Archive for May, 2020
Student Health Management to Launch Podcast
RWTH considers the health of its students to be a matter of the foremost importance. For this reason, in response to the current COVID 19 situation and its impact on the lives of everyone, the Student Health Management of RWTH Aachen University, SGM for short, has started a podcast for students.
SGM has been established at RWTH to ensure that students can cope with the demands of their studies now and in their everyday working lives later. In general, SGM is all about strengthening and developing personal health resources and minimizing health risks.
In addition, it seeks to put future managers and decision makers in a position to learn about and adopt a health-promoting leadership style. Student health management aims to encourage students to integrate health aspects in their everyday lives and to enable them to study, learn, and live healthily.
The podcast deals with topics such as nutrition, exercises at home, or how to deal with anxiety. The first episode is now available:
“The Virus Is Experimenting on Us” – the Corona Crisis From a Sociologist’s Perspective
What we have been experiencing in the past weeks and months can be considered an experimenting with social requirements and social situations. This is how Professor Stefan Böschen describes the current situation. Böschen is Chair of Society and Technology at HumTec, the Human Technology Center at RWTH Aachen University. In an interview with Thorsten Karbach, head of RWTH Press and Communications, he looks back on the weeks that have transformed life as we know it, also highlighting the special role of science in addressing the current crisis:
“We must fall back on all of the sciences. An important issue to me is how social life can be made possible despite the virus and how a new normal will develop. Universities must play a pioneering role as actors of transformation. Trust in these institutions is very high, and scientists are generally listened to.”
The full interview is available on the RWTH website: The Virus Is Experimenting on Us
Postponed Exams Will Be Held From May 11
According to the general decree of the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs, the Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia are now allowed to conduct written exams under strict hygiene and distance regulations. RWTH Aachen is taking this opportunity to now hold the exams that have been postponed from the winter semester as quickly as possible.
The exams will be held from May 11 onwards in the planned order. Only the times may change in order to be compliant with the prescribed safety measures. Please note that due to the regulations, conditional exam participation is currently not permitted. You may withdraw from an exam without giving any reasons until immediately before the exam starts. Non-participation without deregistration will be considered a failed attempt.
RWTH is only able to hold the exams by investing an enormous amount of extra effort, such as finding additional personnel to organize and carry out the exams or suitable rooms so as to comply with the large safety distances. In view of the resources available, we kindly ask you to cancel your registration right away if you are ill. Furthermore, with regard to the free attempt regulation, we ask you to only take an exam for which you have properly prepared. RWTH will evaluate the results of the exams and the behavior of participants before a decision is made on the continuation of the free attempt regulation in the winter semester.
Further information is available on the AStA website.
Rectors’ Conference Warns Against Hasty Resumption of In-Person Teaching
In a recent press release, the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) has welcomed the first steps towards reopening society made possible by the recent decisions of the federal and state governments, but warns emphatically against a hasty resumption of in-person courses and lectures at universities.
HRK President Prof. Peter-André Alt declared: “Although it is very positive that we are being given more leeway for various social activities, for many reasons, it makes little sense to resume comprehensive in-person courses at universities within a week’s time”. It is not advisable simply to switch from remote to face-to-face formats at short notice.
Further information: HRK website
University Sports – Interim Program Scheduled to Start May 18
From May 18, 2020, the University Sports Center will be offering an interim program that complies with the special requirements of the current situation and has been coordinated with the university administration. The university administration has decided on a cautious resumption of sports activities that will initially take place outdoors in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We ask for your understanding that the ban on accessing the sport facilities remains in force and that the RWTH GYM will not be able to open on May 11, 2020. Planning on the interim program will commence immediately upon publication of the decree on sport operations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The detailed interim program will be published and its booking made available on May 13, 2020.
Aachen, May 7, 2020.
Peter Lynen, Head of the University Sports Center
HSZ Digital Workouts continue to be available.
University Library Closed at least Until May 17
All University Library locations, including the Central Textbook Collection and the Medical Library, remain closed at least until May 17. The period of closure has been extended by one week. In urgent cases, RWTH members can borrow media from the Central Library, Library 2 and the Medical Library by prior appointment (+49 241 80 94456, Check-Out Desk or Medical Library) if there is no digital version of the media available.
The above given date also applies to the University Library’s study spaces and reading rooms.
Information on the Topic of Equal Opportunities in Times of the Corona Crisis
The Equal Opportunities Office of RWTH Aachen University has compiled the most important information related to the topic of equal opportunities in times of the Coronavirus crisis. The information, which is targeted at employees and students as well as at (future) parents, provides advice on home schooling and gives directions for those seeking help.
The information sheet (in German) is available for download at: RWTH Equal Opportunities Office
Compensation for Lost Income Due to Childcare Responsibilities
If you are unable to go to work at RWTH because of closed childcare centers and schools and have lost earnings because you have to look after your child(ren), you can apply for compensation. The compensation scheme that has been put in place is to protect you against excessive loss of income.
Entitled to compensation are, under certain conditions, parents or guardians who have to stay at home for these reasons.
For further information, please refer to the web pages of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and of the NRW Salaries and Pensions Office LBV and the Landschaftsverbands Rheinland LVR.
Blood Donations in the Super C Until Friday
Blood can still be donated in the coming week, that is until Friday, May 8, on the RWTH central campus. The blood drives will exclusively take place in the Sparkassenforum of the Super C, Templergraben 57. Blood can be donated Monday to Friday from 11:30am to 5pm. Until then, there will be no appointments at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen or other external locations.
On Monday, May 11, the Sparkassenforum will be closed as a location for blood drives. Starting May 12 May, blood drives will again be held in the University hospital. In order to be able to maintain sufficient physical distance, the location for donations will be the large seminar room located on the ground floor; the so-called blood donation corridor on floor 3 will remain closed. Donors please note the signage. We ask you to remember to carry a face mask covering mouth and nose.