Kære medarbejdere, særligt undervisere. Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet har på opfordring fra Sundhedsstyrelsen valgt at skærpe kravet om afstand i undervisningssammenhæng. Det sker som følge af det høje smittetryk i samfundet - ikke mindst blandt de unge. Det betyder konkret: * at det ikke længere er muligt at fravige afstandskravet på 1 meter i auditorier og holdundervisning. * at det dog fortsat er muligt at afvige afstandskravet på 1 meter i helt særlige undervisningssituationer, som kræver fysisk tilstedeværelse, f.eks. ved laboratorieøvelser, fysiske øvelser og klinik. Helt overordnet må vi konstatere, at vi og de øvrige universiteter - endnu en gang - skal omorganisere eller omlægge dele af undervisningen. Det er bestemt ikke nogen nem opgave, I som undervisere nu står over for. De nye retningslinjer indskærper, at der skal holdes 1 meters afstand mellem hver enkelt studerende ved auditorie- og holdundervisning. Vi har haft mulighed for at 1 meter-kravet ved at sætte de studerende i stamhold, men den mulighed er bortfaldet nu. Dog kan der fortsat ses bort fra 1 meter-kravet i forbindelse med de ovennævnte undtagelser, hvor fysisk tilstedeværelse er påkrævet. I skal derfor sammen med jeres lokale uddannelsesledelse tage stilling til, i hvilket omfang I er tvunget til at omlægge jeres undervisning. De studerende vil inden længe modtage en mail med et varsel om, at de nye retningslinjer kan få konsekvenser for deres fysiske undervisning. De studerende vil blive bedt om at holde sig opdateret via Blackboard. De opdaterede retningslinjer er ikke forsynet med en udløbsdato. Vi forventer, at retningslinjerne gælder minimum resten af semesteret og formodentlig ind i foråret 2021. I har allerede ydet en enorm indsats for at sikre, at AU har kunnet tilbyde sine studerende undervisning under hele dette forløb. Det har vi takket for før, og det gør vi hermed igen - også selvom det, forståeligt nok, må klinge hult nu, hvor I igen bliver pålagt at ændre i jeres undervisning. Ikke desto mindre er det nødvendigt, at vi endnu engang følger myndighedernes retningslinjer, og vi opfordrer jer til at hjælpe hinanden, så godt I kan, med at holde moralen oppe og undervisningen kørende på bedst tænkelige vis under disse forhold. I kan henvende jer til jeres nærmeste leder med eventuelle spørgsmål. Det er ikke sikkert, de kan besvares på stedet, men vil blive taget med videre i systemet. Med venlig hilsen, Universitetsledelsen _ Dear staff - teaching staff in particular, On the advice of The Danish Health Authority, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science has introduced stricter social distancing rules for classroom teaching. This is a consequence of the high infection rate in society - especially among the young. More specifically, this means that: * the one-metre distancing rule in lecture halls and classrooms now applies to all lecture halls and classrooms. * However, an exception may still be made in certain very specific teaching situations that require physical attendance, for example lab work, physical exercises and clinical training. What this means is that we and the other Danish universities must - once again - reorganise or restructure some of our teaching activities. We understand that this is by no means an easy task for you as teachers. The new guidelines place an even greater stress on the requirement to ensure a distance of one metre between every student in teaching situations in lecture halls and classrooms. We have been able to make exceptions to this rule by putting students in core groups, but this is no longer an option. However, we can still deviate from to the one-metre requirement in connection with the exceptions listed above: situations in which physical attendance is necessary. Together with your local degree programme management, you must now decide how much of your teaching the guidelines force you to reorganise. Students will be receiving an email soon announcing that the new guidelines may have consequences for their on-site classes. They will be asked to check Blackboard for more information. The updated guidelines will remain in effect until further notice. We expect that they will apply for at least for the rest of the semester, and presumably continue into spring 2021. You have already put an enormous amount of time and energy into making sure that our students have been able to continue their studies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic thus far. We have thanked you before, and we thank you again - even though it may sound hollow right now, in light of the fact that you are again being asked to reorganise your classes. Nonetheless, it's important that we adhere to these new guidelines, and we encourage you all to do what you can to help each other keep your spirits up and keep your classes running in the best possible way under these conditions. If you have questions, contact your immediate supervisor. While he or she may not be able to answer all of them immediately, every effort will be made to address them. Kind regards, The senior management team