Dear Sir or Madam, The COVID-19 threat affects us all – including the entire academic community.
Dear Sir or Madam,
The COVID-19 threat affects us all – including the entire academic community. In spite of the difficulties, the WSB Academy, wanting to carry out its educational mission to the greatest possible degree, has made tremendous efforts to reorganize the form of education in such a way as not to expose the students, learners or doctoral students of the WSB Academy to the necessity of staying in large groups, which may cause a risk of getting infected with the virus. We took these actions, at the same time being aware of the obligation to provide you with a complete study programme – regardless of the adverse circumstances of the spreading epidemic.
We are convinced that this semester the WSB Academy will ensure the possibility of completing full study programmes related to all forms of education it offers. We are also convinced that as a result of our actions you will be able to complete your studies as scheduled, without detriment to the knowledge and skills that the Graduate should have. The WSB Academy has organized education without the direct participation of academic teachers and students, doctoral students and learners. Within one week – with the enormous commitment of the employees of the WSB Academy and external companies – classes were prepared in various forms, including the Moodle educational platform, chat rooms, transmission of lectures in real time by means of the ClickMeeting webinar application, and virtual laboratories. Teachers use a comprehensive Microsoft 365 package for conducting classes, teleconferences, seminars and e-consulting with students, using Microsoft Teams and other applications or software available on the market such as Skype, FB Messenger and Whereby. Foreign students who for various reasons did not come to Poland (no visa, closing borders, cancellation of flights) continue to fully enjoy the rights of students of the WSB Academy and are also able to participate in online classes and obtain credits. The results of our work so far – very positive results, are already visible – classes in an on-line form are already being taught, at the moment there are 210 on-line lectures in a synchronous form, 2100 lessons / classes using the Moodle platform and Internet communicators. In the period from 13/03/2020 to 31/03/2020, we will remotely complete the number of hours planned to be taught in the form of direct classes. Also, the defence of diploma work is organized in a remote form, with a simultaneous transmission of image and sound, while ensuring full security of this process. I want to assure you that the WSB Academy performs all its tasks, with particular attention to the proper fulfilment of its obligations towards the entire community of students at our University.
Dear Friends,
I am asking you for your understanding and patience because we are dependent on various technical aspects that we have no influence on and which influence the process of implementing remote teaching; they are, for example such problems as server overload of service providers, both software providers and Internet providers, it is also the overload of network, both the one used by the University, but also the networks which you use. We must also take into consideration the sheer scale of the undertaking, expressed in thousands of e-learning courses that have to be prepared in a short time, within a dozen or so fields of study, for doctoral studies and Doctoral School, a few branch campuses and over 100 postgraduate fields of study. As Rector, I declare my willingness to help students, learners and doctoral students who find themselves in a difficult life situation due to the state of epidemic threat – they will be able to apply for special financial support. In particularly difficult, individual cases, we will also consider other options for helping students and doctoral students. I hope that, supporting each other, we will soon meet safely in the WSB Academy community.
Zdzisława Dacko-Pikiewicz, (PhD with habilitation, AWSB Professor)
Rector of WSB Academy