Dear students,
This has been an extraordinary week. Last Friday, the university was functioning as normal and now, as we go into the weekend, we are all making ready for a fully online teaching and learning experience, starting on Monday.
This is something DMU has never done before and the efforts we have made this week to enable it have been substantial. We know nothing about this is easy for you but we are in a much stronger position now and hope you feel more confidence and have more answers about how you will be able to study from Monday. There should be introductory information on Blackboard for all programmes, and you can expect this to be added to regularly from Monday onwards so that you are as prepared for study as possible before term ends.
There are a few updates I wanted to give you today.
Adobe Creative Cloud
All students (and staff) will have at-home access to the Adobe Creative Cloud suite from early next week. Full instructions will be available next week and you will all have off-campus access to the full range of software in the Adobe suite until at least 31May 2020.
Library update
As you know, Kimberlin Library will close at 6:00pm on Sunday for the foreseeable future. The ground floor of the Eric Wood building will then open at 8:00 on Monday and we are currently planning for this space to be available until the end of term on Friday 3 April, offering study space and access to computers. The current intention is for Eric Wood to be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday until 3 April, 10am to 5pm on Saturday 28 March and 11am to 6pm on Sunday 29 March.
If you have books on loan, all due dates will be automatically extended to at least the beginning of June. There will be no fines applied. If you want to return books after Kimberlin shuts, this can be done in Eric Wood or via a return point installed outside Kimberlin from Monday.
Student support
You have posed a number of good questions wondering about access to student support services from 23 March onwards. We are working on answers to this and will be able to share our plans for remote support next week. Your physical and mental wellbeing is important at any time but in these new circumstances, especially so.
Off-campus support
We know that not everyone will have reliable and fast internet connection wherever they are, making online learning as well as the submission of coursework via Turnitin difficult. If you are not able to access materials or teaching online and are not able to submit work online from your location, please consult with your Personal Tutor or module leader. We are looking at the options available and will update you further next week.
Blackboard will continue to be your best source of up-to-date information, especially around how your assessments and exams will adapt to fit online delivery. Our COVID-19 FAQs are also updated regularly with fuller answers to these and other questions.
Remember to keep in touch with each other, with your friends and family. This is a strange and new experience for us all and we must help each other through it.
All the best,
Jackie Labbe
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
Posted on Friday 20 March 2020