Plan for return to campus-based activities during the autumn semester at HDK-Valand
On June 3, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gothenburg made a decision on how the university will plan for the return to campus-based activities during the autumn semester 2021. At HDK-Valand, we will start as planned and we continue planning for increasingly more campus-based activities during the autumn semester. If you are a programme student you need to plan to be in Gothenburg/at Steneby. Will you be studying a freestanding course this autumn, you find information on your schedule.
On May 27, the Swedish Government and the Public Health Agency announced that universities will once again be allowed teaching on campus. That is a positive message indicating that we are on our way out of the pandemic! However, it does not mean that all teaching will be on campus already at the start of the autumn semester.
During the entire period of distance studies, HDK-Valand has had a dispensation to complete certain educational elements on campus. This has involved on-site teaching in our premises for certain prioritized education elements as well as a controlled and limited access to workshops, studios and rooms.
Now we face a period of reflecting and learning lessons from the past in order to be able to decide what changes we want to bring with us into the future. At the same time, we have to find well-planned and wise ways for expanding activities on campus during the autumn term.
Continued mixture of education on campus and at distance
For students admitted to a programme/course at HDK-Valand starting this autumn: From 15 June, you can find your preliminary schedule for the autumn semester on TimeEdit. The schedules were decided before the recommendation on distance learning was removed at the end of May. Final schedule will be available 2 weeks before the course starts. Keep yourself updated on possible changes in the schedule during the autumn term, through TimeEdit. Information on access to workshops, rooms, studios etcetera will be sent via email and/or published at HDK-Valand’s Student Portal.
Programme students need to be present in Gothenburg/Steneby. International students will receive specific information.
Students on freestanding courses: keep check on your schedule to see what may be planned on campus.
To learn from experiences when returning to campus
Restrictions regarding distance and overcrowding affect how we can conduct our business. It is only when restrictions are removed and the risk of the spread of infection is considered as minimal that we can organize our activities based on our own needs. The hope is, supported by the government's five-step plan for the abolition of restrictions, that this will take place in September/October.
We are now developing a sustainable plan for how a gradual return to campus can take place, both for the time when certain restrictions will remain (August-September) and when the restrictions have hopefully been lifted (probably September/October and onwards).