Shaping hybrid education teaching staff

It is important to stress that the guidelines provides predominantly qualitative and not quantitative guidelines. In order to be able to formulate and justify guidelines against the background of this complex but also promising situation, it is necessary to make preconditions more explicit. These preconditions express what we can and cannot do and what we do and do not want. We distinguish three types of preconditions: 1) government guidelines, 2) building and environment-specific factors and 3) educational frameworks to which the UT commits itself. We limit ourselves to formulating the most important and most relevant preconditions.

Government guidelines
It is difficult to predict which measures will still be in force from September 2020. Now relevant measures are, for example:

• Keep a 1.5-meter distance.
• Wash your hands often.
• Stay at home if you have particular symptoms.
• Click here for a more comprehensive list of measures

Building and environment specific factors 
The working group ‘1.5m university’ is developing guidelines for environmental factors, most of them expected to be available by the end of June; this includes guidelines for scheduling, capacity of buildings (also regarding lectures and testing) and public transportation, as well as safety measures. Crucial factors for education are highlighted here:

• The number and capacity of available teachers is a given. This implies that, on the one hand, we ask teachers to be enthusiastic and innovative in combining face-to-face education with distance learning but, on the other hand, recognize their limits and do not ask the impossible from them.
• All measures must be aimed at ensuring that the number of students/teachers/others present in rooms at the same time complies with the 1.5-meter rule.
• The 1.5-meter rule limits the number of persons that can be in a room/ building at the same time.

Educational frameworks
The UT aspires to be a lively organisation in which students, lecturers and academic staff learn with each other and from each other. We find it important that students and staff feel seen and known and that contact between students and staff is barrier-free. In addition, an important factor for study success is that students feel connected to the study programme. Therefore:

• Also in corona time the UT adheres its educational vision and method: TOM, small-scale and interactive education, Interaction with society & industry, challenged-based learning, etc. remain of key importance (see also Shaping 2030).
• Education must provide for the realisation of at least three objectives: qualification, socialisation and subjectification ([1] Biesta, G., & Pols, W. (2012). Goed onderwijs en de cultuur van het meten. Amsterdam: Boom Lemma):
  • Qualification is concerned with students acquiring the knowledge, skills and competences needed to participate in society and function in future working life.
  • In the domain of socialisation, students are prepared for their lives as members of a community and are introduced to traditions, forms of behaviour and cultural and professional practices.
  • In the domain of subjectification, the formation of the person and the development of his/her own identity and uniqueness, his/her autonomy and responsibility and the discovery of his/her motives and passions are central.

Besides these preconditions, an extensive inventory has been made with help from programme directors. Based on the preconditions and the inventory, we have formulated 4 general guiding principles and several specific guidelines for starting up education.

1. We provide blended and hybrid online and offline education
We strive for a balance in education: synchronous and a-synchronous, face-to-face and online, individually and in interaction with each other and with the teacher. Given the educational vision of the UT, education is organized in such a way that students do not study only online and do not study only all alone by themselves. Regular opportunity for online and offline interaction with other students, teachers and the campus are crucial for education. The campus will also be used as much as possible for community building, especially for 1st year bachelors and 1st year master students.

2. What must take place on campus is given priority
We strive for making optimal use of the available on-campus space and time, but we’re also prepared for a new lock-down situation. We prioritize the following activities:  

This does not mean that high-priority activities must all take place on campus, but that good organisation of certain forms of these activities is more dependent on a physical setting. Testing, for example, has a high priority because certain types of testing cannot be done or cannot be done well online, but at the same time programs are asked to test online if possible and to keep searching for creative forms of (online) testing. Socialization and community building on (and outside) the campus, especially for new students, are of integral importance for all activities and will receive a lot of attention.  

3. Flexibility in scaling up and scaling down in campus activities
Flexibility is key because we don't know how the Covid-19 virus develops with what effect on society. National guidelines continue to have an effect on the level of activity on campus. So we need to be able to scale up and down quickly with activities on campus. As a result, we are more prepared for a new lock-down situation. Although offering all our education online is sub-optimal, this cannot be excluded in exceptional (crisis) situations. The health and safety of staff and students is and remains main priority.

4. Tailor-made solutions for students who cannot come or who come to the UT after August 31
Students who are able to be at the campus are expected to be at the campus from August 31. For students who are not able to be on campus due to Covid-19 related circumstances, a tailor-made alternative will be facilitated as long as those circumstances apply, to the best of the ability of the programme and its staff members. 

The guidelines that apply to all other education also apply to post-initial education and Twente Graduate School lectures. For regulations regarding PhD defenses and ceremonies, we refer to the Protocol 1.5-meter PhD ceremonies of the Twente Graduate School.