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A package from the University of Basel was in 23-year-old Pascal’s mailbox last week. Normally they would be books. Or an invitation. But since everything is different this year, there was a cloth mask in the package along with various documents. With the university logo. The mask must be worn from day one on campus.
The first day at university and everything is different. Even the greeting is different. Instead of the usual on campus, the celebration took place at Messe Basel; the program stayed the same. Principal Andrea Schenker-Wicki and Vice Chancellors Thomas Grob and Torsten Schwede welcomed the new students. Because exactly after six months it started again. When the weather was nice, the students would come and wallow in the sun, exchange ideas about their summer, or meet. Because now there are 2000 new students among the many students at the university. 1,600 students are pursuing a bachelor’s degree, the rest a master’s degree.
Protection concept for first semester students
You should not find more people with backpacks and bags in public places in the new semester, because most of the lessons will continue to take place online. So did the lectures by German studies student Pascal. He is studying in the third semester and has already gained experience at Corona in the last few months. It’s really tedious. The Zoom lessons are just not the same, ”he says. You cannot argue with your fellow students and learning together is also more difficult than usual. “A large part of student life is missing.”
But it shouldn’t be that way for new students. The university has developed a special plan for them, explains Matthias Geering, the university’s director of communication and marketing. More than half of all lectures in the first semester must take place in face-to-face classes. “New students should be able to get to know each other.”
The question arises: How do you get almost 1,600 students to get to university in the middle of Corona without taking risks? That takes a lot of planning. To do this, we sat down with experts from the university hospital who belong to the national working group, ”says Geering. The result was a “well thought out” protection concept: mask requirements apply in hallways, corridors, stairways and elevators, as well as study rooms.
For conference rooms as well as for seminars and exercise rooms, the following applies: Everyone who gets into their seat or gets back up must wear the mask. However, this is not necessary during class. In order to ensure safety, a distance was taken: now rooms are being reconfigured that were actually designed for 300 people. About every second seat remains empty, so that only 100 students sit in a room at the same time during Corona hours.
“It’s important that the concept really gets carried out, but it looks good,” says Geering. And one look at the campus in St. Peter’s Square proves him right. Students sit everywhere in their masks. He is happy about that, because: “In this way we can enter autumn in a healthy way.”
