UL courses to remain online for rest of the academic year

UL is the first university to tell its students and staff to expect the majority of courses to remain online for the remainder of the academic year.

The majority of courses at the University of Limerick will remain online for the rest of the academic year which runs well into 2021, the university told students this Friday.

On-campus learning will remain curtailed to essential activities, including research, lab-based and practical tuition that cannot happen online, at least until the summer of 2021.

UL is the first university to tell its students and staff to expect the majority of courses to remain online for the remainder of the academic year.

If the national public health guidelines are relaxed later in the academic year, the university says it will consider restoring face-to-face activities.

“However, students whose classes are currently wholly online and who have chosen to study remotely will be able to complete their modules online.” 

In a statement this Friday, UL said its Covid-19 academic monitoring and planning group has been working on planning and timetabling the remainder of the academic year.

“The group has been in contact with the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as well as its partner institutions within the Mid-West Regional Cluster (MWRC), which includes Mary Immaculate College and Limerick Institute of Technology.

“In order to provide students and our wider UL community with greater certainty and to allow adequate time for planning, the decision has been taken to continue with the current academic delivery model for the remainder of the academic year 2020/21.”

“This will mean that the majority of courses will remain online, minimising on-campus activity to essential on-campus learning activities, including all research activities, lab-based and practical tuition and certain small-scale tutorials that cannot happen online.”

We are acutely aware that some students, especially those new to UL, may be finding it difficult to adjust to online learning and others may be feeling socially isolated.

“We are working closely with UL Student Life and the UL PSU to evaluate student feedback and develop improved supports to help you engage with your lecturers and peers, which we will be rolling out in the spring semester.” 

"We also have a range of resources available to support you in your online learning and assessment, which have been developed in collaboration with students.”