Earlier today, a UM Senate meeting was held, during which the upcoming academic year was discussed. KSU was contacted by the student representatives on Senate with the following updates:
- Guidelines by the Health Authorities regarding University will be published in the coming days.
- Lectures will be streamed online and where possible a physical option on campus will be available.
- Lectures with a large number of students will be taking place entirely online. The number of students has yet to be defined, however we understand that this number will be around 70 students.
- Lectures with a smaller number of students will be taking place online with the possibility of joining physically. Following the issuing of the guidelines, Faculties/Institutes/Centres/Schools will be analysing which study units can occur physically, depending on available spaces which are large enough to cater for the number of students allowed in a classroom according to social distancing guidelines.
- Following a request made by student representatives on Senate, all methods of assessment for the upcoming semester must be decided upon and presented to Senate for approval by the 22nd of October.
- KSU presented its Pandemic Response Policy (https://bit.ly/3c9zKhy) to Senate with an appeal to all academics to strive to improve online learning and online assessments and to ensure that communication with students is timely, effective and constant.
- Regarding graduations, discussions are currently underway on feasible alternative options that retain the dignity of such a momentous occasion whilst also safeguarding the health of graduates and their families. It was decided that by the 20th of November all students will be considered as graduates, with the possibility that the ceremonies take place at a later date. This allows students to present their certificates for funding purposes or future academic endeavours, where applicable. Further information about the graduation ceremonies will be communicated at a later date.
KSU urges Health Authorities to release guidelines for tertiary education institutions without further delay to ensure that students have enough time to prepare for the upcoming academic year, especially those who have to make arrangements for housing. KSUโs letter to the Superintendent of Public Health and the Minister of Health on the 10th of August with questions related to the upcoming academic year has until now remained unanswered. ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ.
The Council also appeals to the University of Malta to finalise the specific logistics of the upcoming academic year. This ensures that students are able to prepare for their return to University in a few weeksโ time, reducing anxiety and avoiding logistical issues.
