Cursor spoke to the members of the Executive Board this Friday afternoon about a variety of issues, which continually evolve and require constant adjustments due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The most urgent issue this week, however, was that of making almost 360 courses available online, now that physical education has been cancelled.

“Almost 98 percent of our education will be ready in an online version on Monday, March 23,” rector Frank Baaijens says. “Teachers worked in different kinds of ways to make that possible. Some worked from home, others came to campus to record their lectures here. A huge task, also for the staff at Education & Student Affairs (ESA) and Information Management Services (IMS), as well as the support teams at the departments. But they were successful.”

However, Baaijens warns that things will by no means run optimally for a hundred percent on Monday. “This is a new territory for practically everyone, so we will undoubtedly see some hick-ups. I expect that it will take a few days before we sort out most of the teething problems and mistakes.” Baaijens says that alternatives need to be found for courses that require students to perform experimental research. Naturally, it remains uncertain whether or not the system will hold up, but Baaijens says this will become truly apparent only when it starts. “Monday is D-Day for us.”

Physical education

It goes without saying that Baaijens, too, has heard about the decision by a number of universities, including those in Leiden and Maastricht, not to conduct any face to face teaching until the end of the academic year. “Yes, this is something that we’re obviously looking into as well, but we haven’t made a decision about it at this moment. It does appear to be the most likely scenario however. The universities will issue a joint statement about this next Tuesday. Naturally, we can’t make any meaningful statements at this point about the possible consequences for our education and research.”

Holding exams online is another issue that has been seriously looked into during the past period, Baaijens says. “But we were mostly preoccupied this week with the process of digitizing our education. We are currently investigating, and making an inventory of, the ways in which we can organize exams. Our aim is to look for as many alternatives as possible. We want to avoid having to hold online exams as much as we can. We are also closely in contact with other universities to see how they intend to approach this problem. This is something we look at from day to day.”

The extension of the binding study advice has already been discussed with the partners of umbrella organization VSNU, and TU/e’s policy on this issue is in line with what has been agreed upon during that meeting. “Students who are still registered at TU/e after February 2020, because we also see that people disenrolled prior to that date this year, and have 45 credits at the end of the academic year, will naturally be issued a positive bsa. Students who haven’t obtained that number of credits will be issued a preliminary advice. They will be allowed to continue with their studies, and have the opportunity to still obtain the necessary number of credits. We will announce the required number of credits as soon as possible.”

Positive turn

Many of the measures, including the decision to limit access to buildings on campus, have far-reaching consequences for research, in particular the kind of research for which work in laboratories is vital. Nevertheless, Executive Board president Robert-Jan Smits also came across scientists who try to give a positive turn to the situation. Smits: “I read a remark by professor Bert Blocken, known for his wind tunnel research at Built Environment, about how he finally got around to writing a few publications.”

Baaijens says that a substantial part of research can still continue, despite the current situation. “It’s relatively easy to conduct theoretical research off-campus. Also think of writing articles, conducting literature reviews, or writing a project application.” But he is unable to say anything about the division of these activities at this point. He also doesn’t expect that researchers will be able to go back to the laboratories as long as the government doesn’t allow physical education.

“In that situation, it would become too difficult to guarantee the safety of employees in labs.” The shutdown of research will definitely have an impact on the progress of major national and international research projects involving scientists from TU/e, according to Baaijens. “But everyone is faced with these problems, and this will be handled with the necessary considerateness.”

Internationals

The group of international students and PhD candidates, many of whom are housed in Luna and Aurora, certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Executive Board, but so far they find it difficult so determine the exact needs of this group. Baaijens says that it’s not precisely known how many of them have travelled home already, “but based on the disenrollment numbers in Luna and Aurora, which was a mere 25, many of them are still in Eindhoven, or the ones who travelled home still plan to come back here.”

TU/e’s vice-president Nicole Ummelen says that the university tries to take care of this group to the best of its abilities, including from ESA. “We try to inform them about the possible consequences of certain measures, but we also answer questions of a more social nature. Such as: where can I find a general practitioner quickly.” Baaijens hopes that the group of internationals will soon clarify its needs. “Please let us know, so that we can start to work on that.”

Campus

Now that the buildings are closed and campus has practically been abandoned by students and staff members, security operates according the so-called Christmas protocol, Ummelen says. “A bit stricter even, because you can only enter a building with permission from the director, and only to keep critical processes up and running. Construction activities still continue, but the responsibility lies with the contractors. That means that these activities have to take place in line with the government’s regulations, which include maintaining proper distance between people, for example.”

Catering has virtually closed down, only the University Club offers prepacked sandwiches to people in Atlas who need to be there, such as teachers who come to the building to record their courses. Vending machines for snacks and soft drinks in Atlas are still being restocked, Ummelen says.

The university is in close contact and has made agreements with the other parties active or located campus, such as Fontys, DIFFER, Vestide, Camelot, Kadans, AccTec and other smaller companies. Smits: “Students practically stopped coming to the Fontys building on campus two weeks ago already, my colleague Joep Houterman told me.”

Matter of conjecture

None of the members of the Executive Board want to comment on what would be the most extreme scenario for TU/e: no physical education until September. Baaijens: “That’s still entirely a matter of conjecture, and we don’t know how the situation is going to unfold in the coming weeks.” Smits refers to the past period as one of “teambuilding in optima forma. We’ve grown closer as a team in a very short period of time. But I’m sure we’re not the only ones with that experience.”