From: Daniel Todman
To: all Undergraduate students

 

Dear historian,

 

I hope this finds you well, that you had a chance to do something that brought you joy over the summer, and that you are looking forward to the start of the new academic year.

 

All seminars will be in-person. I know I speak for all staff when I say how much we are looking forward to getting back to the range of interaction and social learning that comes with physical presence. We are expecting you to be on campus for teaching. If you are unable to travel because of international restrictions or for health reasons, you will be able to access your learning online, but do come to join us as soon as you can. Further details are at the bottom of this email. Lectures will all be online in the format we used last year. This is to ensure that our courses remain resilient in the face of whatever comes next in the pandemic.

 

Keeping everyone safe is our first priority. The latest update from the Principal explains the range of safety measures we have on campus and the contingencies for which we are preparing: you can read it here. The most important thing we can all do is to get vaccinated as soon as possible. There will be a vaccination centre on campus at the start of term where you will be able to get your first or second jab. But please don’t wait – get vaccinated as soon as you can. On campus we are currently advising everyone to wear face coverings in crowded places and to get tested twice a week. We understand this may be a worrying time for everyone: if you have concerns, please let your advisor know so that we can help you.

 

 

Online seminar policy

The School of History expects students to attend campus to take part in in-person teaching. All undergraduate seminars have been timetabled to be taught in person during 2021-22.

If you are not able to attend in person will need to apply for permission to access your seminars wholly online. This may apply to you if:

 

1) You are unable to travel to campus over an extended period (over two weeks)

If you do not expect to be able to attend campus for an extended period (more than two weeks), you will need to apply for remote teaching using this form:

https://forms.office.com/r/LTupxgiFnQ

You only need to apply once and your application will apply to all your modules. Applications will be considered by a group appointed by the School Management Committee. You are eligible to apply if you are in one of the following categories:

• An overseas student (defined by your fee status) based in a country currently on the government Red List;
• A home student (defined by your fee status) who at the beginning of the semester is based in a country currently on the government Red List and therefore unable to return to the UK;
• A home student with a health condition which makes you particularly vulnerable and who would have been on the government’s shielding list.

If you are in one of these categories, you should apply for remote learning now, and by the latest at 4pm on 22 September. We will not normally consider applications from students who do not meet one of these criteria. If your application is approved, we will then notify your adviser and make arrangements with your seminar teachers on your behalf.

Home students in Category ii) will be required to explain why they are in a Red List country and may be asked for supporting evidence.

Students in Category iii) will be required to provide a letter from the GP or medical specialist to support their application.

The Government revises the Red List on a regular basis: if you are based in a country which is subsequently removed from the List, we encourage you to return to campus and in-person teaching as soon as possible, and in any case no later than the beginning of the next semester.

These stipulations do not apply to students who are resitting out of attendance who are therefore not required to be on campus.

 

2) Students who are unable to travel to campus for a shorter period (up to 2 weeks)

Disruptions arising from the pandemic may mean that although you would normally attend in person, you are unable to do so for short periods. This could include for example periods of quarantine following travel or being ‘pinged’ to self-isolate. Government instructions on contact tracing and isolation can be found here: while you are not required to isolate once you are double vaccinated or if you are medically unable to be vaccinated, please bear in mind that you could still be infected and pass it on to other people, so you should still get tested if you are contacted.  In this case you will need to notify us in advance in order to access your seminars online on a temporary basis. You can do this in the following way:

• For any classes you are unable to attend, you should email all your seminar teachers AND your adviser by 4pm on the day before the affected classes. This will allow us to put online learning facilities in place. If you can’t provide that degree of notice (e.g. you are pinged on the day you are meant to attend lessons), do please still send the email, but you may not be able to attend seminars online on the same day – it takes time to ensure the systems to do this are in place.

After two weeks, you will be expected to restart seminars in-person.

Please note that this does not include periods of illness – if you fall ill, you are not expected to attend class remotely, concentrate on getting better!

 

 

If you have questions about this policy or how it might apply to you, please email history-student-support@qmul.ac.uk

 

Do stay safe and get vaccinated as soon as you can

 

Best regards
Dan