Message to USJ Staff and Students

Dear USJ Staff and Students,

Welcome to May. The academic year is drawing to a close and it will certainly be a year to remember, given the disruption caused by the pandemic.

I have just three points for this message

  1. First, I would like to share with you the news that our new Rector, Prof. Stephen Morgan, will be installed on the 23 May. It will be a great day for all of us. Let me wish him well on your behalf as he puts the finishing touches to his plans. More information about this event will follow soon.
  2. The government is now relaxing the preventive measures, and some of you have asked how this applies to USJ. Will we be returning to a safe campus life and class- room mode? The brief answer is: for the time being, very little will change. Teaching and learning online is still the default option at USJ. Scheduling classes, exams or whole modules for classroom mode requires a time-consuming administrative procedure and detailed information must be provided to DSES at least twenty (20) days before the start of the classroom sessions of each module.
  3. Because we have invested so much effort in online teaching and learning, we are producing supporting documentation to prove that the work done by teachers and students has been equivalent and at times more effective than in traditional class- room mode. We have approved documents on “Equivalence of Attendance in Online Modules” and “Assessment in Online Teaching and Learning”. Now we are launching a SURVEY for all students enrolled in online modules. @Students, your feedback is vital for us to understand what has been going on from your point of view. We want to learn from best practices and improve wherever possible.

Traditionally the Catholic Church dedicates the month of May to Mary, mother of Jesus. She highlights how important it is to have someone to care for us for our personal development and whole-person education. As the coronavirus ebbs and flows and social distancing becomes the norm, we will continue searching for creative solutions to weave together a thriving but caring academic community.

Best regards to all,

Yours sincerely,
Fr Peter

6 May 2020

親愛的聖大的同事和同學們:

歡迎來到五月。本學年即將結束，疫情所帶來的影響，無疑使得這成為難忘的一年。

我有三點想通過這封信與大家表達:

  1. 首先，我想和大家分享一個好消息: 我們的新校長麥侍文教授, 將於5月23日正式上任。這對我們所有人來說都是重要的一天。在他即將完成對大學的規劃之際，讓我謹代表大家祝福他。相關消息將在近期內發布。
  2. 政府正在放寬防疫措施，有些人問到聖大將會受到什麼影響。我們是否會回歸到安全的校園生活和課堂模式呢？答案是：暫時不會有太大的變化。線上教學仍然是目前聖大的默認首選。安排課程、考試或課堂教學需要經歷耗時較長的行政手續。相關的詳細資料需提前至少20天向高等教育局提交詳細。
  3. 由於我們在線上教學中投入了大量的精力，我們正在準備相關支持材料以證明我們的教師和學生在線上教學中的工作與傳統的課堂模式是等效的，有時候甚更有效。我們已經批准了有關線上課程出席率和線上教學評估的文件。目前，我們正準備對所有參與線上課程的學生展開問卷調查。@ 聖大的學生們請注意: 您的反饋將至關重要，可以讓我們從您的角度去瞭解現時發生的事情。我們希望從最佳實踐中學習經驗，並儘可能地進行改善。

傳統上，天主教會將五月奉獻給耶穌的母親瑪利亞。聖母瑪利亞提醒了我們關愛對個人發展和全人教育的重要性。隨著新冠病毒疫情的起伏，社交距離成為常態，我們將繼續尋求創造性的解決方案，從而建立一個蓬勃發展並充滿關愛的學術社群。

祝一切安好!

謹

蒒沛德神父

2020年5月6日

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Last Updated: May 12, 2020 at 3:33 pm

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