Hygiene Concept for Classroom Teaching in Winter Semester 21/22 at the Department of Political and Social Sciences

The following hygiene concept is based on the currently valid Infection Protection Measures Ordinance of the State of Berlin, the key points for studying and teaching in the winter semester 2021-2022 at the FU Berlin, and the letter on (face-to-face) teaching in the winter semester 2021/22 at the Department of Political and Social Sciences from the Dean's Office of the Department of Political and Social Sciences dated September 23, 2021.

Equipment of the rooms

•  All rooms are again fully seated. Please refer to Appendix 1 for seating capacity information.

• All rooms are equipped with hand disinfectants and cleaning agents for the surfaces. If these are missing or empty, please report this to the house service hausservice@polsoz.fu-berlin.de.

• The department has purchased cameras and owls for hybrid teaching. These will be handed out by our media attendants. Please report to Medienservice@PolSoz.FU-Berlin.de.

Events in teaching rooms in the Department of Political and Social Sciences

• Mandatory spacing upon entry and exit is to be maintained when possible, and tight grouping outside the room is to be avoided by all participants.

• Wearing a mouth-nose protection is obligatory in the buildings of the FU Berlin, access to the event is to be granted exclusively via an appropriate mask. If this regulation changes, the lecturers and students will be informed immediately.

• Medical masks are now sufficient - regardless of whether with or without spacing in teaching rooms (seating with and without see Appendix 1).

• Participants are only granted access to a course if they can present a negative test result in accordance with §6b of the Second SARS-CoV-2 Infection Protection Measures Ordinance. The exceptions to the testing requirement according to §6c for vaccinated and recovered persons apply. The persons responsible for the event are entitled to inspect the original certificate pursuant to §6b (1) sentence 1 number 3 or 4 and to verify the identity of the person present by means of an official photo ID.

• Contact tracking is usually carried out via a.nwesen.de using a QR code. All attendees will scan the posted QR code upon entering the room. This applies to every session. Multiple QR codes have been hung in each teaching room with the number of seats per room (minimum spacing, maximum occupancy). For more information, please see https://anwesende.imp.fu-berlin.de/. If a QR code does not work or if a participant does not have an appropriate terminal device, the data must be recorded in writing in a table (see Appendix 2). The data remain with the instructor with the identification of the course and the specific date and are to be made available only after request by the dean's office in case of infection.

• In the case of the use of cameras that serve hybrid teaching and are aligned in such a way that images of individuals are transmitted on terminals of participants who are connected to the event via WebEx, written confirmation must be obtained from the participants that the transmission of images of their person is permitted (see Appendix 3). The consent must be provided to the instructor for each individual event date. Consents remain with the instructor.

• Please remember to air the room: Airing before, after and, if necessary, during the course (at least after 45 minutes for 10-15 minutes) is strongly recommended.

Reporting infections

• A suspected case or a positive test result must be reported to the Dean's Office in order to identify and inform possible contact persons. For this purpose, the suspected case or a confirmed illness should be reported under the following email address, stating the name, the course, the date of the last session and the event room: Covid-Pandemie@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. For the further procedure the Dean's Office will contact the lecturer as well as the (possibly) ill person

Reference to the hygiene rules within a course

The Dean's Office of the Department of Political and Social Science is relying on this basic principle in the winter semester 2021/22: Courses are a social space. This means: everyone shows consideration for each other, abides by the rules, and relies on trust and communication.

At the beginning of a course (or in the first session of a course), participants are informed about the following hygiene rules and referred to the department's homepage:

• The prescribed distances are to be kept where possible please also in case of movement within the room.

• Contact tracing is obligatory. Each* participant is requested to provide contact details via the QR code ( a.nwesen.de). If the QR code does not work or necessary terminals are not available, the data must be obtained in writing via the contact form attached in Appendix 2.

• Wearing the medical masks is now sufficient - regardless of whether with or without clearances in teaching rooms.

• The rooms used must be regularly and generously ventilated.

• Surface cleaning and hand disinfection are available in the rooms and should be used.

• Please follow standard hygiene rules (sneeze and cough etiquette, hand hygiene).

• Covid 19 is a reportable disease. If anyone becomes aware of an illness, it is to be reported immediately to the instructor. This notification will then be forwarded to administrative management.

• Individuals exhibiting symptoms of illness indicative of a respiratory illness are asked not to attend any Political Science or Social Science Department event.

Dear students,

With this letter, the Department of Political and Social Sciences would like to inform you of the rules and regulations that will apply to in-person teaching in the winter semester 2021/22. In the winter semester there will be a mix of digital and in-person teaching.

The rules are based on the regulations at the FU Berlin, which can be read on the FU info page.

In the winter semester 2021/22, the Department of Political and Social Science is relying on the following basic principle: courses are a social space. This means that everyone shows respect for others, follows the rules and relies on trust and communication.

 Preparation of the winter semester

• Please ensure well before lectures start that you are informed in which form (presence, hybrid, digital) and where (room?!) your courses will take place. You will find the relevant information in the course catalogue. If in doubt, please ask the lecturers.

• You can find a lot of information about the beginning of the semester on the continuously updated website of the Department of Political and Social Science. Also, you will soon find a list of public rooms at Freie Universität and at the department here.

• If your preferred courses are held in presence without digital access, but you do not want to or cannot attend in presence, you are not entitled to a digital or hybrid course. Please take this into account when choosing your course or discuss your case with the lecturers.

 Rules for studying in presence

• Masks are compulsory for everyone, even at the course. If you participate in a course where the minimum distance of 1.5 m can be maintained, the medical mask is sufficient; without minimum distance, FFP2 masks become mandatory.

• The 3-G rule applies at Freie Universität. The exact regulations can be found on the FU website. The university will randomly check the compliance with the 3G rules. Also, the lecturers can check the compliance in the context of their course by asking students for the relevant documents.

• Your attendance must be registered for each individual session of the in-person course in order to be able to prove contact chains if necessary. Contact tracking is organized with the application a.nwesen.de. Please scan the QR code when entering the room. This applies to every session. All university employees are strongly encouraged to use the federal government's Corona alert app.

•  If you participate in a hybrid course in which visual material is transmitted via WebEx, the lecturer will ask you to provide a declaration of consent (also every course). Only with each individual person’s consent in the in-person course will it be possible, for example, to transmit speeches of students in combination with the image of the speaker(s). If you do not want to do this, please consider whether you can alternatively attend another course without hybrid format, connect yourself digitally or find other solutions. Please talk to your lecturers.

• If you have not been vaccinated in your country of origin or have received a vaccine that is not licensed in Germany, you can find further information about vaccination possibilities here.

 Examinations

• Examinations can be held in presence or as distance examination formats (often online). The lecturers or the departments responsible for teaching decide on the type of examination. The lecturers will inform you on time about the examination format in their courses.

General information

• Libraries may offer lending and online services and open workstations and PC pools by appointment. Full or partial utilization of available spaces is dependent on the pandemic situation. Please check online for options at the library of your choice well in advance of your planned visit.

Positive test results

• A positive test result should be reported to the department administration to identify and inform possible contacts. Please use this email address for this purpose: Covid-Pandemie@polsoz.fu-berlin.de

Please indicate your full name, the course you attended and the lecturer. Please feel free to additionally inform the lecturer.

Study and Examination Office

• Please feel free to use the consultation services (telephone consultation hours, e-mail or also via Webex upon request) of the Study and Examinations Office. You can find further and more detailed information on the website of the Study and Examination Office.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We look forward to meeting you again soon in presence.

Dean for Studies of the Department of Political and Social Sciences
Prof. Dr. Maria Löblich

In-Person Teaching during the Winter Semester 2021/22 in the Department of Political and Social Sciences

 Status as of September 22, 2021

Dear Lecturers,

With this letter we would like to prepare you as best as possible for the upcoming Winter Semester 2021/22. This coming semester will be a transitional semester, which should, however, be marked by the resumption of in-person classes wherever possible.

 These rules are based on the regulations at the FU Berlin, which can be found on the FU’s info page.

 Preparation for the winter semester:

• As an instructor, you are not required to teach within a specific format. Whether in-person, digital, or hybrid—you decide which format you’ll use and in what combination, if any.

• Classrooms will have their regular, full number of seats. You decide and are responsible for whether or not minimum spacing between individuals should be observed in your course—and thus (depending on the size of the room and the number of participants) also whether your course will be entirely in-person with all students, whether only one group can attend in-person per session, or whether you choose a hybrid format.

• Please inform the Lehrplanungen of your institute in what format you’ll offer your courses by September 30, 2021 at the latest. Please also make this clear in the annotated course catalog, so that students are informed with sufficient time before the registration period.

• You do not have to create a hygiene concept if you choose in-person instruction. The departmental administration has a central hygiene concept for the teaching rooms of our department.

• Please consider providing digital access to the first session of in-person courses (or holding them entirely online, or in hybrid format) in order to hear from students how realistic planning a course entirely in person is in the first place. Students may not have moved back to Berlin yet; there may also be other reasons keeping them from attending in-person.

• Students are not entitled to a parallel digital offering or a hybrid teaching format. However, it is desired that you accommodate students who, for various reasons, are not yet able to return to in-person courses (e.g. chronic illness/disability, supervision of children in quarantine, etc.). The department has purchased sufficient equipment to broadcast courses via the so-called Owls.

• Students may not be able to attend regularly due to their situation (e.g. child in quarantine, etc.). In order to enable such students to participate nevertheless, you can arrange substitute performances for the proof of active participation (see RSPO § 9 (4)).

Rules for in-person teaching

• As an instructor, you are responsible for observing the hygiene rules during your course. We assume that all participants will adhere to the rules. If this is not the case, persons can be excluded from the course or the course can be cancelled and continued digitally. However, we rely on communication here and are sure that we will find ways to work around such situations.

• Please acquaint students with the following rules in the first session, if necessary as a pinned post on Blackboard, and repeat them as necessary throughout the semester. It is crucial that everyone is aware of the rules and agrees to the terms of attendance.

• Masks are mandatory for all, including at one’s seat. If you teach a hybrid course or have been assigned a room that maintains the minimum distance of 1.5 m, wearing a medical mask is sufficient. Without the minimum spacing between participants, an FFP2 mask is required.

• The “3G” rule applies at the Freie Universität. You can take responsibility for checking compliance with the 3G rule (either randomly or completely), but you do not have to do so. The FU relies on mutual trust.

• Contact tracing is organized with the application a.nwesen.de. All attendees scan the posted QR code upon entering the room. This applies to every session.

• If you have students from countries that have not been vaccinated in their countries of origin or have received a vaccine that is not approved in Germany, there is information here about vaccination options.

 Hybrid courses

• In the case of camera-supported in-person seminars, a consent form must be obtained from all participants for data protection reasons. The appropriate form can be found on the department’s website. A person who does not give his/her consent may not be expelled from the room. We are sure that ways will be found to conduct hybrid courses even if individuals do not consent to being recorded. Preliminary discussion should be had in the first session on how to deal with this; measures like searching for a blind spot or putting up a moveable wall can both be possibilities to reach a consensus.

 Positive test results

• A positive test result from a student in one of your courses must be reported to the administrative management or the dean’s office in order to identify and inform possible contact persons. Please use this email address for this purpose, indicating the name, course, date of last session, and room of the event: covid-pandemie@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. We will then contact you with additional procedures.

 Exams

• Examinations can be conducted either in person or in “distant” examination formats (often online). The decision as to the type of examination is the responsibility of the lecturer(s) or the department(s) responsible for the course.

• For both in-person and distant examination formats, previous regulations (laid out in the relevant key points paper) remain unchanged.

• Under the current circumstances, students will continue to participate in exams on a voluntary basis. Students will not be subject to disadvantages in the event of non-participation.

The dean’s office of the Department of Political and Social Sciences is relying on this basic principle for the Winter Semester 2021/22: Courses are a social space. This means that everyone shows consideration for each other, abides by the rules, and relies on trust a communication. This information, as well as other information that may not be able to be addressed at this time, can be found on the pandemic page of the department. We will also create an FAQ page where we will try to answer new questions from you and students.

 

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

The Office of the Department of Political and Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Maria Löblich

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