The dramatic increase in the number of Covid-19 infections has made a new "quasi-lockdown" necessary for many areas of public life. As a result of the professional approach taken by the universities in recent months, the legally responsible authorities have once again excluded universities and colleges from the scope of the above-mentioned regulation. At the same time, the government leadership has rightly made the political claim that the universities and colleges should switch over to distance learning. The reason for this is the sharp rise in the number of infections in the age groups of 20 to 30-year-olds - i.e. the majority of the student population. There is an urgent higher education policy appeal to operationalise an extensive switch to distance learning and a reduction of presence teaching as far as possible - in those areas where this is possible in a sensible way.

What does this mean for TU Wien?

• Since Tuesday, 3 November until the Christmas holidays, TU Wien has a regulation that, as far as possible, all courses (above all VO, VU, SE and UE) must be converted to a Distance Learning Format.
• If this is not possible, please contact the Distance Learning Team as a lecturer with a precise description of the problem and an implementation concept. There the concept will be coordinated and checked with the Deans of Academic Affairs and the Occupational Safety Department. A corresponding online application form is available at https://www.tuwien.at/studium/lehren-an-der-tuw/zentrales-lehr-und-lernressourcenmanagement/distance-learning-anfragenformular.
• The laboratory practice/internship (LU, PR) with a safety concept approved by occupational safety may be continued in attendance.
• According to a notification from the BMBFW, excursions may not be held until further notice.
• Examinations should either be converted to online format or additionally offered in online format (especially for students who cannot enter the country due to the current infection situation or who belong to a risk group etc. this would be very helpful).  If you need support in switching to a suitable online examination format, you can contact distancelearning@tuwien.ac.at .
• If attendance examinations are necessary, they must be held with the examination seating (blue) from the summer semester. This requires the combination of several parallel lecture halls. Further information and details on occupancy can be found at: https://colab.tuwien.ac.at/x/YQyQ
• From the time you enter until you leave the building, you must wear a mouth-nose protection (MNS) mask. The mask must also be worn during the test.
• Note: Also in the distance teaching situation it is necessary to provide an effective image of the room usage in TISS. If you are doing a livestream or a recording in the lecture hall during the dates, the dates can be kept. If this is not the case, we urgently request that you delete them so that the rooms are available for the increased space requirements during examinations (to avoid a central deletion as in the summer semester). This will not affect reactivation.
• In order to maintain studyability, courses and especially existing examination dates should not be cancelled or the number of participants reduced, but should be held online if possible or, if necessary, divided into parallel rooms.
• If you need assistance in finding rooms, you can contact zllrm@tuwien.ac.at.
• Related information material (e.g. guidelines for conducting online examinations, and the guide for conducting attendance examinations) is available in updated form at https://colab.tuwien.ac.at/x/swOQ.

Due to the increasing number of infections, especially in the age group of our students, we as universities are responsible for ensuring the best possible protection for all of us. We ask for your understanding in this regard and are dependent on your active assistance.

Thank you very much for your support!

Best regards,

Kurt Matyas, Vice Rector Academic Affairs