NEWSLETTER | news and archive | Corona@uni-mainz

[ NEWSLETTER (since July the 14th, german only)

[ ARCHIVE: UPDATES (up to July the 7th, 2020)

Last updated: July 7, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

Restricted regular operation: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz will return into restricted regular operation starting on August 1, 2020. The teaching staff, researchers, and the science-supporting staff at Mainz and Germersheim are then generally allowed to return to on-campus presence. More detailed information was emailed to all JGU employees on July 7, 2020.

The buildings at all JGU locations generally remain closed. Furthermore, only employees registered with the university's Traffic Control Office as well as suppliers, construction vehicles, and craftsmen can access the Gutenberg campus.

The allocation of rooms for third-party, non-university events is not possible due to the room situation. The University Management decides on exceptions.

With a few exceptions, the Mainz University Library has so far restricted its services to lending. Gradually it will again provide workplaces in its various libraries. Further information is available at https://www.ub.uni-mainz.de/schrittweise-wiedereroeffnung-der-ub-standorte [in German].

Service centers such as the Student Services Office or advice centers will also gradually resume their on-campus services, although there may still be some restrictions.

Last updated: July 3, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

Opening of additional library workplaces: On Tuesday, July 7, 79 workplaces will be available in the MIN (Mathematics, Computer Science, and Natural Sciences) library. The opening of workplaces in other university libraries will be communicated on the UB website. Fur further information, please visit https://www.ub.uni-mainz.de/schrittweise-wiedereroeffnung-der-ub-standorte [in German].

Last updated: June 23, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

Partial opening of workplaces in some university libraries: From June 25, workplaces will be available again in the libraries in the Georg Forster building, in the Law, Management and Economics building, and in the Mainz University Medical Center. However, in order to comply with the applicable social distancing and hygiene rules, the number of workplaces is limited. Interested users need to book a spot in advance using a new reservation system. More detailed information as well as all current opening hours are available at https://www.ub.uni-mainz.de/schrittweise-wiedereroeffnung-der-ub-standorte [in German].

Last updated: June 12, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

The University President has informed JGU employees and students that the gradual transition to restricted on-campus operations is in preparation. One of the priorities set is the opening of workplaces in the University Library. In the course of June, the University Management together with the deans and rectors will advise on scenarios for the 2020/2021 winter semester.

Last updated: May 18, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

The Rhineland-Palatinate institutions of higher education and the Ministry of Science, Continuing Education, and Culture have agreed to continue the 2020 summer semester as a digital semester. In justified cases (e.g., for laboratory work), an exception to the emergeny mode regulations can be requested from the respective university management ...> [in German].

Last updated: April 27, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

In the light of the decisions made by the federal and state governments on April 15, 2020, and based on the current Corona Control Regulation of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate [in German], JGU's University Authorities inform:

First of all, it should be noted that easing of the shutdown should be implemented very carefully in the interest of our health, meaning that JGU will continue to operate in emergency mode and thereby support the measures put in place to contain the risk of infection. This means that on-campus teaching will be largely replaced by online teaching, as a rule, work will be done from home office, only those with parking permits will be permitted access to the campus by car, and the buildings will be closed to the public. Events such as conferences, graduation ceremonies etc. cannot take place at least until the end of the lecture period.

However, taking into account the needs of student affairs, teaching, and research, we would like to make partial use of the easing of the shutdown as laid out by the federal and state governments.

During the last weeks, the University Library has made, as far as possible, most of its non-circulating collection available to take out on loan. Borrowing and returning books is therefore possible again to a limited extent (www.ub.uni-mainz.de/schrittweise-wiedereroeffnung-der-ub-standorte [in German]). In order to prevent the spread of infection, working in the library is still not possible.

With the gradual easing of the shutdown, some shops and restaurants on campus have also started providing a limited service. Please find more information at www.uni-mainz.de/corona/campus-partner [in German].

Last updated: March 24, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

Since March 24, 2020, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been in emergency mode. The JGU University Authorities made this decision in view of the current regulations of the German Federal Government and the Rhineland-Palatinate state government as well as the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina for a temporary Germany-wide shutdown.

Since March 24, 2020, JGU has been closed for public business and switched from regular operation to emergency operation until further notice. This means that all buildings in central and decentralized management on the campus and in the branch offices are closed. Regular teaching and research at JGU is being suspended for the period of emergency operation. This does not apply to Faculty 04, for which the Mainz University Medical Center sets its own rules, since medical research and teaching in the context of patient care are of particular importance in these times. This also excludes research and application in other departments on campus that are related to health care.

Information for student applicants, first-year students, and students is available at the Learning website.

The JGU teaching staff are called upon to prepare digital teaching materials for their students in the event that university classes cannot start regularly after April 20, 2020. A team of experts is ready to provide support. Further information for JGU the teaching staff is available at the Teaching website.

In administration, JGU offers limited services. Various offices and services are on-call duty to maintain emergency operation. All employees, whose presence on campus is not necessary to maintain emergency operation, swtich to home office. The JGU administration and other important service centers are available in home office by email or phone. Further information for JGU employees is available at the Human Resources website [in German].

Updates March 19, 2020Please click button to expand or collapse content

UPDATE March 19, 2020: For reasons of COVID-19 prevention, the Botanic Garden on the Gutenberg campus is now closed to the public until further notice.

UPDATE March 19, 2020: The Vice President for Learning and Teaching informed the JGU teaching staff by e-mail about how to deal with digital learning and teaching opportunities. Detailed information on how to proceed and concrete options for implementing digital teaching will be available in the coming week.

UPDATE March 19, 2020: The University Authorities together with the JGU faculties and artistic schools have decided on university-wide regulations for extending deadlines and the possibility to withdraw from written study and examination papers. These regulations apply to all university courses for which the responsibility lies with JGU. The relevant state examination office (Landesprüfungsamt) is responsible for final assignments, papers and theses in state examination courses.
Further information ...>

As of March 17, 2020 // Last updated: March 19, 2020, 5 p.m.Please click button to expand or collapse content

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is closely monitoring the spread of the coronavirus and takes the associated risks very seriously. For an assessment of the current situation and to determine preventive measures, we refer to the detailed information and recommendations provided by the Robert Koch Institute, the German Federal Ministry of Health, and the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Health, and Demography [in German].

On March 13, 2020, the Rhineland-Palatinate state government [in German] decided to postpone the start of the lecture period of the summer semester 2020 until April 20, 2020.

To help slow the spread of the virus, the University Authorities also announced the following measures and regulations:

1.	All university events until April 20, 2020 are canceled.
2.	Oral and written exams are canceled until further notice starting Monday, March 16, 2020. According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Health, this does not apply to State Exams in Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Other exceptions are final theses (Bachelor, Master, and State Exam theses, dissertations etc.) as well as coursework and examinations not requiring on-campus presence. Further information regarding student affairs, teaching, and examinations, especially on extending deadlines or withdrawing from written coursework or examinations, is available at the JGU Learning and Teaching website.
3.	Services for students, such as the JGU Student Service Center (Studierendensekretariat), the Student Funding Office, the Central Student Advisory Center etc., will – at their own discretion – switch their advisory services to electronic media, telephone, and e-mail in order to minimize the risk of infection through direct contact for both students and staff.

We consider the following measures and routines to be particularly important:

	a personal hand hygiene and practicing a good cough and sneeze etiquette: At www.infektionsschutz.de [in German], the Federal Center for Health Education provides appropriate information and hygiene routines [in German]. JGU makes sure that soap and paper towel dispensers are restocked regularly. Our cleaning services have been instructed accordingly. Please direct any information about defective soap dispensers directly to the JGU Central Services.
	stay informed regularly about high-risk areas and possibilities for individual prevention. We refer to the Robert Koch Institute anf the German Federal Ministry of Health.
	protection of employees belonging to high-risk groups, due to a previous illness or general immune deficiency: In coordination with their supervisor(s) and taking into account the specific requirements of their job, these employees may temporarily work at home until further notice.

If you are infected with the coronavirus, if you had contact with an infected person within the last 14 days, or if you were staying in a high-risk area:

	If you are infected with the coronavirus, you must notify the JGU taskforce.
	If you had contact with an infected person within the last 14 days or if you were staying in a high-risk area and you have unspecific general symptoms, you are required to inform the responsible health authority (e.g., Mainz-Bingen [in German]) as well as your family practitioner or the medical on-call service. Please follow the instruction of the responsible health authority. Please do not visit a clinic or your family practitioner without the instruction to do so.
	If you had contact with an infected person within the last 14 days but do not have any general symptons, please contact the responsible health authority.
	If you were in a high-risk area within the last 14 days but do not have any general symptons, you are requested to self-quarantine for 14 days. Furthermore, employees are required to inform their supervisors as welll as JGU's Human Resources.

Further information for JGU employees is available at the Human Resources website [in German].

Handling digital learning and teaching – Digital teaching in the 2020 summer semester?

A team of experts from different areas of our university is currently working on prompt, simple, practical, and easily manageable solutions for questions concerning digital learning and teaching. The team addresses aspects like how distance learning and teaching can succeed, how we can – partially at least – compensate for the temporarily unfeasible in-person learning and teaching by communicating digitally, and models and best practices available for creating seminars, classes, and lectures using various elements.

Further information for the JGU teaching staff is available at the Teaching webseite.