Important information regarding the upcoming examination period
Dear students
On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, the Faculty Council and the Dean's Office mutually decided that in the light of the current situation in-person examinations during the February examination period are not responsible for students and staff. With a heavy heart we decided that they had to be cancelled. Due to that decision, the entire examination period has to be rearranged at short notice. By now I can provide you with the following updates (Please make sure that regularly check Moodle and your email account for further announcements):
The examination period will start with digital-only examinations until the end of February. Subsequently, we will try to schedule the remaining in-person examinations for the second half of March as soon as possible. The digital exam sequence in February will be divided into two sections:
Part 1 - Digital examinations which were published by the Examination Board at the beginning of the semester
Digital examinations which were published by the Examination Board at the beginning of the semester will be scheduled for the first half of February (February 1- 12, 2021). The according schedule will be announced on the Faculty's homepage on Monday, January 25, 2021 at the latest. We know that this is at short notice and not ideal, but currently there is no other solution.
Part 2 – Digital examinations that had initially been planned as in-person examinations
In recent weeks and days, some examinations which had originally been planned to be in-person have been changed into digital form. These examinations are mostly now due to take place in the second half of February (i.e. February 15-26, 2021; exceptions are possible!). The according schedule for these part 2 examinations will be announced on the Faculty's homepage on Monday, February 1, 2021 at the latest.
Part 3 - Potential in-person examinations in the second half of March
If the pandemic situation allows, the remaining in-person examinations will be scheduled for March. We are in contact with the management of the “Messe Niederrhein” and hope that the location will still be available for us at that time. It is planned to conduct the examinations from March 15 to 26 and we presume that depending on the number of examinations and the availability of the location, this examination period can be limited to a weeks’ time. As soon as we get further information from the location management and have got an overview of the remaining number of in-person examinations, we will provide an update.
Finally, I would like to give you a brief, not yet binding, outlook on the summer semester: I do not think that we will be able to start on-campus events at the end of March. Frankly, I believe that it is neither feasible nor fair to switch from digital to on-site teaching without providing the chance to participate online. So, from the point of view as Dean of Studies, it would be necessary, although very difficult, to provide both – in-person and digital (Webex) teaching during the summer semester. Therefore I assume that unfortunately teaching will continue to be primarily in digital form. We might be able to offer e.g. exam preparation in labs in the course of time (as an exception). Binding information on the start of the semester on March 29, 2021 can hopefully follow soon. In any case, I am very confident that in July we will be able to offer all exams on our campus again.
Stay in good spirits.
Best regards,
Klaus Hegemann
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hegemann
Head of the Examination Board/ Dean of Studies
