Lectures, tests and examinations

Friday, 17 April 2020: The Federal Council has announced that it may not be possible to resume teaching at universities until 8 June. This confirms the University of Basel's concept of offering teaching exclusively in digital form by the end of the spring semester. Since precise forecasts are also uncertain for the period from June onwards, the concepts developed with the faculties for the upcoming examinations will also be implemented as planned. Wherever possible, examinations will be held via digital channels. In individual cases, the faculties may also plan to hold examinations with physical presence, provided that the relevant hygiene and distance regulations are observed. We have drawn up an operating concept for this type of examination, which has already been approved by the Basel-Stadt Department of Health. The students will be informed accordingly by their lecturers.

Friday, 27 March 2020: The Vice President for Education and the Deans of Studies of the faculties have been working on solutions to implement the tests and examinations at the end of the semester. Here the most important points:

• Every course (lecture, seminar, etc.) that is held this semester should be able to be completed whenever possible.
• The University of Basel will be generous in the tests and examinations this semester. Failed the tests and examinations should in principle be able to be repeated. The faculties determine the modalities and will inform the students accordingly.
• The form of the the tests and examinations can be adapted to the special situation. Lecturers will inform students in good time how the the tests and examinations will take place.
• The faculties are in the process of working out concrete solutions, especially for difficult cases (e.g. internships that cannot take place in the intended way).
• Registration for the the tests is done as usual (by course registration). If an additional separate registration for an examination is required, e.g. for exams, this must also be done.
• The faculty information (mails/website) already communicated in the Coronakrise remains valid. Please continue to pay attention to the information mails and also regularly check the corresponding websites of your faculty.

ZOOM and privacy

The University of Basel has licensed the US-American software ZOOM for digital teaching during the period of suspended classroom teaching. To protect the personal data processed by Zoom and its subcontractors, the University has signed the required Global Data Processing Addendum. Despite this addendum, no confidential, secret or particularly sensitive data may be transmitted, uploaded, etc. via Zoom.

Video transmission in groups for students

Students are advised to use the SWITCHmeet tool for online exchanges with video transmission (e.g. for self-organised group work): The tool is easy to use. On desktop and laptop computers, it runs in the browser (Google Chrome or Chromium are recommended), so no installation is required. An app is available for mobile devices. The software includes a chat function and supports screen sharing, for example to show slides to other participants. SWITCHmeet runs on the servers of the University of Basel and is classified as secure. A guide to SWITCHmeet can be found here.

Classroom teaching discontinued until the end of the spring semester 2020

Friday, 13 March 2020: The university management has decided the following measures based on the Federal Council's guidelines:

• Classroom teaching will be discontinued by the end of the spring semester 2020, and courses will be offered exclusively via digital channels from now on.

• Lecturers will inform students how to offer their courses digitally and how performance assessments are carried out.

• The aim is to ensure that the planned examinations can be carried out, so that there should be no delay to the studies. The ability to study has the highest priority.

Although the libraries are closed, many borrowing and advisory services, as well as extensive digital services, are available.