Please remember that closing educational institutions to students and promoting remote working are just part of the public health response, and that to protect yourselves and others the following are even more important:
- Wash your hands properly and often
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough and sneeze.
- Put used tissues into a bin and wash your hands.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Avoid close contact with people - keep a distance of 2 metres (6.5 feet) between you and others.
- Avoid crowded places, especially indoors.
- Follow the travel advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs - LINK
- Stay at home if you are sick to help stop the spread of whatever infection you may have.
- Help slow the spread of coronavirus
To help slow the spread of coronavirus:
- Anyone who has symptoms should self-isolate for 14 days
- Everyone should limit unnecessary social contact as much as possible
- At-risk groups should avoid close contact with people outside the home
If you need personal health advice specifically in relation to COVID-19 (coronavirus), you should call the HSE helpline service or your GP. Please do not attend the Student Health Centre, your GP or hospital emergency department without phoning in advance.
If you are diagnosed with COVID-19: let us know immediately. Similarly, if you are a staff member and a student or staff member informs you they have been diagnosed with COVID-19, let us know immediately.
Social Distancing
Please follow the HSE guidelines around social distancing, maintaining a distance of at least 2 metres between yourself and other people. Please avoid crowded places in the weeks ahead and limit your own social interactions. We ask you to do this for three reasons. Firstly, to protect yourselves from infection. Secondly, to slow down the spread of COVID-19 in order to protect at risk people, some of whom may die if they contract the virus. And thirdly, to reduce pressure on our healthcare system.
This does not mean that you should avoid the company of others completely. In fact, it is important for your mental wellbeing to keep in contact with friends and family; just please maintain social distancing by completely foregoing meeting in groups, especially social gatherings or party environments.
All face-to-face lectures, tutorials and practical classes are cancelled until the end of the semester. Teaching will continue using remote methods. The University examinations will not take place in person, and the University will use alternative assessments or remote examinations.
During this period you should do your best to ensure that you continue with your studies. You should make arrangements to study online. You will need access to a computer and good internet connectivity, and a quiet place to study. You should also check your MU email account regularly and check the Moodle space for each of your modules for updates.
Teaching will be provided through Moodle. At a minimum it will be a Word document or a PowerPoint file for each lecture. Some lecturers will also add a voice commentary in the PowerPoint files, or provide a screencast. Some may also provide live broadcast lectures, although we know this may be difficult for those with poor internet connectivity.
In most cases your tutorials will continue as online tutorials. Your tutor will decide on which technology to use, and these may take the form of a Moodle forum, or a Moodle chat, or a conference call through MS Teams.
Laboratories and practical work will be disrupted. We are working to provide the nearest viable alternative, to ensure that you achieve the learning objectives of the module. In some cases, this may mean a significant change in the content of the module and updates to the course outlines you have received before.
Placements
If you are on a placement and your host organisation/employer is able to allow you to continue, it is reasonable to continue. However if the placement cannot continue, or it is not safe for you to continue, then you may suspend the placement. We will then provide the opportunity to do a substantial written assignment, to make up the missing credits and allow you to progress with your degree. If you are asked to stop the placement, make contact with the University office that organised your placement.
For those on teaching placements, the schools are closed and the relevant departments have already made arrangements to ensure that your programmes can continue.
Assessment
The University examinations will not take place this semester in the usual format. The examinations will be replaced by remote assessments, including assignments, timed remote assessments and in some cases video interviews. As far as possible, assessments will be completed by the scheduled dates.
We plan to have re-sit examinations in August as usual.
Message to Students from Presidents of Irish Universities and Institutes of Technology
Maynooth University email to all MU students, 18 March, 2020
Maynooth University Email to All Students 24 March 2020
For International Students at Maynooth:
If you are an international student in Maynooth and you go home, we will facilitate you completing your modules and your assessment remotely.
For MU students studying abroad:
If you are a Maynooth University student currently studying for a year abroad, your host university may have closed for teaching. If this arises, you should see if there is an option to continue your studies remotely. If that option is not available, we will arrange an alternative task and assessment which you can do to make up the missing credits and complete your degree, assuming that you passed at least 25 credits in your first semester abroad.
Student Services, including the Health Centre, Counselling, Student Budgeting and Chaplaincy, are currently operating telephone-based consultations. Students should contact these offices by email or phone, rather than in person.
Students can contact the Student Budgeting Office with a range of queries, including eligibility for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
If you are advised to self-isolate or are diagnosed with Covid-19: let us know immediately by advising student.services@mu.ie
The University residences remain open. Students who wish to stay until the end of their lease are welcome to do so. Students who decide to vacate their university accommodation will have their rent refunded.
Students who are in private rented accommodation and are being asked to leave should contact the Accommodation Office if they wish to avail of university accommodation.
During these restrictions, the University will continue to operate, but most teaching will be done remotely.
Following the Government’s announcement of 27 March, the staff attendance arrangement has been revised as follows:
- Access to the Campus will be restricted to essential services
- All employees should now work from home and not attend campus
- A small number of essential services will need to be maintained to ensure the operational resilience of the campus is maintained during this period. Those who are engaged in these services will receive a letter from Human Resources confirming they are essential to the University. If coming to the campus, you should bring this letter with you, along with your staff ID and some other form of identification when travelling to work.
- Employees may request attendance on campus for a limited period if it is absolutely necessary to do so. Please contact your Head of Department by email in the first instance to request such access. Permission to attend campus will only be granted if it is absolutely essential.
In general, the staff for whom it is essential to be on campus are those involved in the following:
- Campus security
- Supporting students living on campus
- Maintaining animal, organism and plant facilities
- Doing essential work on infrastructure and equipment for safety and operational purposes
- Ensuring ongoing operation of critical infrastructure for research
- Preserving the resources that are critical to the research process and not easily reproducible (e.g. biobanks, frozen cell and tissue cultures, etc.)
- Hazardous waste management
- Emergency responses
- Ongoing Core business activities (HR, payroll, IT)
We realise this situation raises a number of other questions for staff. All queries can be directed to your Head of Department or directly to: humanresources@mu.ie.
Maynooth University Email to All Staff – 18 March, 2020
Working Remotely
IT Services have guidance on working remotely here.
Special Leave Arrangement
We have been advised by the Minister for Education and Skills that Special Leave arrangements may be extended to employees who have contracted COVID-19 [
COVID-19 Special Arrangements
]. These arrangements will also apply to employees who are not ill, but have been advised to self-isolate to prevent the spread of the virus.
Please read the latest travel advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
If the DFAT advice for a country or region is “do not travel” or “avoid non-essential travel,” then it remains university policy that you should not travel.
The government has advised all Irish residents against all non-essential travel overseas at this time.
All persons, including Irish residents, entering the country from overseas should restrict movements for 14 days, if showing no symptoms. This includes Great Britain but does not apply to Northern Ireland.
Student Health Centre / Student Services
Student Services, including the health centre and counselling, will remain open remotely. Students should contact these offices by email or phone, rather than in person.
The University Library is closed. Information about online services is available here.
Catering outlets, the sports facilities and the crèche are closed.
All events on campus during this period are cancelled
