Information for employees and lecturers on university operations from November 2

2020-11-02 The winter semester at Leuphana started with the opening week on October 1 and has been running with regular courses since October 12. The presidential committee is very happy that, unlike other universities in Germany, Leuphana did not start with the winter semester's courses next week. This gave our students the chance to experience university life in person, to make contacts and to network, at least for a few weeks and at least in part. This was and remains especially important for our first semester students.

As you know, however, the situation is very serious in many places in Europe and the number of infections with the corona virus continues to rise sharply throughout Germany. The impact of the Covid-19 disease and its consequences are sometimes very difficult. Since this weekend, the district of Lüneburg with an incidence of over 50 is now among the risk areas as well. Against this background it is crucial to interrupt infection chains as quickly and completely as possible and to stop the exponential growth of the infections. As you know from the media, the federal and state governments have decided on measures to this end; a new regulation will apply in Lower Saxony from Monday, November 2, 2020.

In order to achieve this goal, measures are once again necessary at our university, which will result in restrictions for university operations and university life. After consultation between the Presidential Committee, deans, deans of studies, heads of departments and representatives of the Staff Council and students, we have decided – albeit with a heavy heart – to switch back to university operations with as little presence on campus as possible, if possible with immediate effect. Only in this way will we all be able to make the necessary contribution to the interruption of infection chains and ultimately to health protection. In detail:

WORKPLACE: With immediate effect, all employees are requested to work from home whenever possible with the consent of their superiors. Please seek consultation with your superiors when starting your work on Monday. All buildings, offices and infrastructure will remain accessible and can be used. For details, please refer to the employment and service regulations attached to this mail.
LECTURES AND COURSES: From now on, all lectures and courses must – whenever possible – take place as regular, synchronous online events at the scheduled times. Teachers can conduct them virtually from home, from the office or even from the classroom. Courses may only be held in class if this is absolutely necessary for didactic reasons (e.g. use of laboratories, technical infrastructure or didactic concepts that can only be carried out in class). These must then be carried out in accordance with the safety and hygiene concepts of Leuphana. Teaching staff do not have to offer parallel substitutes online. Students who do not wish to continue attending individual courses under the changed conditions can deregister, even if exams have already begun.
Courses that could not be organized online at the beginning of the week due to lack of time can be held one more time in attendance if necessary. Please contact your students.
EXCURSIONS: Excursions may no longer take place. Exceptions are only possible if excursions are necessary for the immediate completion of the program.
INTERNSHIPS: Internships remain possible as long as the host organizations, e.g. schools, continue to offer internships and allow them to be carried out.
PUBLIC AND SCIENTIFIC EVENTS: All public or scientific events of Leuphana with external guests must be held again as online events whenever possible. Events in attendance can only be held with the express permission of the Presidium.
INTERNAL EVENTS: From now on, all events with internal participants should also be held online as audio or video conferences whenever possible. This also applies to meetings, committee meetings, commission meetings and job interviews.
LIBRARY: The library including the reading room as well as the areas for student workplaces will, like all buildings, remain open to members and relatives of the university and, if applicable, their guests known by name. The Leuphana hygiene guidelines and additional safety precautions apply. The Media and Information Center provides details on its website.
LABORATORIES: Laboratories can continue to be used. The hygiene guidelines of Leuphana apply.
UNIVERSITY SPORTS: The University Sports Department will be closed from Monday. The University Sports Department has developed alternative offers online and offers the lending of sports materials. Details are available on the website of the University Sports Department.

Please also note

the new Corona regulation of the country Lower Saxony, valid starting from 2 November: www.niedersachsen.de/Coronavirus/vorschriften-der-landesregierung-185856.html,
the hygiene guidelines of Leuphana: www.leuphana.de/intranet/leitlinien-fuer-den-arbeitsplatz/ordnungen-und-richtlinien-der-universitaet.html,
the distance requirement of at least 1.5m (at least 3m for physical exertion), both inside and outside the university buildings,
the obligation to wear a mask in all buildings of the university, unless you are sitting on a seat and in all situations, including on campus, in which the minimum distance cannot be maintained,
regular ventilation of rooms at intervals of at least 20min (meeting and seminar rooms) to 60min (offices).

In this context, we ask you to continue to inform yourself about the current state of knowledge about the coronavirus and allow us to provide you with the following article. The article offers a good overview of the spread of the virus via aerosols and makes clear how important for the prevention of infections not only reliable spacing and consistent mask wearing is, but especially in closed rooms also regular ventilation: https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-10-28/a-room-a-bar-and-a-class-how-the-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html.

Today we would like to thank you once again - also on behalf of all deans and deans of studies - for your understanding, for joint efforts and for good cooperation in order to keep the consequences of the pandemic as low as possible for all of us in the future. In view of the increasing number of infections, it is our common task to maintain the core activities of the university in research, teaching and studies as best we can in the coming weeks and months. In order to do this, we must consistently avoid many things that are important, but not necessarily necessary for research, teaching and studies. We all know that we as a university also serve as a role model for solidarity and care in dealing with each other and society as a whole. Together we want - and can - rely on the sense of responsibility of each and every one of us.