Return plan in universities

The University of Azuay will be the first institution to inaugurate the new cycle with its students.

After a year and a half, five universities are preparing to receive students in the classrooms. Each institution has developed a progressive return plan and an educational plan.

The Catholic University of Cuenca and the University of Azuay are preparing for fully face-to-face classes.

The University of Cuenca, the National University of Education and the Salesian Polytechnic opt for face-to-face and virtual classes.

With the vaccination almost covered among the university community, with a broader knowledge about the measures that must be taken to avoid contagion and with an educational plan, after a year and a half, the public and private universities of Cuenca are preparing to start to receive the students of the different cycles.

The first institution that will receive students in a gradual and controlled manner will be the University of Azuay (UDA): next September 20, the private establishment will begin with formal classes with second cycle students onwards, since those of the first cycle cycle began with a previous process on September 1.

For the gradual return, the UDA established a calendar. The first faculty that will receive students in the classrooms will be Administration Sciences, then, throughout the week, the faculties of Science and Technology, Philosophy, Letters and Education Sciences, Design, will open their doors. Medicine and Legal Sciences.

In addition to a calendar, the UDA created a virtual space in which students, teachers and administrative staff can review the safety plan that was developed to guarantee the return to face-to-face activities.

Within the plan there are some obligations that must be fulfilled. For example: students must wear a double mask, and the classroom windows must be permanently open, since one of the recommendations is that the spaces be constantly ventilated.

- On September 20, the UDA will inaugurate the new cycle that will be completely face-to-face. The U. de Cuenca will start with a hybrid modality on September 27.

- The Catholic University will begin 100% face-to-face classes on October 4 with a progressive return. The UPS will begin the academic cycle on October 7; and the UNAE on October 18.

After the UDA, on September 27, the University of Cuenca will also formally start the September 2021-February 2022 cycle with students of all cycles, except for the first, since it will wait for the Secretary of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Senescyt) send the list of high school graduates who received a place for the new semester.

For the progressive return, explained Juan Leonardo Espinoza, academic vice-rector of the University of Cuenca, each faculty has been organized according to the characteristics of their careers and of their students based on a hybrid model.

“Combining the face-to-face and virtual modality is going to be the new prevailing model… In this transition stage, this coming semester allows us to get there… And we are going to have to adapt where we already demand that face-to-face be combined with virtuality, ”said Espinoza.

To reactivate the university spaces, the University of Cuenca created a risk calculator, which is a simulator that allows knowing how many students can be received per classroom and how long classes can be taught in the place. This will try to guarantee the health of students and teachers, and avoid contagions.

While higher education institutions are progressively reactivated, the Catholic University and the Salesian Polytechnic (UPS) finalize the socialization of their return-to-class plans with the university community.

In the case of La Católica, its authorities, like the University of Azuay, have decided that the classes are totally face-to-face with students who already have their full vaccination scheme. The return of immunized students will begin on October 4.

Seven days later, UPS will start with its class models: fully classroom, hybrid, or fully virtual.

These study options will be chosen by students at the time of enrollment in the institution that this week carried out its teacher training sessions.

In them, the professors learned about the strategies that the university will use from next October 11 to receive the students who will access the different work modalities.

Finally, the National University of Education (UNAE), whose administrative staff returned at the beginning of September, on October 18 will start the new cycle with the face-to-face and virtual modality. According to the plan and the availability of capacity, a return of 25% of the students is expected.