How do you get more than 20,000 students to take exams while respecting the social distancing rules? That was the question that occupied a special taskforce for several weeks. “Part of our job was to provide reassurance,” says Wouter De Pesseroey from the Communications Department – “everyone had to know how carefully we were organising things.”
Back in March, it was decided that the students would take exams on campus where possible. To organise everything properly and safely, a taskforce for exams was set up, chaired by Geert Vera and Lieven Willems – heads of the ICT and Infrastructure Departments, respectively. “It also included staff from Room Management, the Education Department, the Health and Safety Department, Catering and Convention Halls, and the Communications Department. Sil Bellon from the Faculty of Law and Jo Vandervoort from Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences were involved too. As part of the Education and Student Administration Working Group (Werkgroep Onderwijs en Studentenadministraties, WOSA), they checked our decisions and communication initiatives with the other faculties. That was a great help,” says Wouter De Pesseroey.
With or without a mask?
From 2 April onwards, the taskforce met online twice a week. Geert Vera: “We first looked at how the distancing rules would impact on-campus exams. It soon became clear that we needed extra space for larger groups. That’s how we ended up at Antwerp Expo and Waagnatie. For computer-based exams, we turned to the Stadscampus sports hall. Everyone took responsibility and did their bit for the project. Sometimes there were some disagreements, for example about the need for masks. After all, while the health aspect was obviously important, we didn’t want to lose sight of the students’ comfort either.”
Organising the sites was far from easy.
Even just working out the ground plans and walking routes for the campuses and other venues was a major job for the Infrastructure Department. Our own campuses were actually more of a challenge than the external venues: “on campus you have more doors and corridors, and students want to follow the routes they’re familiar with,” explains Lieven Willems. Christel Geens and Anne Baetens from Room Management were tasked with putting the pieces of the exam puzzle together and also had their hands full trying to get hold of enough masks and hand sanitiser.
Expert help.
When necessary, the taskforce consulted the university’s own experts, professors Erika Vlieghe and Pierre Van Damme. They also consulted with the GEES expert group. Then it was up to our health and safety advisor Lieve Op de Beeck to translate their advice into specific measures.
Because so many experts were involved, it wasn’t always possible to make decisions quickly. “But thanks to our thorough approach, everything fell into place nicely and there haven’t been any surprises so far,” concludes Wouter. “We also owe our thanks to Catherine Ongenae and her team from Catering and Convention Halls, as well as to the catering staff. They had been technically unemployed since the closure of the Komida’s, but are now stewarding all the students to Antwerp Expo and Waagnatie with great enthusiasm. Thanks also to our colleagues from the central services who volunteered as stewards. Everything was prepared very carefully. That’s actually the message we wanted to get across from the beginning: don’t worry, we’re taking it really seriously.”