Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Studies

Students need reading resources and, most importantly, books. Although the university is further expanding its online services in light of the current situation, its physical books are irreplaceable. For this reason, the University Library reopened its circulation desk on 21 April, one of the first libraries in Thuringia to do so. This is initially only available Monday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm for university members only, but demand is high: »Initial feedback from our users has been very positive. Many teachers have noted that digital teaching is only possible if students have access to the relevant information,« explains the University Library’s head librarian, Dr. Frank Simon-Ritz, »and for that you need a library«.

Resources can be ordered via the online catalogue (OPAC) and the discovery service (BibSearch). Books and media will then be available to be picked up and checked out the following day. There is still a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at the library, even if things are a little different. Library visitors are welcomed personally by student assistants and made aware of the new situation. Plexiglass screens at the desk protect employees, who are very busy with returns and new loans after several weeks of closure. Face masks are worn by all, and are mandatory for visitors.

For your convenience, borrowed items can be renewed up to ten times. Anyone who has just started studying or working at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar this semester can simply register via the online form and activate their account at the circulation desk by presenting official photo ID. This must be done in person at the library. The library also offers a campus delivery service for journal articles. Student workspaces in the library will eventually gradually be opened up again, but this is dependent on the general situation and will require the development of suitable protection measures that meet distancing and hygiene regulations.

More time: students are learning multiple languages at once

Language courses in the Language Centre are being offered exclusively online for the entire semester. The selection available is slightly reduced with seven of the usual eleven languages on offer, but there is still lots to choose from. Staff have been working hard in recent weeks to set up these digital services.

»In early March, we switched our standard intensive German as a Foreign Language course to an online format in just two days. This allowed us to test how language lessons – which traditionally rely on interaction and classroom teaching – would work in a digital setting. We were then able to use this experience to prepare for the summer semester«, explains Dr. Susanne Kirchmeyer, head of the Language Centre.

Language courses began on their originally planned start date of 20 April. Since then, over 1,000 students have been learning a foreign language in the 35 available online courses. Many are taking advantage of the opportunity to register for more than one language – something they likely would not have time for in a normal semester. Dr. Kirchmeyer is excited about the high level of interest and has a positive outlook: »Nearly all of our students have been active in their courses from day one and have started tackling the activities set by instructors. The first video conferences were a great success; all of our instructors reported how happy course participants were to finally be able to interact (albeit virtually) and have discussions with one another after a long period of limited contact—a period where many of them found themselves alone«.

And although everything has gone according to plan thanks to the incredible amount of time and effort put in by the entire Language Centre team, the plan is for language courses to revert back to classroom teaching after this exceptional semester. Staff are already looking forward to the day when they can welcome course participants back to the Language Centre in person. Online formats could then be used to supplement classes.

Something for everyone: at-home sports classes for all levels

Although the Falkenburg University Sports Centre is currently standing empty and no-one is allowed to run laps of the sports field in the spring sunshine, coming to a standstill is out of the question for University Sports Centre staff. »The positive impact of daily physical exercise, sport and activity is vital«, stresses University Sports Centre head, Dr. Uwe Türk-Noack. »We encourage all students and staff to stay active and fit«. And so the motto chosen for this semester is »Stay active and keep moving in the 2020 summer semester«.

A wide variety of online services have been made available so that staff and students can keep fit at home with the benefit of professional guidance. The University Sports Centre website is offering an increasing number of free videos ranging from short coffee-break routines to stay active when working from home to longer, intensive workouts and cardio training. Each workout is designed so that it can be completed at home. In addition, the University Sports Centre is allowing patrons to borrow from a selection of smaller equipment. While course leaders are creating more video courses, the Sports Centre Team is also encouraging collective remote exercise via weekly live streams and die-hard sports enthusiasts can receive incentives for their own personal training via a variety of organized challenges.

Although it will not be possible to train in sports facilities or use weights rooms or gyms during the summer semester, the Sports Centre still hopes to create opportunities for some potential on-site sports offerings: »Offering running or fitness courses that take place outdoors at some point during the semester is still conceivable«, Türk-Noack explains. If this happens, participants will of course have to adhere to distancing and hygiene regulations.

In the meantime, this period without any patrons on site is not going to waste: construction projects, such as expanding the calisthenics area and refurbishing the indoor climbing wall, have been initiated so that all patrons will be able to take advantage of improved sports facilities in the future.

The SCC is supporting students and staff during the digital semester

The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Service Centre for Computer Systems and Communication (SCC) is currently facing a mammoth task: digitalizing teaching and providing secure, data-protection-compliant technology that operates smoothly is posing a huge challenge for SCC staff. The SCC has been working intensively and in shifts to develop solutions over the past few weeks. They are working hard to provide all university members with the proper support during the digital semester and just one example of this is the cloud.uni-weimar.de service, which provides everyone with 25 GB of cloud storage – much more than the free Dropbox service. This allows university members to save and exchange data from anywhere in the world. The local storage on local infrastructure for working on campus is also being maintained.

Those without a printer can continue to make use of the university’s printing facilities. Paper printouts of documents can be retrieved from the central printers in nearly every building once your thoska has been authenticated. The SCC has even expanded this service: you can now print PDF documents via a web front-end system from your hall of residence, for example. Just follow the instructions here.

Hartmut Hotzel, head of the SCC, summed the situation up as follows: »We are looking forward to being able to reopen our computer pools. Exactly when this will happen depends on when classroom teaching starts up again. We have extended our opening hours to answer the many questions that will no doubt arise at the beginning of the semester«. The hotline is now available until 8 pm by phone at +49 36 43 58 2424 and by e-mail at hotline@scc.uni-weimar.de. Student assistants are providing telephone assistance for IT issues as well as information on various other subjects.

The SCC is using the time until classroom teaching restarts to improve its digital infrastructure: all WLAN access points are being replaced with devices offering a higher output, and the computer pool rooms in the SCC are also being refurbished and fitted with new equipment.