Notice (Measures to Be Taken for Teaching / Administrative Staff) [May-27]

Notice

May 27, 2020 (partial amendment)

To all teaching / administrative staff:

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Response Headquarter,
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT)

From Monday, June 15, we plan on lifting the campus entry restrictions.

 On May 25, the Japanese Government lifted the state of emergency in response to the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in all prefectures including the special alert prefectures. On May 26, restrictions of university activities are lifted based on Step 1 of the “Road Map to Overcome COVID-19", which is released by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on May 22. It can be said the current status of COVID-19 spread in Tokyo has reached Phase 5 (Post-Pandemic Phase) according to the summary of the Japan Society for Occupational Health (reference below). However, the spread of COVID-19 has not come to an end yet. In addition, according to the national government’s “Basic Policies for Novel Coronavirus Disease Control”, travelling across borders among prefectures including the case of Tokyo should be dealt with utmost caution for the time being.
 At TUAT, campus entry restrictions will be lifted to allow students to attend school from Monday, June 15. However, we expect our staff to abide by the policies of the department you belong to, the guidelines provided by the related local governments, as well as the contents of TUAT’s Notice and Code of Conduct posted on the TUAT website on April 6. We request that you take actions not to spread the infection, such as protecting themselves from the virus and preventing infection transmission to others.

Lectures

• There is not much change to the 2020 academic calendar (one change only in which Faculty of Agriculture and Graduate School of Agriculture will conduct a lecture on Thursday, July 23 (Thursday instead of Monday)).
• Until Saturday, June 13, only online lectures will be held.
• Based on the manual released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan on May 22, infection control measures will be taken in the University facilities.
• To avoid three conditions (3Cs) that facilitate the transmission of infectious disease (closed spaces, crowds, and close contact), throughout the first quarter (until July 31) a number of lectures are expected to be held online only.
• If all your lectures are conducted online throughout the first quarter, please keep them interactive every time.
• At the beginning of each lecture, please send the following message to your students either verbally or by showing a slide with such message written on: “If you upload or disseminate the following (video clips or materials, etc. provided in the course; or video- or voice-recordings, screenshots of the lectures) to the net such as through SNS, it is against the information ethics. For this reason, you may not only be subject to disciplinary action in the University, but may also be subject to civil and criminal penalties such as infringement of copyrighted works. Please do not attempt such action.”.
• For insufficiencies such as the number of lectures, it is possible for the faculty members to take measures such as supplementary lectures, report assignment, additional online lectures, and change of the quarter in which the course is conducted. These supplement measures can be taken at the discretion of the faculty members. MEXT allows faculty members to conduct supplementary classes on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
• For courses that are not suitable for online lectures, experimental training courses and lectures that involve practical skills such as physical education, major changes to the lecture start timing and ways the course is conducted, etc. may be required. Please adjust as necessary at the department or program.
• Due to concerns on infection, if there are students wishing not to come to Tokyo or not to come to school, etc., students will take account of such situation to the student committee or supervisor/advising professor of the student. Please take account of the student’s situation such as by communicating with the student online and sending lecture video clips to the student.
• All overseas dispatches scheduled for the second quarter have been cancelled.
• During the second quarter (August 17 – September 30) conducting supplementary lectures, etc. for the first quarter, in addition to intensive lectures and practical training is possible. Please adjust as necessary at the department or program.
• The periods for course registration (June 1-12) and course registration confirmation (June 16-18) will remain the same. Students can view their performance results of/until the previous quarter on SPICA between June 1 and June 18.
• The deadline for students’ grade registration should be adjusted as necessary as possible within the department.
• Regarding changes in laboratories' division requirements and timings, and other necessary measures, please adjust as necessary at the department or program.
• We ask that you are aware of the health and living conditions of your supervising/advising students. If there is any problem, please share the information with your faculty, etc..
• As for part-time instructors as well, please take the above-mentioned measures.

Research/Laboratory

• Laboratory activities can be resumed if the three conditions (3Cs) are avoided on/after Monday, June 1 in descending order of necessity. However, please follow the guidelines provided by the department. Also, please ask your students to continue to carry the Campus Entry Permit and student ID to enter the campus until Sunday, June 14.
• Employing students staying at home as a TA or RA is also permitted. You can employ them to help create online lectures, materials for experiments/practices, and filming video clips, so please use the system actively.
• If there is a student feeling ill, please ask him/her to refrain from coming to school.
• Due to concerns on infection, if there are students wishing not to participate in the laboratory activities, please take the student’s concern as priority, so that the student is not forced to attend school apart from his/her own will.
• Students’ oversea dispatches, etc. are not permitted for the time being.
• As for students' domestic business trips, avoid trips that are not absolutely urgent or necessary.　Only after fully understanding the situations of COVID-19 spread nationwide and the situation of the destinations, as well as the contents of the required work, the supervisor/advising professor should allow the student to submit the business trip request form, etc..
• Please guide your students to avoid the three conditions (3Cs) so that it does not lead to infection transmission not only in the laboratory but also outside the laboratory (social gatherings, etc.).
• Announcement for tuition fee exemption application, postponement of payment, etc. may be posted on the University website. Please guide your students to check the University website, etc. frequently.

Extra-Curricular Activities

• Extra-curricular activities can be resumed after the campus entry restrictions are lifted, with the approval of the professor in charge of the activity, and if a "Request for Extracurricular Activities" is submitted to the office of the department and approved. However, the professor in charge should advise their students to ensure to avoid the three conditions (3Cs), such as postponing the new student welcome parties, etc. for the time being. If you have any questions, please contact the Student Affairs Section of Educational Affairs Office.

Work Relations of Teaching / Administrative Staff

• Oversea business trips are not permitted for the time being.
• Avoid domestic business trips that are not absolutely urgent or necessary. If going on a business trip, full understanding of the situations of the destinations is required.
• Even after the state of emergency is lifted, TUAT will carry out staff’s remote work and staggered hours of work as a continuous effort to avoid the three conditions (3Cs).

 If the national or local government’s state of emergency, etc. is re-declared; or restrictions on travelling across borders between prefectures are not lifted, etc., we will announce the changes again accordingly.
 If you have any questions, please contact the General Affairs Section or Student Support Office of your department/program.

Reference

Reference) Response to COVID-19 Outbreak by Phase and TUAT Response (Amended based on the response of Japan Society for Occupational Health (released on March 2, 2020))