Trinity has opted not to cancel Erasmus exchanges for the first semester of the upcoming academic year, and will make a decision in September about the viability of exchanges in the second semester.
All exchanges will be voluntary, meaning that students who are normally required to go on exchange as part of their degree will not be penalised if they do not go abroad.
College is discouraging students from going ahead with their exchanges if their host university is offering online teaching and learning only. A decision has not yet been made on non-Erasmus exchanges.
In an email sent to all Trinity students today, Prof Juliette Hussey, the vice-president for Global Relations, said: “As a result of this decision and with due vigilance to students’ health, safety, and well-being, there are some important changes we need to share with you.”
“All Erasmus exchanges will be voluntary for the forthcoming year”, Hussey said. “This means that Erasmus exchanges in which the Junior Sophister year abroad is part of an integrated programme will not be mandatory (including those on programmes involving Russian and/or Middle Eastern Languages) in Semester 1 and that all requirements of the programme will be available in Trinity.”
“Students who wish to undertake an Erasmus exchange may do so as long as the host university is accepting inbound students, ideally providing in-person teaching, and it is safe to do so. We would however discourage students from proceeding on an exchange in a University that is planning wholly online learning.”
Students who wish to proceed with their Erasmus exchanges must contact the Erasmus office by June 25th.
College has also said that an announcement on non-Erasmus will be issued soon.
Hussey added that if students who go abroad encounter difficulties when they are away, they can return to Trinity and re-integrate with their programme there as long as they return before the end of the fourth week of semester one.
She wrote: “While there have been recent improvements, we must acknowledge that the Covid-19 situation is fluid and nobody can predict how things will unfold. There remains the possibility of a second wave and the return of lockdown measures.”
“Bearing this in mind, if the situation changes dramatically before September, the measures outlined here may be revised.”
