Information for students, faculty and staff regarding COVID-19. (Updated: 11 May 2021)
Information for students, faculty and staff regarding COVID-19. (Updated: 11 May 2021)
Umeå University follows the Public Health Agency of Sweden’s guidelines and have taken a number of precautionary measures to help limit the spread of COVID-19 on our campuses.
The university premises including the University Library remain open with limited opening hours, this is to enable necessary compulsory course components to be carried out and course literature to be accessible, for instance. However, you should avoid coming to the university unless necessary, and absolutely refrain if you have the slightest symptoms of disease.
All public spaces, lecture rooms, group study rooms and study spaces must be adapted for physical distancing to the extent possible. The university does this by
For security reasons, some buildings are kept locked. This currently concerns the University Administration Building and the University Administration Building. Main entrances are open during daytime.
Teaching should be carried out online or through other forms of instruction that do not involve person-to-person meetings or visits to university premises. This means that your education may be different to what you had imagined.
Find out more under FAQ for current students and get tips on how to Study from home.
Examination should take place online or through other adapted formats that do not involve person-to-person meetings or visits to university premises, under the condition that legal certainty can be maintained and that reasonable demands on quality can be satisfied. This means your examinations can be performed differently to what you had expected.
Although, some knowledge and understanding cannot be assessed through take-home examinations since the answers can easily be found online or by collaborating.
And video surveillance of home exams is advised against for integrity and legal reasons by the university's educational experts and the student unions.
For these reasons, the university still needs to conduct some well-chosen assessments as hall examinations.
Please read below what measures have been taken and what you need to know and do before and during your hall exam.
To reduce the spread of COVID-19 during written exams in examination halls, the University has introduced temporary routines.
A student who experiences symptoms of disease may not participate in a hall examination. The student must notify the teacher of his or her absence. A student who cannot take part due to illness, or chooses to not participate due to worry, has the right to participate at the next possible time.
It is crucial that all students leave the building as soon as they have handed in their examination and in that way reduce the risk of crowding.
Students are urged to keep distance to others and avoid speaking to the invigilators and each other to the extent possible prior to, during and after their examination.
The measures have been taken in dialogue with the Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at Region Västerbotten.
Umeå University follows the recommended distance between students in written hall exams and has heavily limited the number of students in each hall to reduce the risk of spreading infection. Despite this, the Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at Region Västerbotten still recommends that students and staff wear face masks at written hall exams as an extra precaution. Students are offered single use face masks in connection with the exam.
Learn more about face mask usage at Umeå University
In order to sit the exam, all students must be signed up for the exam and be listed on the registration list that the department submits to the Examination Services. Students who have not signed up on time will not be allowed to take the exam.
To avoid several people using the same phone and taking unnecessary contact with the invigilator, students will not be able to phone their teacher if there are obscurities in the exam. Instead, students are asked to make a note of this in their exam. Teachers are not allowed to visit the exam hall during the ongoing exam either. If a situation should arise regarding questions of aids or missing questions in the exam, the invigilator may call the teacher.
Each hall at Östra Paviljongen now has an assigned entrance to reduce the risk of crowding when entering and leaving the building. All students must therefore find out in what hall their exam will be held and make sure they know what entrance to use. Assigned entrances can be found on the map.
Find out what entrance is to be used for each examination hall
To reduce the risk of causing queues into the examination halls, the invigilator will not check students’ identification and registration at the door. Instead, the invigilator will do so once the exam has started. Lists of registered students will be posted outside each hall.
When handing in an exam, students will approach the invigilator’s table, show their identification and hand in the exam.
A new routine is the Plexiglas sheet distancing the invigilator from the students. These are available in most halls, also external ones. At Östra Paviljongen there are also markings on the floor indicating that only one student may queue at any given time and at a safe distance from each other.
