HoD News - 26 February 2021

Head of Department Niels Haldrup

Dear colleagues,

Earlier this week the government announced the initial steps towards a partial reopening of the society after the current lockdown, and these do not include universities. The university will announce by mid March at the latest about university activities after Easter, but admittedly, a likely scenario is that the present state will continue for the rest of the semester.

Our hope is that the vaccination rollout, an intensified testing strategy and the spring will bring good news, and that exams - written exams in particular - can be held by physical presence. Naturally, both students, teaching and administrative staff need clarity on this issue. As said, we will receive news from the university within the next couple of weeks. I hope that to the extent it is possible with both online and on-site exam activities, the departments and the study councils of the individual education programmes will have autonomy and flexibility in deciding the appropriate exam format whilst leaving appropriate time for the announcement of the decided format.

Again, I would like to thank you all for the way that you manage the current situation. The experiences are of course mixed, but we have a good feeling that, in terms of online teaching, things are generally working well with lecturers solving tasks with a positive spirit. Thank you for that. Of course, we also need to learn from our experiences from this semester. Thus, I hope that we, in a constructive way, will learn to include various online teaching formats as a partial element of future course curriculums.

Your efforts to deliver quality online teaching and supervision are also generally well received among our students. In terms of well-being and motivation, on the other hand, our students suffer. Social life is an important element of student life, and 100% online teaching and lack of social contact influence the students’ mental health. Particularly, our first-year students, who did not have a chance to establish proper social networks in the autumn, are affected by this second lockdown. In fact, I am sure all our students suffer. This week, at the ECON Departmental Forum meeting, the student representative reported that more and more students are struggling as this uncertain and isolated period continues. We are not sure what the short-, medium- and long-term consequences will be, but as soon as the situation becomes normalized, we will all have to support our students catching-up socially and academically, so that their university life becomes a good and memorable experience.

We currently work with processing the feedback on the employee experience with COVID-19 in 2020 discussed at the staff development dialogues (MUS) before Christmas. A recurring theme across sections is the effect of lack of social contact and small talk with colleagues. I encourage everyone to stay in touch and connect with your colleagues at the informal online lunch seminars or virtual Friday bars and “quiz nights” that are organized at the section level. The easing of the current lockdown will hopefully be achieved soon and safely, so we can return to campus and meet colleagues and friends face to face.

I wish you and your families a nice weekend. According to the calendar, spring is here with all its splendour.

Niels Haldrup