Lectures and examinations will remain online until 1 June

In principle, Erasmus University will be organising all its education activities via online channels until 1 June 2020. This measure also applies to examinations, confirmed rector magnificus Rutger Engels this Thursday morning during the talk show ‘Erasmus TV’. He did add that the university will be keeping its options open: if it proves possible to organise education at physical locations at an earlier date, this would be the preferable option.

Other universities in the Netherlands have already announced that they will be offering online education until the summer, or limiting themselves to digital lectures and examinations until 1 June. So far, Erasmus University hasn’t followed suit. “As soon as the campus can be opened again, we will be happy to give our students a bit more space and our faculty the opportunity to teach courses here”, said Engels. “But at the same time we want to provide clarity. So in principle, education will be organised online until 1 June.”

What does this mean for students who aren’t able to go to campus – because they’ve re-joined their family abroad, for example? “We will do as much as possible to ensure that they can continue their education and examinations.”

Preparing

During the broadcast, Anne van de Graaf, Director of Operations of Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), explained that her faculty has spent the past two weeks preparing for the switch to digital education. “That’s why we will go online with our education at RSM as of this Monday. The major challenge remains examinations. Smaller-scale exams won’t pose that much of a problem, but we still have to find a good solution for large-scale, multiple-choice exams held for six to seven hundred students at a time. Using open question examinations is out of the question – it would simply be too much work marking them.”

Public information activities on campus and elsewhere will also be suspended until 1 June. In principle, conferral ceremonies will also be held online or otherwise postponed until a later date.