Faculty-specific instructions concerning the exceptional circumstances due to the coronavirus outbreak at the University of Helsinki

Use of University premises

The telecommuting recommendation ended on 30 September. October will serve as a period of transition from telecommuting to hybrid work, starting in November. During October, supervisors and employees will agree on shared working practices.

Protective face masks can be used at your own discretion. There are masks available for people working in faculty premises.

Appropriate rules concerning hygiene and personal safe distances to others must be followed when working in all faculty premises.

Instructions for organizing teaching  

First teaching period until 30.10.

Laboratory teaching will be provided as on-site teaching according to the approved teaching programme. Safety instructions and facility occupancy guidelines must be followed. In addition, it is possible to organize on-site teaching in small study groups, practical exercises and seminars with maximum group size of 50, if the facility occupancy guidelines allow this.

A permission by the faculty response center is required for teaching events with larger group sizes, if the reserved teaching facility occupancy guidelines allow more than 50 participants. Requests of permission need to be sent to the vice-dean for academic affairs. The maximum number of on-site courses is one-third in each degree programme. The teaching schedules should not be changed.

Exams will mainly be transformed into remote exams and/or examinarium exams. If it is necessary to provide the possibility to an on-site exam, a permission of the vice-dean for academic affairs is required. In teaching premises, restrictions regarding the maximum amount of people allowed to be present simultaneously need to be followed. An on-site exam cannot be the only type of exam provided for a student.

Second teaching periot 1.11.-31.12.2021

In the second teaching period, it is possible to increase the amount and group sizes of on-site teaching. On-site teaching and exams are no more limited to group size of 50 people. The changes are planned based on normal room capacity in University premises. Teachers need to send their requests regarding new teaching premises to viikki-timetable@helsinki.fi by 4.10. Lectures for large audiences will take place as remote lectures, as planned. If teaching is transformed to on-site teaching, students must be provided with an alternative completion method or a remote or recorded lecture in the second teaching period. It is not possible to change teaching schedules that have already been confirmed earlier.

Protective face masks can be used at your own discretion in teaching occations. Teachers are responsible for distributing masks to all students, teachers and eventual visitors in the contact teaching or supervising events. Teachers need to get the masks from their department contact person and make sure that they are distributed to students before a teaching situation begins.

Equipment for remote working 

It is time for employees to return the technical equipment e.g. computer and display screens they have borrowed to the workplace by the end of October.