IADT Response to Level 3 Restrictions
21 September 2020
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To all IADT Students
Last week the majority, if not all, of you returned to IADT for the Academic Year 2020/21. You returned to a radically different campus and a fundamentally different student experience. Yet you returned to a safe and managed environment, focused on ensuring that the health and wellbeing of the whole IADT community is protected.
Friday’s announcement by Government that Dublin will move to Level 3 restrictions, in the face of increasing transmission rates of Covid-19, requires us to review and restate the existing high safety and operational standards in place.
As the first Higher Education institution in Dublin to return to study this academic year, IADT staff and students have already experienced the very high level of safety and precautions necessary for safe and effective on-campus activities. These precautions include a significant shift towards blended delivery, a change in teaching that sees all IADT programmes delivered online with a proportionate level of on-campus activity relative to each academic discipline. This managed and proportional level of access will not change. However, a small number of programmes who have limited on-campus activities scheduled for the next two-three weeks will, where possible, take all of their teaching and tutorials online as we respond to Level 3 restrictions.
Our Institute is unique — the significant proportion of practical, project-based and technical provision integral to our programmes requires attendance on campus. IADT cannot move to 100% online provision, but we can continue to maintain the high-level of restricted and controlled access to our specialist facilities.
Last week our campus operated at less than 25% capacity with no more than 400 students on campus on any given day. While on campus, all students were assigned to pods, wore face coverings and studied in spaces that maintain safe-physical distances. In addition to this, the strict hygiene regime across campus and the high number of personal sanitising stations available ensure that we continue to meet the highest level of personal-hygiene etiquette. In a period of heightened restrictions, it is incumbent on all to adhere to this level of precaution, not only on campus but in all of our daily interactions.
For some of you, changes implemented in response to Level 3 restrictions will impact upon your schedule and on-campus activities over the next three weeks. However, and where possible, we will continue to timetable all studio, practical and workshop activities at times that ensure IADT students avoid peak-time commuting hours on public transport. I also encourage all of our students who live close to our campus to walk or cycle during this time.
Next week, September 28th, we will welcome our incoming First Years. Throughout that week all progression year students will work remotely and our first years will have exclusive access to campus as they participate in our transition programme First Year Matters, familiarise themselves with the campus environment, meet their programme teams and work within their peer groups.
I recognise that any additional restrictions imposed upon you are disruptive, particularly as you have just recommenced your studies last week. However, our actions and behaviours over these coming weeks will greatly determine when and if we can return to a more familiar and consistent period of work and study.
I remind you all to familiarise yourself with our protocols and the return-to-study guidance received from your respective Faculties available here. Our student support services will continue to be available to you on-campus or remotely during this time.
With my continued support and commitment to you.
David
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David Smith President