“Physical commencement ceremonies – due to take place in April – have been cancelled, Trinity has announced, with graduations set to be live streamed instead and students conferred with their degrees in absentia …” (more)
[Donal MacNamee and Emer Moreau, University Times, 19 March]
“UCC students have been asked to leave campus accommodation by the end of the week. The college has urged students to leave the grounds if they can out of concern for safety during the coronavirus measures …” (more)
[Gavin O’Callaghan and Frances Watkins, Cork Beo, 19 March]
“We’ve now had almost a week of campus closure here at Maynooth and it has now become clear that there will be no more face to face teaching for the remaining half of the Spring Semester. That does not mean that everything stops, just that all teaching from now on will be delivered remotely. There won’t be any in situ exams in May either. These will be replaced by assessments to be submitted online …” (more)
[In the Dark, 19 March]
“The Government has today (Monday 9 March 2020) announced a €3 million pilot programme to improve energy efficiency and support decarbonisation in higher education institutions as part of targets in the Climate Action Plan. The programme is co-funded by the Department of Education and Skills and Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) under Project Ireland 2040, and administered through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Higher Education Authority (HEA) …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 9 March]
“Last week, there were mixed feelings following the news of the closure of Irish colleges and universities, but it is now perceived very much as a necessary measure, among the many others that the government is putting in place. While the university may not have activities on campus, the university simply does not stop and we have actually already moved all the teaching activities online …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 19 March]
“University College Dublin (UCD) has said it will extend leases for any student living in on-campus accommodation ‘unable to return to their normal place of residence’ in May, due to coronavirus overseas travel restrictions. The university has also said students living in private rental accommodation outside of the south Dublin campus who lose their housing amid the coronavirus crisis can apply for on-campus accommodation …” (more)
[Jack Power, Irish Times, 19 March]
“Last year’s BT Young Scientist Adam Kelly has criticised the decision of the Minister for Education to cancel the Leaving Certificate oral and practical exams. The move will make matters even more difficult for the ‘middle to lower’ student, he told RTÉ News at One …” (more)
[Vivienne Clarke, Irish Times, 19 March]
“Education Minister Joe McHugh has said that despite the oral and practical State exams being cancelled, he expects the main written exams to go ahead as normal in June. He said: ‘We are still working on the basis that the Leaving Cert will go ahead as normal in June’. Junior and Leaving certificate oral and practical examinations have been cancelled …” (more)
[Aine McMahon, Independent, 19 March]
“In an email sent to all UCD students, Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Mark Rogers, laid out an eight-point policy regarding on-campus student accommodation during the Covid-19 outbreak. UCD announced that they will honour the existing rental agreements for all students who would like to remain in their on-campus accommodation. The university will continue to support these students …” (more)
[Hugh Dooley, College Tribune, 19 March]
“The Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle orals and practical exams are being cancelled – but students will be awarded full marks for them. However, no decision has been made yet about the written exams in June, Education Minister Joe McHugh said today …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 19 March]
“… Anyways, today I want to talk about what a postcorona world looks like for Canadian higher education. And I don’t mean ‘immediate postcorona’, as in what happens when everyone re-opens because that depends on the specific timing of the re-opening (the difference between August and October is a pretty big one and I don’t think we can rule out January as a re-opening date). But look at the big picture, one-to-five years after Coronavirus, and what do we see? …” (more)
[Alex Usher, HESA, 19 March]
“English language students have been told they will not be refunded money they have paid in advance for classes following the closure of all schools last week to contain the spread of the coronavirus …” (more)
[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 19 March]
“A basic calculation governs research on human beings: How do the benefits stack up against the risks? The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t much alter that calculation for studies that can directly improve the health of seriously ill participants, such as trials of new cancer treatments …” (more)
[Marc Parry, Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 March]
“Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Bartholomew informed staff and students across Ulster University, that it continues ‘at pace’ in its work to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The health and wellbeing of staff and students remains the university’s primary focus and with that in mind, a number of decisions have been taken …” (more)
[Derry Now, 17 March]
