First, second and third year exams in Dublin City University (DCU) are to be replaced by alternative assessments in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Undergraduate exams planned for May, with the exception of final-year students, are to be replaced with alternatives. Students are to learn of the specifics of the situation over Loop – an online teaching platform – at a later time.
There is no arrangement yet for final year undergraduate or postgraduate students’ exams.
Today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that all colleges are to be shut until March 29th. Trinity this evening announced, in an email from Provost Patrick Prendergast, that campus is to be shut down to all students except residents.
Staff will be able to enter and leave campus, while buildings will close to all except staff with up-to-date identity cards.
Postgraduate students who require access to campus for critical research projects will be able to enter campus with email permission from their supervisors, Prendergast wrote.
Staff will begin teaching online next Monday. IT Services is to run courses this weekend in order to equip staff with the necessary technical skills.
All College events on campus must be cancelled, and people with underlying illnesses should not come onto campus “in any circumstances”.
While the government’s announcement only lasts until March 29th, Prendergast wrote that “it would be wise to allow for the possibility of a longer closure”.
The Buttery will remain open, but all other catering outlets and the Pav will be closed.
All of the libraries will close, and off-campus access to licensed electronic resources – books, databases and journals – will be available to registered students and staff.
“We are liaising with academic staff to ensure the availability of additional, online texts to meet remote learning requirements”, Prendergast wrote.
The College Health Centre will remain open, and will ‘do telephone consultations in most cases”. The student counselling service will also carry out consultations over the phone “for students in distress”.
“Please use both these services judiciously as demand is strong”, Prendergast wrote.
In terms of professional activity on campus, Prendergast said that “managers will decide how to deliver business critical work with the remaining available staff”.
“Home working and staggered work patterns” will be implemented in order to minimise face-to-face interactions among staff.
