Covid-19: What the new regulations means for us at VUC

Tekst: Line Lauvsnes Oddekalv , Foto: FHI

24. mars 2021 - Oppdatert 24. mars 2021

Norwegian Government has imposed new national regulations and recommendations from March 25th. For students and employees at Volda University College (VUC), this means digital classes, with some exemptions.

Following the growth in Covid-19-infections in Norway lately, the Goverment has imposed new national regulations from March 25th to April 12th. These also apply for us living in areas with low infection rate. For us at Volda University College, the regulations and recommendations affect us in the following ways:

Lectures and classes

All lectures and classes at VUC will be held digitally from Thursday March 25 until Monday April 12th. The only exemption to this rule will be lectures where it is absolutely necessary to access the classroom/lab in order to carry out experiments or skill training which cannot be taught online, and where these activities are necessary for students to progress in their study programme
Possible exemptions to digital teaching in the coming weeks will be announced in the course-specific Canvas room, at the latest by Thursday March 25th.
Academic supervision/guidance will also be held digitally in the coming period

Campus

The VUC campus will be open for students. Service functions such as the library, Student services, IT-help, etc. will be open and available.
The cafeteria in the BK-building will be closed from Thursday March 25th to Monday April 12th.
The BK-building will be open during regular opening hours, and outside the opening hours, accessible with an active student/employee card. The other buildings on campus will be closed 24/7, but accessible for students/employees with key cards.

Strengthened infection control measures

At campus, and in public, the social distancing requirement is now 2 meters
In situations where it is not possible to maintain social distancing, one should wear a face mask

Work from home

All employees should work from home from Thursday March 25th to April 12th.
Exemptions to this rule are staff working in service functions and other necessary tasks, such as IT, the library, in-house teaching and similar

Easter Holiday

We are of course all encouraged to avoid all unnecessary travels, but the rules state spesifically that students are allowed to go home for Easter: Students living elsewhere in Norway, without social network or family where they are studying, can go home for the holidays. That is considered necessary travel.

Volda municipality urges everyone to consider Covid-19 testing if travelling, and of course if you are experiencing symptomps. You can order a Covid-19 test in Volda/Ørsta here.