Answers to most frequent questions about the autumn semester at MU

This week, we have received a number of questions concerning the autumn semester at Masaryk University. The most frequent ones are answered below. Please bear in mind that the situation may change due to regulations of public authorities. Therefore, please follow muni.cz/en/coronavirus. Follow also the websites of individual faculties concerning the issues that cannot be dealt with by the university management.

26 Sep 2020 Masaryk University

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Most teaching at Masaryk University will be in the remote mode in the autumn semester 2020. The presence of students in the premises is permitted by the Guidelines issued by the Office for Studies of the Masaryk University Rector’s Office No. 2/2020 (in Czech only, English version will follow next week) as follows: during practical instruction and training, laboratory, experimental and artistic work (max. 15 persons), individual consultations, examining (max. 10 persons), and individual visits to libraries and study room, if open. Information about the method of teaching individual courses may also be found in the Course Catalogue in the IS MU.

Teaching

1. Which courses will be taught in person?
Most teaching at Masaryk University will be in the remote mode in the autumn semester 2020. Guidelines issued by the Office for Studies of the Masaryk University Rector’s Office No. 2/2020 (in Czech only, English version will follow next week). Details can be found on the faculty website.

Much of the interpretation of the measures is up to individual faculties, which should inform you well in advance about the mode of your courses. Details can be found on the faculty website.

If you have specific questions regarding studying at your faculty, please contact the office for studies of your faculty directly. Contacts can be found here: https://is.muni.cz/podpora/studijni.

2. Will my online lectures be scheduled as if the lectures were held in person?
Most lectures (especially for first-year students) will be held according to the set schedule. Some lectures can be given from a pre-recorded video or audio recording with the support of teaching materials. We recommend that you always check with the teacher / course guarantor the method of teaching specific courses.

3. Will the students be obliged to attend online classes?
The same rules apply as for in-person teaching – attendance at lectures is not mandatory, practical training and seminars typically have a certain limit of mandatory attendance. Failure to meet the required attendance may lead to unsuccessful completion of the course.

4. Will the lectures be accessible as a recording or only as a live stream?
This depends on the decision of individual faculties, i.e. guarantors of individual courses.

5. What if I don’t like a course in the online environment, I find out that it’s actually different than expected and doesn’t fit into my study plan? Will there be a longer deadline for cancelling the registered courses?
No, changes in the registration of courses can be made no later than on 18 October 2020. After this date, the registration of courses is binding.

6. What is the guarantee that you will not resume in-person teaching by the end of the semester?
Teaching will be organised on the basis of the Guideline in the autumn semester 2020, and therefore its form should be more or less stable regardless of the current colour of the university traffic light system or the lift of restrictions announced by the Regional Public Health Department. All possible changes will be communicated well in advance.

7. What about compulsory physical education?
The offer of university-wide sports activities will be limited to a certain extent in the autumn semester of 2020. Especially outdoor sports will be offered, selected types of sports activities will take place online in real time (teacher in the gym, student at home).

8. What if my courses are taught in person but I don’t want to attend classes because I am in the risk group or live with people belonging to the risk groups?
One of the reasons for introducing online teaching at the university is that the university wants to protect students and their relatives in the risk groups from infection. Attendance of compulsory courses will be upon agreement between the student and the teacher in these cases.

9. Can online classes mean the university education will be reduced to self-study?
Masaryk University emphasizes that teaching, even after conversion to an online format, retains the key attributes of higher education. The study will still contain a number of interactive elements, students will meet regularly online both with their teachers and with each other. The quality of each degree programme is supervised primarily by its guarantor in cooperation with the programme board.

10. Who and how should I contact if the teacher does not meet his/her obligations? (Does not follow the teaching time, changes the requirements or volume of assignments at short notice, breaches the deadlines set by the Study and Examination Regulations, etc.)
The guarantor of the course is always responsible for the quality of teaching; the guarantor’s name is stated in the summary of information about the course. We recommend resolving all complaints with him/her.

Libraries and access to study materials

11. Will the libraries be open?
With the exception of the red level in the MU traffic light system, students are allowed individual access to libraries. Follow the specific methods of library operation on the websites of individual MU libraries or their social networks.

12. What about the accessibility of literature and study materials? Will they be as accessible as in the spring?
As for remote access to books, we would like to enable it, but this matter is not a decision of MU. In the spring, it was a very exceptional situation, the state of emergency, and the solution at the time was on the verge of the possibilities permitted by copyright. In the summer, we started negotiations with the collective rights manager about the possibilities of standard remote access to digitized funds, but publishers are very reluctant in this regard. In any case, libraries should operate at least for distance loans, and students have access to electronic information sources paid for by MU via proxy servers. We are seeking other possibilities of using digitized study literature as study materials.

Traineeships

13. What will happen to traineeships?
Traineeships are not limited by current measures (as of 24 September 2020).

Internet connection issues

14. What should I do if my internet crashes at home and I can’t watch lectures online?
Minimize connection requirements as recommended by recommendations for online meetings. You can use computers in open computer study rooms up to the “yellow” level of the university traffic light system under specified conditions (face masks, distances). If you have your own portable device – mobile phone, tablet – you can use MU premises with Eduroam connection (libraries, workstations for laptops in open computer study rooms and other places for self-study).

If the lecture is recorded, it is possible to replay it later. Playback of the recording is possible even in the case of a poorer connection, which may not be suitable for video conferencing.

Access to buildings and offices for studies

15. What should I do if I need to physically attend MU, e.g. the office for studies?
You can always find the currently valid measures and rules of operation on the MUNI website and on the websites of individual faculties. Before each visit to MU, first make sure what the current situation is. People with symptoms of viral disease are not allowed in the university buildings.

Testing for COVID-19

16. Am I required to report a positive COVID-19 test to the university?
The Rector’s Emergency Measure stipulates that students are required to report a positive test for COVID-19 and the quarantine through the IS: https://is.muni.cz/auth/koronavirus.

17. Will the university provide me with a test for COVID-19?
Currently, the university does not arrange testing for COVID-19, but can recommend suitable testing sites within the city of Brno. A negative test for COVID-19 is required from foreign students living in the halls of residence only if this requirement is imposed on them by a measure of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.

Accommodation in MU halls of residence

18. Should I move to halls of residence / private lodgings before the start of the semester?
The decision whether to move to Brno is entirely up to each individual. Switching to online teaching does not mean that the university is closed. Laboratory exercises, practical seminar groups for small numbers of students, traineeships, individual visits to libraries, offices for studies, consultations with teachers, etc. will be maintained according to the decisions of individual faculties.

19. What will the situation be in the halls of residence, will a bed be guaranteed/held for the next semester if I check-out?
If the student checks out or does not start the accommodation, the bed cannot be guaranteed. Preference is given to students who want to use the accommodation.

20. What if I have a negative test but I am quarantined in the halls? How to proceed in this case?
The student stays in the assigned room and bed and follows the instructions of RPHD. At the same time, he/she is instructed on what to do.

21. What if I am positive and I am in the halls? I will stay there, but who will take care of me and bring me food, for example? And what about common areas like showers?
If a positive student is a citizen of the Czech Republic, he/she shall leave for home. If the positive student is from abroad (including Slovakia), he/she shall immediately go into isolation at the BB hotel UNIVERSITY in Vinařská, or leaves home if he/she wants. In the BB hotel UNIVERSITY, there is a shower and a kitchenette in the room. The student will get food and other purchases (including medicines) via mobile applications (Dáme jídlo, Rohlík, Tesco, etc.). The student will request that it be delivered to the door of the room and the delivery service knock.

(Text originally published at muni.cz/en/koronavirus)


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