Academic Year Begins at SUSU: University Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Answers Main Questions

The new academic year at South Ural State University will begin on September 1st and will be organized in a usual mode. Are combined studies (distance and in-class learning) being considered? Which prevention measures will be organized for the academic and administrative staff, and students? How will the educational process for international students be organized starting from September 1st? The SUSU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Andrey Radionov answers these and other questions.

– Has the decision been made on beginning the educational process in an in-class mode starting from September 1st? If it has, will the student flows be divided somehow and how will it be organized? Are combined studies (distance and in-class learning) being considered?

– The academic year at South Ural State University will begin on September 1st in an in-class studies format with consideration to the measures and restrictions currently in effect in our region due to the epidemiological situation.

Most of the disciplines will be taught in classes at the university. However, lectures on some of the subjects, which are delivered for many groups of students simultaneously and are held in classrooms intended for more than 100 people, will be transferred to the online mode where possible. Meanwhile, one day a week will be scheduled for all the groups to study in a distance mode. This way the daily attendance of the university will be reduced by approximately 20%.

If it is more reasonable to read lectures on certain subjects in an in-class mode and for several groups of students with the total number of 100-200 people, then students will be divided into groups of 100 people and during the lectures they will be sitting in a classroom at a distance from each other.

–Will Master's degree students also study in intramural mode?

– As for Master's degree programmes, the introduction of new technologies has shown their usefulness for students. Students, as a rule, study and work at the same time. And even if we organize the educational process in the evening, it is not always convenient for them to get to the university to listen to a lecture and return home late at night. That is why we plan to conduct classes for Master's degree students both at the university and broadcast them via our Electronic SUSU system on the Internet.

– How many international students are there at SUSU? Which countries have they come from?

– Currently, more than 2000 students from 56 countries are obtaining their education at SUSU. These students represent countries of the near abroad, China, African and Arab countries, and some – Europe and America.

– How will the educational process for international students be organized starting from September 1st: in an in-class or distance mode?

– Russian-speaking international students, who stayed in Chelyabinsk, will begin their studies on September 1st as usual, along with other students. Those international students, who stayed in Chelyabinsk and are obtaining their education in the programmes being taught in English, as before, can learn both in classes and in distance format – at their wish.

Students, who left Russia for their home countries and cannot come back to Chelyabinsk to resume their studies yet, will be studying online. The lectures for them will be broadcast on the Internet via the Electronic SUSU university platform. The experience that we gained in the period of April through June, implementing the educational process remotely, will be actively used for such students this academic year.

In compliance with the Resolution of Rospotrebnadzor, (Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights), those international students, who will manage to come to study at SUSU after the borders are open, will have to self-isolate for two weeks. For that purpose, SUSU has currently organized an observation facility, which is capable to accommodate 128 people and which provides access to the Internet, what will allow international students to begin their academic year in a remote mode. On day 10 to 12, students will be tested for coronavirus, and if the test results are negative, then the students will be able to move to dormitories and join their study groups once the two weeks of self-isolation are over.

We allow for a possibility that the number of students may exceed 128 people. That is why SUSU is preparing a second observation facility capable to accommodate 288 people, which will start functioning in September.


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