ISE Bulletin on COVID19
A Letter from our Director
REYKJAVIK, March 16 - As of today, a country-wide ban on gatherings of over 100 people has been put into effect for a minimum of four weeks by Icelandic authorities with the intention of slowing the spread of COVID-19. All universities and junior colleges will be closed to students during this period. In response, Reykjavik University has announced that all teaching during this period will be moved online.
RU has provided a clear COVID-19 response strategy during this time period, which extends to ISE students. Due to intensive preparation, the university has been able to shift all courses online, and has worked hard to structure courses and schedules for distance learning. ISE students will be hearing from their respective professors through their Canvas courses.
A Message to Current ISE Students
We encourage you to keep an eye out on Canvas for announcements, and to continue working on your assignments and theses. For those of you who have begun their thesis projects, now is an ideal time to start background reading and reviewing literature for your respective research topics. We recommend continuing communication with your supervisor(s), and scheduling calls regularly (weekly is appropriate). Those who are in the process of forming their research topic, continue communicating with those you wish to work with as well.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a period of great uncertainty. Many of you are away from your families and usual support groups. Our office understands the challenges that this poses, and is always open to any of our students looking for support. If you have any concerns about your situation, academic or otherwise, do not hesitate to reach out to any of the following people and/or resources.
A Message to Prospective ISE Students
As we have outlined above, there have been operational changes to the university for the next four weeks. We would like to emphasise that we do not see these precautionary measures having an impact on our operations for the incoming class of 2020.
The ISE Summer School remains scheduled to start on July 20th, 2020, at 09:30 sharp. Our three-week intensive course will still be scheduled in our traditional on-site lecture format, with site visits and field trips. Further information will be shared in the coming weeks for accepted students.
Students that have received admissions already may have received automated emails related to course registration, deadlines, and so on. These emails are relevant for students currently enrolled in the Spring 2020 semester and can be disregarded. During the Summer School, we will sit down with each student to map out a course schedule best suited towards their goals.
Once again, we look forward to greeting you very soon and wish everyone good health.
Sincerely,
Juliet Newson
Director of ISE
For all further assistance and support, RU provides an excellent student counselling office.