Talking to students about COVID safety in teaching

Please do talk to your students about how you and they are using teaching spaces and check that you are all comfortable. This is good practice for inclusive teaching at all times.

If you share an office or your office is not easily ventilated, then please book alternative space for meetings with students or colleagues. For one-to-one meetings you can offer to meet virtually or outdoors but please be aware for many good reasons this may not be acceptable to the student.

Please be aware that you cannot ask for proof of testing, vaccination or exemption from wearing face coverings. You can ask students to use hand sanitiser and you can wipe down touchpoints inside your office or teaching space.

Students who don’t feel safe coming to the University’s physical estate

The University has put in extensive measures to make the University’s buildings and environment safe for all our community. Students who are classed as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) or are medically unable to be vaccinated may be referred to Occupational Health Services for advice and support.

Where it is possible, and has no detriment to learning or progression, it may be possible to offer some activities remotely, such as supervision or academic advising meetings. However, as all national restrictions have now been lifted, if a student chooses not to attend the physical estate for scheduled in-person teaching then there is no requirement to arrange additional online teaching for that individual. High quality online resources should underpin all on-campus teaching and students should be directed to the course Blackboard space.

Not attending campus for scheduled, in-person classes or necessary research activities may affect visa eligibility and/or work and attendance requirements.

If you have concerns about non-attendance of students, please contact your School’s student support or PGR team for further advice. If you are unsure whether your programme has a remote option, please consult your Programme Director

Managing teaching commitments of self-isolating staff

If you have been informed, officially, that you must self-isolate then you must speak to your line manager about work arrangements.

For line managers: If a member of teaching staff is unable to come to campus due to self-isolation or illness this should be managed at a department level. Alternative arrangements should be considered including rescheduling activity, seeking alternative teaching cover or moving the activity online. You must discuss the teaching with relevant programme directors.

For Programme Directors: If you are experiencing high numbers of self-isolating staff and feel that this is affecting the student experience then you should seek advice from the Faculty Teaching and Learning team as soon as possible.

Managing teaching for self-isolation students

If the student is able to study and there are remote options in place then the student should access the remote provision. If the student is not able to study and/or there is no remote option then the student should notify their academic advisor and student support team for advice on catch-up options which may include lecture recordings, online discussion boards and use of office hours

Semester 1 Transitional Arrangements

If your programme has an approved remote option for Semester 1 then students who are unable to travel can opt to take this option. Arrangements for Semester 2 will be considered by the Teaching and Learning Strategy Group later in the autumn. If your programme does not already have a remote option, then your programme is expected to run fully on campus.

Change over times for teaching

For teaching, you can help reduce crowding and keep buildings flowing safely by ensuring you finish sessions no less than 10 minutes before the end of the booked session. This is a standing rule, but we expect all students to be leaving the room at this point to avoid unnecessary overcrowding in corridors and buildings. Students should be advised to arrive no earlier than 5 minutes before their lecture start.

It is recommended that where you are unable to get through all questions before the end of the teaching time that students are directed to ask questions on-line. Using by monitored discussion boards will also help all students can see both question and answer, reducing duplication.

• Good practice resources on the use of discussion boards.

Academic advising, office hours and student one-to-one meetings

It is recommended that you use the Student Attendance System which enables you to manage scheduled and one-off meetings with students. Training guides are available on the link above along with other resources to explain the benefits of the system and how it works.

If a student wants to meet on campus that should be accommodated. If your office is not easily ventilated, then please book alternative space for meetings with students or colleagues

AV Arrangements in teaching spaces

A large number of central teaching spaces have, in addition to the standard facilities, been equipped for dual delivery teaching allowing online students to join a physical session. A dedicated web page has been setup which contains information about where this is available and a full instruction guide. Lecture capture or podcasting is also still available and will capture a dual delivery session in the same manner as a physical one.

All central teaching spaces have been provided with anti-viral wipes at the AV furniture and should be used to sanitise all facilities you will make contact with at the start and end of a session. This would include the PC mouse and keyboard, touch panels, visualisers and microphones. If more wipes are needed in a space, then this can be reported to the Estates Helpdesk and they will be replenished.

• Support with any AV related issues is on hand and accessed by reporting to the Media Services Helpdesk on Ext. 52521 or mediaservices@manchester.ac.uk

Sharing of equipment

Even though the risk of sharing equipment is very low, we recommend thorough cleaning between different users, wipes will be provided and contact estates if additional wipes are required.

Risk assessments for my teaching, supervision, academic advising or other educational activity

Talk to your school or departmental safety officer as generic risks assessments may already be in place for your discipline. They will also have lots of advice and can tell you about the many on-campus measures already in place to reduce risk such as enhanced cleaning, air flushing and ventilation.

Where a specific risk assessment is required, you should liaise with your line manager and school safety advisor. A risk assessment template and guidance are available as part of our Coronavirus management resources. This should consider the activity you will be undertaking, number of people involved, the space being used and duration, along with information such as the ventilation options and any special equipment you may be using.

It is important that any risk mitigation measures in place do not have a detrimental impact on education delivery or the student experience and that the needs of disabled students are fully considered.

Circumstances in which teaching sessions should be stopped

Where the approved risk assessment for a specific teaching session or location mandates participants to take particular mitigating actions then the session will be suspended if one or more participants does not comply unless the individuals concerned have a clinical or disability related exemption agreed with Occupational Health and/or Disability Support Services which has been communicated in advance to the relevant teaching staff. Under Health & Safety legislation everyone has to follow safety measures that are highlighted in the risk assessment. If the risk assessment states for safety reason personal protective equipment must be used and staff and/or students refuse to do so, then they cannot continue the activity. This is in line with long standing health and safety practice at the University.

I have been allocated a physical teaching space, but my unit is online only

If your course unit has been approved to run online only then please contact your school timetabling officer to request to release the rooms. If your course unit is approved for on-campus or dual delivery, then you must go ahead with the approved delivery modes or request a programme amendment via the School Programme Approval Committee.

I can’t find physical space for a group meeting

If no space is available via Central Timetabling or in School owned spaces then, assuming there would be no educational detriment and that all students with additional needs or disabilities can be accommodated, please hold the meeting virtually.

Digital delivery works well for me and my unit - can I carry on teaching online only?

That decision is a collective one as part of the Programme’s design: Curriculum delivery should always be educationally sound, pedagogically based and informed by the needs of our students. Please continue these conversations in your Programme teams and discipline areas to agree sustainable, pedagogically valid programme delivery structures. Please note that the due to CMA requirements the deadline to agree approvals or amendments to programmes starting in September 2021 was 31^st March 2021, and we cannot make substantial changes after that date. Any minor changes should be considered by the School Programme Approval Committee in the first instance and should only be approved where they represent a minor change to the advertised programme. Changes to mode of delivery need further approval from the Faculty Programme Approval Committee.

• More information on programme amendments

There is extensive information on the management of campus and wider facilities. 

This includes information on:

• Face coverings
• Cleaning and ventilation
• Clinically extremely vulnerable