NUIG announces new staff and student community promise to combat Covid-19

NUIG announces new staff and student community promise to combat Covid-19
Dean of students Professor Michelle Millar and president of NUIG Students' Union Pádraic Toomey display Cúram Dá Chéíle.

NUI Galway has announced that all students and staff must sign up to a new Cúram Dá Chéile, or community promise, as part of the university's Covid-19 response.

The promise entails students and staff pledging to follow NUIG's Covid guidelines as well as the HSE's.

The commitment also asks students to respond respectfully if their actions are challenged.

It is understood that taking the pledge is not optional and that all students must sign it during registration. 

If there are breaches of the community promise, the University's code of conduct will come into play.

"We are asking each student to sign up to be part of our university community, to behave appropriately, to consider others, to follow our advice and public health guidelines, to act responsibly and to respect everyone in the university and the wider community," said NUI Galway President, Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh.

"Cúram Dá Chéile is a big ask. Making it a success is a bigger challenge. But it is the basis for a collective good. It has the power to be a guiding light - for the University, as more than an academic institution, to show solidarity with the wider community and reduce the spread of Covid-19."

NUIG say they are also establishing an expert group to support students with changing their behaviour, and to develop and promote alternatives to traditional social activities.

"Students are rightly challenging us about what they can do, how they can gather safely, how they can socialise. We can’t simply tell them what not to do," says Professor Michelle Millar, Dean of Students.

"The University will have an expert group to work with students and support real behaviour change. We cannot replicate life pre-Covid. We must accept change and live within the boundaries it dictates."

A full copy of the community pledge reads:

In these extraordinary times, our ask is for each student and member of staff to sign up to be part of the University community, to behave appropriately, to consider others, to follow our advice and the public health guidelines, to act responsibly and to uphold the core value of our institution: respect, [and] to respect everyone in the University and the wider community.

We ask everyone at the University to commit to following; Cúram Dá Chéile, our community promise:

  • I will follow NUI Galway and Public Health Guidelines related to reducing the spread of Covid-19. I understand that this is likely to change regularly so I will take personal responsibility for ensuring I am up to date with the latest information which is available at https://www.nuigalway.ie/alert/.
  • If I begin to suffer with Covid-19 symptoms I will report these using the processes within the University and follow guidance to self-isolate and get a test. I accept the role that I have to play in making sure that the areas where we live, work, and study are as safe as they can be.
  • I will show empathy, respect and due consideration to others – my friends and peers, my colleagues, the wider Community, and all of those who help me achieve my goals whilst at University. I note that this commitment sits alongside the University’s policies around harassment and intimidation that I have a duty to assist in establishing an environment in which harassment, bullying, and victimisation are regarded as unacceptable.
  • I understand the importance of providing friendship, helping people avoid loneliness and isolation, and supporting others. Therefore I will look out for my friends and those I live, learn or work with. If I have a concern about someone, I will raise this with an appropriate person (lecturer, student services staff, etc.) so that help and support can be offered.
  • If I am challenged about my behaviour I will respond in an open, positive, and respectful manner – listening carefully to understand the concern, and changing my behaviour to remove it. I understand and accept that wilfully and repeatedly breaching University guidance is an act of misconduct and could lead to me being subject to disciplinary processes as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct. If I see situations that are contrary to guidance, I will remove myself from those situations as soon as possible.
  • I know that this is an ever developing situation – one which requires everyone’s ongoing vigilance and personal responsibility.
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