The universities in North Rhine-Westphalia start the 2022/2023 winter semester on October 10th. To do this, they want to largely do without corona restrictions and make face-to-face teaching possible. But it could get cold in the lecture halls.
Cologne (dpa/lnw) - Despite expensive heating costs and increasing corona incidences, the universities in North Rhine-Westphalia will start lectures this Monday, largely in person. The state government and the universities had agreed on this. "The university thrives on personal exchange, direct arguments, learning together and also on being together outside of the campus," said Johannes Wessels, Chairman of the State Rectors' Conference of the Universities.
The Ministry of Science announced that the vast majority of courses in the winter semester should be able to take place in person. At the same time, the universities have voluntarily committed to reducing their gas consumption by at least 20 percent this winter. In addition, the heating is turned down, only cold water comes out of the taps and libraries have shorter opening hours.
With a view to the corona pandemic, it has proven that the local universities reacted flexibly to the current situation, said Bernd Kriegsmann, President of the Westphalian University. In general, the 69 teaching institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia are sticking to the existing hygiene concepts.
The University of Cologne welcomes around 47,500 students this Monday, around 4,800 of whom are in the first semester. The university in the largest city in the country should take place as regularly as possible on site, but hybrid forms of events will also be implemented. The welcome event, for example, takes place in the auditorium, but is also streamed on YouTube.
Lecturers should decide for themselves whether to teach in person or online. The university has been able to gain experience with a wide variety of digital teaching formats since the beginning of the pandemic. "Many of the innovative formats have great advantages beyond the pandemic," said Elisabeth Hoffmann, spokeswoman for the University of Cologne.
In order to be able to react appropriately to current developments, the universities in NRW have been in constant contact with the state government since the beginning of the pandemic. "Even if we are now facing new, additional challenges as a result of the energy crisis, I am very optimistic that we will continue to succeed," said the Rector of the University of Cologne, Axel Freimuth.
The University of Duisburg-Essen also starts with a regular semester on site: in full presence, without test obligations or access regulations. "We see a special task and responsibility in ensuring presence. We want to offer students a good environment, and that's not the screen at home on the kitchen table," said spokesman Arne Rensing. Bielefeld University would also like to start the 2022/2023 winter semester without drastic corona measures, and for the time being there are no plans to make masks compulsory.
Face-to-face teaching is particularly important in disciplines that cannot simply switch to online lectures. "All members of the university are looking forward to the start of their studies in attendance, which is particularly relevant in sports practice," emphasized Marilena Werth from the German Sport University in Cologne. The university would also like to start the coming semester without restrictions. To do this, she will provide free tests and set up a "Corona Mail Hotline" for students and teachers. Affected people can contact us there with all questions about Corona.
In Bonn, the university has already noticed that freshmen like to take part in events on campus. "This year's Freshers' Welcome, at which more than 2,000 first-semester students came to the main building, also showed how great the interest in local events is," said Rector Michael Hoch.
