gentlemen, Dear colleagues,

We are faced with an extreme situation that none of us have ever experienced before. It is a strain on all of us, and it also requires drastic measures for our university. We cannot rely on existing contingency plans or experience for this. It means that we are constantly having to evaluate the situation for the university and make decisions under changing conditions.

On the one hand, we assume responsibility for society as a whole and take the most far-reaching measures possible to try and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus. On the other hand, we see it as our mission to ensure that the university can continue to operate to the necessary extent—especially as this crisis will most likely continue for quite some time.

We have already been responding to the crisis systematically since the end of January and have successively modified and scaled back our operations. If possible, we want to avoid closing the university completely, because this would jeopardize the success of academic work and projects on a very large scale. If we are to defend this approach under the given circumstances, we require far-reaching regulations along with the continued cooperation of all of you.

We believe that we have found a good way to deal with the current situation. Academics should not work on campus unless absolutely necessary. The standard workplace for staff in the service units is the home office. Where operationally necessary or technical requirements are lacking, they still work at the university, but then in individual offices. We have switched to trust-based working hours here. This allows employees to organize their working hours flexibly and, for example, arrange childcare better. We would like to thank the many colleagues who are constructively supporting this change and have succeeded in implementing it in such a very short time. Meetings and committee sessions will be held via video conference. If, in exceptional cases, this is not possible, the distance and hygiene rules applicable to each contact situation must be observed.

However, there are also areas in which working from home is only partially possible. Here, domain-specific solutions are being found while minimizing social contacts. This applies particularly to professors and heads of research groups. They are responsible for their own domains and it is essential for them to adapt their working conditions to the circumstances.

If you are still working at the university, please minimize social contacts. Please only meet with a maximum of one person and then keep the minimum distance of 1.5 meters.

The library has switched to a reduced basic service restricted to employees and students of Bielefeld University. It is possible to borrow media that are indispensable for individual research activities or for studies provided these are not available in electronic form. Personal advice will only be provided electronically (by email, chat, or telephone).

The Studierendenwerk has discontinued all canteen and refreshment services. All service units of the university can now be reached only by email or telephone.

We are now also closing the university buildings to the public. The main entrance to the main building and the entrance to building X at the security control centre are open. Only persons who still have to work on site or need to borrow media from the library may enter the university.

In the current situation, we must not forget that our core task is teaching. The state government has postponed the start of the semester, cancelled attendance courses and examinations, and is allowing oral examinations only in cases of hardship. Our common goal must be to carry on teaching our students during this time so that the semester is not completely lost, even though we are prevented from working with them directly in seminars and lectures. We are already experiencing how teachers are using the opportunities provided by e-learning and how many of them also see that it offers new possibilities. Nonetheless, it cannot and will not be a complete replacement for direct teaching in lectures, seminars, and the like. We can only offer our students a very limited range of courses in the coming semester. We would like to thank all those who—both here and in many other places—are trying to solve problems and are committed to our tasks.

Some of our students are facing financial difficulties through losing their jobs—whether in gastronomy or trade. They have many questions. Unfortunately, we cannot answer all of these at the moment.

We are aware that many of you are having to cope with challenging situations in your personal environment. For example, many are worried about elderly or distant relatives with whom direct contact is currently not possible. For those of us who live alone, the restrictions designed to maximally limit contact have particularly serious consequences—this also applies to many of our international colleagues. Caring for children and relatives in need of care are also tasks that have to be rebalanced every day and are often not easy to master. We know that all these situations are additional challenges and require a lot of patience and strength from you.

We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for the great commitment you have shown in overcoming this crisis.

We also appeal to you to please act responsibly in these difficult times and find creative solutions.

We hope that despite the distance and the reduction in personal contacts, we shall move closer together and that our university will be even stronger when we survive the crisis.

The current regulations for reduced operations can be found here.

May you and your families stay healthy and overcome this crisis together.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer                                        Dr Stephan Becker

Rector                                                                                   Chancellor