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No In-Person Written Exams, Oral Exams, Exam Reviews, and Classes Between March 29 and May 23

March 26th, 2021 | by

In an extraordinary meeting held yesterday in light of the current COVID-19 situation, the deans of academic affairs and the examination board chairpersons decided to put the following rules into effect: Between Monday, March 29, and Sunday, May 23 (Pentecost), RWTH will not hold any in-person written exams, in-person oral examinations, or in-person courses.

Exemptions apply to

  • any courses and events in the degree programs in medicine and dentistry, for which the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Medicine is responsible,
  • and lab courses that have been exceptionally approved.

Exam dates shall no longer be postponed in order to ensure that all parties involved can plan ahead in the best possible way. Starting March 29, it will no longer be possible to take an in-person written exam in addition to a parallel remote exam. In-person exams will only be held again once the threat of the pandemic subsides. Any approvals for holding in-person exams (both parallel and only exams) have been revoked. Those affected by this decision within the next two weeks have already been informed about the situation on March 19 to allow them sufficient time to prepare.

According to the Rectorate and the Crisis Management Team, students who cannot take an online exam for medical reasons can apply to the examination board to take an in-person exam due to their exceptional circumstances. In light of the current, heightened risk of getting infected with COVID-19, no other reasons will be accepted. Students can continue to apply to take an online exam before the scheduled exam date due to their exceptional circumstances.

Students who have opted out of taking an online exam to take the exam in person should be allowed to take the online exam, as the regulations have changed since they first decided against it. Since written exams will no longer be held in person, student assistants hired to ensure that the safety regulations are adhered to (“Corona Guides”) can be tasked with other responsibilities. Instructors responsible for online exams with more than 400 participants are encouraged to contact the central room booking service (hoersaal@zhv.rwth-aachen.de).

In order to avoid overloading our IT-systems during the lecture period, the ITC has set up an additional temporary Moodle space for any take-home-exams to be held after the lecture period has begun. Analogous to the previous procedure in RWTHmoodle, the recording of the exam results is to be ensured by the instructors themselves. In addition, Dynexite’s functionalities have been expanded for a limited time to include an upload for use with online exams. You will receive separate information on this in due course.

Instructors may apply for approval to hold lab courses or practical training in person throughout the entire summer semester if the necessary distancing and hygiene requirements can be met. In their request email to the Crisis Management Team, instructors must include a confirmation from the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs that the lab course cannot be rescheduled for legal or specific reasons or if rescheduling is unreasonable for the student.

Excursions cannot take place until further notice. If any changes are later made to the Coronavirus Protection Ordinance, the regulations will be adjusted accordingly.

The situation is difficult for all of us. With this latest decision, we hope to have struck the right balance between giving our students security in their future planning and keeping everyone involved safe. Online exams make us a bit more independent of the virus. Take care of yourselves and stay healthy!” said Professor Aloys Krieg, Vice-Rector for Teaching an Learning at RWTH.

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