COLUMN. As the semester gets started, much of the work normally done on campus will continue taking place online and remotely. As we begin an unusual autumn, we are prepared to quickly adjust to changing conditions, writes Agneta Holmäng in her welcome message to students and staff.
Welcome to a new semester at Sahlgrenska Academy! An unusual spring has now become an unusual autumn. The virus continues to spread in Sweden, and we are continuing to follow developments and guidelines to do what we can to stop COVID-19. We can be very proud of the faculty’s efforts to this point, where teachers effectively switched to distance education this spring and our experts within infection, infection control, and virology provided vital support both to the Public Health Agency and to our own university management.
Anyone who can work remotely is to work from home
The main rule is that anyone who can work remotely is to work from home, but it is important to remember that circumstances differ greatly from area to area and that there are essential activities that require physical presence. Together with their section and division heads, our heads of department are taking on the heavy responsibility of assessing when an orderly and gradual return to work in the faculty’s premises is necessary and possible. In some cases, employees may need to be on-site at least part of the time. Assessments also involve considering the work environment for individual employees.
As far as teaching is concerned, adapted and limited campus teaching will take place based on the requirements and practical conditions for each course. Our educational organization has done an great job determining the practical modules that must be given on campus and has carefully scheduled these in a way that avoids crowding. The capacity of our teaching facilities has been reduced roughly to about a third of the campus area.
The Vice-Chancellor is expected to announce a new policy shortly
The policy that currently applies was announced by the Vice-Chancellor at the beginning of June and applies through October 31. The Vice-Chancellor is expected to announce a new policy shortly about how the autumn semester will be handled. Based on this new policy, the faculties and departments will then make their own new policy decisions.
Plenty of opportunity to develop and drive the faculty’s work forward
The efforts to stop COVID-19 have been trying, but we still have plenty of opportunity to develop and drive the faculty’s work forward. The most immediate is a board decision on a new facility financing model developed by a workgroup under the leadership of Eric Hanse and with the support of CFO Kristina Johansson. Harriet Wallberg will soon also present the results of her study into the University of Gothenburg’s overall strategic development of Life Science. This will serve as support for our own facility strategic decisions and the facility supply plan that the board will decide on during the autumn. The current board’s term ends on July 1, 2021, when a new board will be chosen. As it enters its final year, we are looking forward to several strategic policy decisions resulting from the excellent work that the board has done during its term. In addition to the facility funding model and the facility supply plan, policy decisions about our research infrastructure and staffing planning are also planned.
I hope and believe that the autumn will not be as difficult
Spring took a lot out of us, but I hope and believe that the autumn will not be as difficult. The impressive efforts from this spring have given us routines and ways of working that can be used again this autumn. I would like to recommend the faculty-wide group REDO, which works to support online teaching and examination. All programs at Sahlgrenska Academy and the Students’ Union are represented in the group, which is led by Axel Wolf, deputy head of digitization, innovation & utilization at the Institute of Health and Care Sciences: axel.wolf@gu.se.
Maintain social distance and persevere!
Agneta Holmäng
