After careful consideration of all the advantages and disadvantages, the HSG has decided to also introduce the certificate requirement in teaching from the start of the semester on the 20th of September 2021, because this will allow teaching to take place in person which will be largely free of protective measures: in the lecture halls, the mask requirement and the capacity restrictions will no longer apply, and there will be more certainty surrounding the planning of courses for both lecturers and students for the autumn semester.
You will find more details regarding the implementation and handling of the certificate requirement, as of Thursday, 16 September, on StudentWeb.
Please note that the events taking place on campus during the week of 13-19 September, especially the Start Week, will still be held without compulsory certification, but with compulsory masking and restriction to 2/3 of the room capacity.
Access to the campus is possible at any time with a valid negative test result; the certificate requirement therefore expressly does not mean compulsory vaccination. However, vaccination against the coronavirus increases the protection against infection as well as against a severe course of the disease very significantly. We therefore strongly support the appeal of the President, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ehrenzeller, to be vaccinated. Foreign students without residence or health insurance in Switzerland can also be vaccinated free of charge. Further details can be found at www.wir-impfen.ch. (If you do not have a Swiss national insurance number, we will be happy to help you. Please contact us at studium@unisg.ch.) In addition, guidelines are still in effect that only those who feel healthy and have no symptoms of a possible Covid infection may visit the University.
Teaching operations in Autumn Semester 21 will start as full classroom teaching, as intended. Students concerned will be informed directly by their lecturers about any resulting exceptions from classroom teaching. Due to the great importance of networking, the large lectures will also take place in in their respective lecture halls with full attendance.
In the current situation, also some students will not be able to attend their courses (in full) on site, for example if they belong to the risk group. Faculty members are therefore obliged to ensure the appropriate participation of all course participants to ensure that students will be able to complete a course successfully even if they have not attended it physically. For this purpose, faculty members will have to provide students with sufficient documentation. Additionally, faculty members are urged to record non-interactive lectures and make them available to students before the examination date. Interactive lectures/seminars need not be recorded owing to the technical challenges connected with them. Unfortunately, losses of quality and some additional work for absent students will be unavoidable – students are not entitled to equivalent course attendance when they are absent.
We would like to thank all students for their understanding and cooperation. Coping with the pandemic continues to be fraught with great inconvenience.