September 23rd message -  Resumption of teaching activity

Dear Students and Staff,
The new academic year is about to begin; unfortunately, we are all fully aware that this year will be very different from previous ones. We have been called upon to carry out extensive and demanding preparations which have seen the involvement of the entire academic community. I would like to thank them all warmly; our efforts have been rewarded, since they have allowed us to arrive at this long-awaited moment fully prepared.  
Indeed, as we had both pushed and hoped for, teaching will recommence as a combination of face-to-face and online activities which will accommodate different needs in complete safety for all concerned. Our framework of reference in this delicate (and still unclear) phase will be the Didactic Organisation Programme, approved by the Academic Senate on the 15^th September. This will aid us in reaching a number of objectives which we believe are essential: 
- to allow students from all degree courses (and above all first year students) to attend face-to-face lessons, thus allowing for direct contact with teaching staff and reuniting the university community, a vital feature of university life for physical campuses;
- to allow the use of online teaching for all those students who are unable to attend face-to-face courses for any given reason (health issues, lack of transport, limited classroom capacity, etc.);
- to be able to modify, without interruption to teaching, the number of students attending the Politecnico and the amount of face-to-face teaching, given the unpredictable nature of the current health situation; 
- to monitor all access points so as to provide a constant guarantee of health and safety conditions for students, teachers, researchers, staff and security personnel.
In short, we have predicted a number of scenarios to implement based on the general status of the epidemic and which we are able to switch rapidly between.   
We will start off with what we have called SCENARIO 1B, the most appropriate response to the current situation, which we hope will remain stable (a detailed description of this and all other scenarios can be found in the full document, available at the link at the bottom of this e-mail). Scenario 1B involves:
·      Face-to-face teaching only for first year students on Bachelor degree and single cycle degree programmes 
·      Split classrooms
Each class will be split into two adjacent rooms, with the teacher in one and a video projection of the lesson in the other. This system will allow for the use of less than 25% of the total number of places available, a further element to guarantee the safety of everyone concerned. 
Here is a brief summary of the key features of all the predicted scenarios:
·       SCENARIO 0 (the most stringent; we hope that this is never needed): 100% online teaching;
·       SCENARIO 1 face-to-face teaching only for first year students on Bachelor degree and single cycle degree programmes (50% of hours);
·       SCENARIO 1B (the initial scenario to be used, as outlined above): face-to-face teaching only for first year students on Bachelor degree and single cycle degree programme and split classrooms (50% of hours);
·       SCENARIO 2: face-to-face teaching only for first and second year students on Bachelor degree courses, first year students on Master’s courses and first to fourth year Architecture students (50% of hours);
·       SCENARIO 3 face-to-face teaching for all courses of study (50% of hours);
·       SCENARIO 4: face-to-face teaching for all courses of study (over 50% of hours).
We plan to move up to Scenario 2 from 26th October and our hope is that we can move up to Scenario 4 as soon as possible. For the time being we will keep our feet on the ground and remain optimistic, as we have done up to now. A Committee has been set up which will meet every week to analyse the current health and organisational situation and so evaluate which scenario to adopt over the following weeks, leaning wherever possible to favour the widest possible access to face-to-face teaching.
Obviously, when in class all students and staff must:
I.         Wear a face mask
II.         Only sit in clearly indicated seats
III.         Follow marked routes to enter and leave all areas
IV.         Stay at home if suffering from a temperature or showing flu-like symptoms
Over the next few days I will be sending you further information, some of which will be functional, on the resumption of teaching activities.  
The Didactic Organisation Programme referred to above, as well as general guidelines for Phase 3 and functional details on health monitoring for vulnerable personnel, can be found at the following link (documents in Italian, first published 22nd September): http://www.poliba.it/it/content/il-politecnico-affronta-il-coronavirus
An English language version of the Didactic Organisation Programme will be available shortly at the following link:  http://www.poliba.it/it/ateneo/covid-19
 My very best wishes to you all for the forthcoming Academic Year.
Francesco

Didactic Organisation for Academic Year 2020/2021

13 March 2020 message

Dear students,
here some updates and further useful information with respect to the 5 March 2020 message.
According to the new measures of the Italian government, I’ve updated the measures at Politecnico di Bari for the containment and management of the COVID-19 epidemiological emergency COVID-19, and I’ve allowed on-line exams. The text in English is available at the following links:

• MEASURES FOR THE CONTAINMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY COVID-2019
• Online exams

I recommend everyone to strictly follow the Ministry of Health sanitary rules of thumb. Further resources in English about Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are available at the World Health Organization (WHO) website. In particular, here there is useful advice for the public. Finally, information on how the Italian government is managing the Coronavirus emergency is available here.

The good news is that within a few days almost all active 2^nd semester courses are held online:

We have experienced very little technical problems, and professors and students are satisfied with the quality of the communication.

Information for attending online classes are available here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgortrAHop4KD-iTESZWu9c2X0DkjcZfI

If you are on Erasmus+ mobility (incoming and outgoing), you can voluntarily interrupt the mobility and, for duration below the eligible limits (60 days in case of internship and 90 in case of study), this interruption will be considered “due to force majeure”. For further information, please see my 5 March 2020 message.

Foreign students and staff that wish to get back to their home Countries, also according to the recommendations of their Embassies, can likely experience difficulties due to flight and transportation restrictions. I suggest they check indication given by Foreign Offices of their home Countries; a comprehensive list is here. Keep in mind that your Embassy and Consulate offices in Italy can provide assistance for your needs. Of course, also our Office of International Relations will provide support: you can contact the office via Skype or Teams (preferable) or email. Further useful information for Erasmus+ foreign students in Italy can be found here.

For Politecnico’s students that are abroad for Erasmus+ mobility and have decided to return in Italy, information on eventual special arrangements for overcoming flight and transportation restrictions can be found here.

I would point out for both foreign students in Italy, and Italian students abroad for Erasmus+ mobility that once back in their home Countries is highly advisable to strictly observe a quarantine period, to avoid the spreading of Coronavirus disease. Instruction for quarantine is given by the Ministry of Health of each Country.

According to the Italian government’s provisions, new Erasmus+ outgoing and incoming mobility of Italian students, as well as the mobility of academic and administrative staff, are suspended for now.

Thank you for your attention, and for your cooperation in this very critical time.

The Rector

5 March 2020 message

Dear students,
as you already know, I’ve recently adopted the "Measures of Politecnico di Bari in terms of containment and management of the epidemiological emergency from COVID – 2019" together with the regulation for "Smart working or agile work for administrative and library technical staff". All information is available on the site at the following links:

http://www.poliba.it/it/content/il-politecnico-affronta-il-coronavirus

https://www.istruzione.it/coronavirus/index.html

In addition, all students have been informed of the procedure to enroll and attend the courses provided remotely. Courses already available in distance learning mode are listed at:

http://www.poliba.it/it/telefonia/iscrizione-ai-corsi-presenti-su-microsoft-teams-del-poliba

In almost all areas of the Campus, new devices are able to provide wireless coverage of the Eduroam broadband network. This will facilitate the activities of teachers for distance learning by allowing them to access with their wireless devices from their offices or classrooms. Those who have not yet configured access to Eduroam will find on the Poliba portal (in the Services menu) the link to the page with instructions:

http://www.poliba.it/it/amministrazione-e-servizi/eduroam

With regard to, specifically, all of you who are on Erasmus+ mobility (incoming and outgoing), following what has been communicated by the Erasmus+ National Agency, I inform you that, in case of need, the mobility can be voluntarily interrupted and, for duration below the eligible limits (60 days in case of internship and 90 in case of study study), this interruption will be considered “cause of major force” and reported to the aforementioned Agency, reimbursing the sums given in advance and not due. I therefore invite you not only to comply with the provisions of the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers but also to limit your movements to situations of real need, promptly giving information to the Office of International Relations for the related fulfillments.
In this regard, I confirm that the usual reception and support from the Office of International Relations will continue to be provided. Actually, from this week, only via Skype or Teams (preferable) or Email. You are therefore invited to have an account (to be communicated) in order to continue studying, collaborating and working in serenity.
I thank you for your cooperation in a critical moment for all of us.

The Rector