Important! Change of Education Delivery at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences

COVID-19 Virus Update 14/03/2020

This is an important message to all students and staff at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences regarding the delivery of education in the coming period, as a result of the COVID-19 virus situation in the Netherlands.

The Coronavirus (or COVID-19) outbreak crisis around the world is continuing. The WHO has named the outbreak a pandemic (global epidemic).

Students and Staff are kindly requested to please read this document fully and carefully before raising questions. Please take your time – it’s a lot of information. There is a specific section below for Bachelor and for Master students.

Thanks for your continuing support in this difficult time,

Peter Birdsall

President of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences

The welfare of our students and staff is WUAS’ highest priority. We are continuously monitoring the situation, on a day to day and sometimes hour to hour basis and liaising closely with the public health organizations GGD (regional health authority) and National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) acting in line with their latest advice at all times. Now the Dutch Government has also come with advice: universities in the Netherlands have been requested to offer their education online during this period.

 Based on this advice, the university is operating within the guidelines of the Dutch government and making its own decisions regarding Education Delivery. There will not be any freeze in education – WUAS will deliver all modules as timetabled, online, through the Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) – Wittenborg Online.

There will be NO classroom-based lectures taking place during block 6. Apeldoorn locations at Spoorstraat and Aventus will remain open. So will the Amsterdam location. Students in Munich must follow instructions from NEC. All students are expected to continue their studies online with online support from lecturers offered during the timetabled lessons. An improved and revised bespoke timetable will be introduced for Block 6.

Our campus locations will remain OPEN and our Registrar's Office and Admissions Team and Student Support Teams remain working as normal as possible! Students are welcome to individually make appointments to see their tutors and teachers or support staff at any of the locations during this period.

Note: Introduction Week for Block 6 for new students will be carried out through Webinar - you will receive an email from the Front Desk.

Very Important: Students who need insurance or have questions/doubts about their insurance should get in touch with Registrar’s Office via [email protected] - for the WUAS general COVID-19 policy for staff and students - Click here.

Further arrangements for Education Delivery will be outlined below.

Education Delivery for Block 5 (next 2 weeks):

The Education Board has implemented (13/3/2020) the following changes to the teaching and assessment for Block 5:

• Bachelor - all further lessons (IBA, EBA, MCI, HBA) scheduled for Week 5, Block 5 are cancelled. Please check your online module area on Wittenborg Online for what to do and consult your process tutor.
• Exam reviews normally held in Block 5 will be held on a one to one basis during Block 6. Please make an appointment with your process tutor.
• Master - Master (MBA, MBM) scheduled for Week 5, Block 5 may continue (at Spoorstraat) given the small groups, and the need to complete the module. Please check your online module area on Wittenborg Online for what to do and consult your process tutor.
• Exam reviews normally held in Block 5 will be held on a one to one basis during Block 6. Please make an appointment with your process tutor.
• University of Brighton - Master lessons (MSc) lessons in the week of 16/03/2020 and 23/03/2020 have been cancelled. Lecturers will deliver the remainder of the MSc programme via UoB Student Central (BlackBoard), Office 365 Teams together with individual tutorial via Skype. Please follow the instructions given by the lecturers from UoB. 

Already previously implemented for Block 5 (06/03/2020)

• All ‘Type 1’ Examinations (Closed and Open Book) for modules in Block 5 will be changed to ‘Type 2’ – a submitted Academic Paper.
• This means that there will be no examinations held at WUAS in Block 5 (all students).
• For the changed Type 1 to Type 2 assessments, all Type 2 Paper questions / Assignments / Tasks will be added as Turnitin Assignments in the module’s online course area (Moodle / Wittenborg Online) by 9am on Friday, Week 5 of Block 5 (20th March 2020). Teachers will strive to upload assignments before this date, so students are advised to keep an eye on their course areas.
• The submission deadline for all assignments is 16.00 hours on the Friday of Week 6 of Block 5 (27th March 2020, Exam and Assessment Week).
• All assessments for other modules will continue as normal.

Student Attendance requirement: For the duration of the coronavirus situation the 75% physical attendance rate for all students will not be enforced (until further notice) for any students.

However, we do expect students to support these measures by showing active participation in their modules during this period. Without active participation your lecturers cannot give you feedback and cannot ensure you are able to pass the module assignment. Please see below for the ‘online participation requirement’ implemented from Block 6 (starts 30 March).

All students and staff to make sure that they have access to a good internet connection (also if they have returned to their home countries) and that are able to fully use all the online functions and facilities that support the university including Office365, Teams, SharePoint and most importantly Moodle Course areas on Wittenborg Online. Students and Staff are also recommended to install the Moodle app and familiarize themselves with it.

Education Delivery for Block 6

In Block 6 (starts 30 March) all modules will be delivered online through their course area in Moodle (Wittenborg Online).

• There will be NO classroom teaching taking place at any WUAS location during Block 6;
• All WUAS locations will remain open (at this time) and staff will be available as much as possible. Students who can, and are fit and well, are welcome to come to school and meet admin staff or teaching staff and tutors by appointment; 
• A member of the Admin Team and Student Support will always be available at each location during working hours. To make meetings with teaching staff please make an appointment first in the usual way;
• This policy will be continued to the end of Block 6, (15th May);

• Note: In the happy event of national return to normality, and the re-opening of schools in the Netherlands before the end of Block 6 (15th May) students will be invited to attend group tutorials for their modules, and other events such as guest lectures. This will be announced via Wittenborg Online.

• We expect the crisis, caused by the virus, to be over in the Netherlands by mid-April;
• The situation regarding module delivery in Block 7 will be reviewed in Week 4 of Block 6;

Education Framework During Block 6

In order to achieve the best possible learning and teaching environment under these difficult conditions, we are aiming to run the curriculum as planned in the EEG through the online module areas. We will try and facilitate enrolment into online course areas however: 

It is ESSENTIAL that all students check their enrolment into their required online module areas otherwise they will be excluded from the module, not able to complete the assignments and not able to gain their credits.

 HELP! The emergency email for ‘no login possible’ is [email protected]

The curriculum and assessment for Bachelor Students will be organized as follows:

• Bachelor modules that are shared across the 4 pathways will be delivered online by the same lecturer, supported by assisted by education support lecturers and staff for the further creation of content;
• Example: a module such as ‘Marketing Mix’ will be delivered online by the same lecturer across all 4 pathways;
• A tabular overview of ‘Block 6 Modules with allocated Lecturer’ will be published online on Tuesday 17th March;
• Each pathway will continue to have its own online course areas (as is usual);
• The lecturer will be available online during the timetabled hours for all pathways in each of the online areas;
• Communication will take place through the Forum and through the Chat function;
• Lecturers and assistant support staff can set up Skype calls in teams with students and groups during the timetabled hours;
• Lecturers and assistants will regularly update the online areas with documents, articles, films, podcasts etc.;
• Lecturers will be encouraged to upload filmed tutorial sessions in which they highlight the key points of learning for the week;
• The Education Board has introduced a 75% Participation Requirement for Bachelor students – this must be fulfilled for students to be able to submit their final assignment for each module and gain the credits for the module.
• Each lesson week, on Monday at 09.00 the teacher will publish a ‘participation assignment’ (4 ‘participation assignments’ in total);
• All students must complete ? ‘participation assignments’ of each module in order for them to be eligible to submit the final module assignment or assessment;
• The week 3 ‘participation assignment’ is compulsory, leaving a choice of 2/3. 
• Of course, all 4 ‘participation assignments’ can be submitted which will better position the student;
• The modules in Block 6 will either be assessed through a type 2 submission if it currently stands as a type 1 exam, otherwise assessment will be carried out as normal (according to the Module guide);
• Guest lectures are cancelled and will be replaced by online films or recorded videos of guest speakers; 
• The timetable will be recreated and re-published by Friday 20th March (Week 5, Block 5);
• All lessons are scheduled in Central European Time (CET);
• Bachelor modules will be timetabled during the day, with pathways overlapping – e.g Marketing Mix for all pathways will be scheduled at the same time (consolidated);

The curriculum and assessment for Master Students will be organized as follows:

• Master modules will be delivered according to the curriculum;
• Master lecturers will remain the same currently allocated teachers, however, only two lecturers will teach modules delivered at multiple locations, with one or two supporting education team staff members;
• The lecturer will be available online during the timetabled hours, according to agreed times for chat and tutorials via Skype;
• Lecturers are responsible to ensure good communication and appointments through the online area forums for transparency;
• Communication will take place through the Forum and through the Chat function;
• Lecturers and the education team support staff can set up Skype calls in teams with students and groups during the timetabled hours;
• Lecturers and assistants will regularly update the online areas with documents, articles, films, podcasts etc.;
• Lecturers will be encouraged to upload filmed tutorial sessions in which they highlight the key points of learning for the week;
• The Education Board has introduced a 100% Participation Requirement for Master students – this must be fulfilled in order that students are able to submit their final assignment for each module and gain the credits for the module.
• Each lesson week, during the third day’s session, the teacher will publish a ‘participation assignment’ (2 ‘participation assignments’ in total per module);
• All students must complete both ‘participation assignments’ of each module in order for them to be eligible to submit the final module assignment;
• The modules in Block 6 will either be assessed through a type 2 submission if it currently stands as a type 1 exam, otherwise assessment will be carried out as normal (according to the Module Guide);
• The timetable for MBA and MBM will remain as already published, on the same times, the same days;
• All lessons are scheduled in Central European Time (CET);

Special Areas of the Curriculum Delivery

PDP

• PDP will be facilitated by the PDP teachers and students are expected to keep good contact with their PDP teacher through the Online Area forum and Chat functions / messaging.
• PDP Guest lectures are cancelled in Block 6 – these will be replaced with films and recorded online lectures, resulting in a reflection paper to be submitted.

Project Weeks (Bachelor & Master)

• Project Week Block 6 – the project week will remain the same task with an uploaded film of the guest lecturer;
• All contact with the Project Week team will be through teams and the online areas;
• Project Week Block 7 – international trips have been cancelled;
• Subject area for Project Week 7 will be related to the Coronavirus and the Economy for all students all locations;

Internships

• Internship issues will be dealt with on a case to case basis
• Any problems discuss with your process tutor – and contact the external relations team at [email protected]

English Prep Programmes

• English Preparation Programmes will continue to be delivered online with students being able to interact with their teachers through scheduled Skype sessions, and through teams. Students should contact their English Tutor.

WUP 12/03/2020

by James Wittenborg

?Wittenborg University Press