Institucional statement sent by the Blanquerna-URL Director general

As per the outcome of the meeting held by the Government of the Generalitat on October 29, 2020, the Resolution SLT/2700/2020 of the Department of Health (DOCG 8259 of 30.10.2020) and the Agreement of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia (CIC) (29.10.2020) regarding measures to be taken on university campuses to contain the rate of infection of COVID-19, Blanquerna-URL reports the following:

1- In order to reduce mobility, we are obliged to continue with synchronous online teaching, except for practical activities, during the whole month of November and in the context of the agreement announced by the Inter-University Council of Catalonia (CIC).

2- During this period, internships (internal and external), as well as any activity that requires specific workspace and equipment, will be carried out in situ while taking extreme preventive measures. We are pending specific details and indications concerning the measures on university practices as regards physical activity and sport. Evaluation can also be done in situ. If to any degree the modality and/or the schedule is modified to adapt to this measure, the management of the corresponding degree program will be informed in a timely manner.

3- Schools and services, such as libraries, computer rooms and academic administration, will remain open, implementing the specific measures of our university campus. Lecturers may teach online classes in the facilities available at their corresponding schools. Research activity, whenever required, may still be done in situ.

4- With regard to administrative staff, and as a general criteria and in order to help reduce mobility, they may work, voluntarily, up to 3 working days every week in a teleworking model (except for those cases in which such model is not possible due to the nature of their work) and as long as all services and guarantees are covered. To this effect, each case must be agreed upon with the Dean (schools) or manager (general services). These criteria will be observed, in principle, during the first two weeks of November.

Once again, I reiterate how important it is to act responsibly at present, during this very serious spike in the pandemic. In this respect, I share a video starring the Nursing Blanquerna-URL Degree students who worked in different Catalan hospitals during the first phase of the pandemic. Nevertheless, under no circumstances will we lose our optimism and hope.