Tuesday’s liveblog: Corona and Erasmus University

Swishhh PLOCK swishhh PLOCK swishhh PLOCK. Cheering. Behind the high hedge lining Collegelaan, there’s still some life. “Tennis is the best social distancing sport you can do right now!” Nicolas from Belgium laughs.

18:12 – How is the current coronavirus pandemic affecting lecturers and researchers? Can they work from home and are all lectures and seminars actually going ahead? EUC’s Gera Noordzij saw that 22 exams were scheduled for this week but found a solution.

15:37 – Do you still have books lying around from the library and are you worried about the closure of the UB, then we’ve got good news for you. “The Library doesn’t charge fines anymore since a couple of years. To prevent your account from getting blocked because you keep a book at home too long, the Library system will prolong your lending period automatically”, a library employee writes in response to questions by students. For more information you can send a message to [email protected].

14:05 – This morning, Microsoft reported that their video conference tool Teams was overloaded. Of course there are all kinds of options, besides Teams you can also use Zoom, Skype or Google Meet, but SURF, the ICT organization for higher education, now also offers its own medium to try, especially for educational institutions on videobelpilot.surf.nl.

14:14 – Guests were again two members of the Executive Board, President Hans Smits and Rector Rutger Engels. The conversation was about the historical television speech by Mark Rutte, the question of whether the Binding Study Aadvice should be discussed, and how the university can support online education.

13:45 – If 148 online lectures are streamed in one day, the occasional incident is bound to happen. Technician Michael is in a hurry as he walks across the campus at a brisk pace. “They are livestreaming a lecture and the microphone broke down, so I have to get there as soon as possible to get it sorted.” Michael and his colleagues provide technical assistance around campus. That is even more important in these days than it always has been.

11:59 – There’s no one to be seen, but it’s still peak hour at the Erasmus Student Service Center (ESSC), so unfortunately they don’t have time to answer questions from journalists. Seventy, eighty phone calls they had this morning. And then the e-mail with questions from students aren’t even mentioned yet. The ESSC staff have also taken their measures against the virus, according to the posters they have hung up.

11:10 – In the second episode of Erasmus TV, which will be released later today, chairman of the board Hans Smits and rector Rutger Engels were guests once again. It was the last time however that they’re together, because from Tuesday on the two will be on campus alternately, to limit the risk of infection.

Engels announced that the Binding Study Advice (BSA) will be discussed with other universities next week. Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences already announced that it would suspend the BSA pending the corona crisis. Engels indicated that he understood whether or not achieving the number of points required for the BSA could cause additional stress for students. “We have to find a solution for that.”

According to the two members of the Executive Board, the university wants to make every effort to accelerate online education. Smits: “If necessary, we will invest extra in that.” Engels: “Under these circumstances it is important for students to have a good structure of the day. If you only watch Netflix or only read books, it gets quite boring. It helps to spend the day with online lessons. ”

According to Engels, teachers are working hard to make this possible. “Fortunately, with the Community for Learning Innovation we have set up a great infrastructure that lecturers are increasingly able to find. 148 online lectures were given yesterday. ”

Monday the first edition of Erasmus TV was released, a daily talk show about the corona virus. On Monday, the guests were chair of the Executive Board Hans Smits and Rector Magnificus Rutger Engels. They answered questions from EM readers, posed to them by host Tessa Hofland.

9:16 – If you are looking for motivation as a teacher to draw students to virtual lectures, do as Jessica Duncan does! (from Wageningen University)

9:03 – On Twitter, Gerard Baars, director of the RISBO institute, gives advice to teachers on how to teach effectively online.

8:52 – Due to the corona crisis, the Dutch healthcare staff is working overtime. Let nursing and medical students lend a hand, nurses and doctors say.

8:34 – Every day, a researcher or teacher talks about the consequences of the corona measures for him or her personally and at work. Yesterday EM spoke with Tim de Mey, assistant professor at the Erasmus School of Philosophy. He is currently in Ghent to help his parents with the groceries.