Dear students!
In light of the recently-issued order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the partial lifting of lockdown measures in St. Petersburg in the second semester of the 2020-2021 academic year, we are beginning the transition to an educational process conducted predominantly in the on-site learning format.
We understand that a full transition to the traditional on-site format will take several months, and not all students will be in St. Petersburg by the start of the semester. We hope that most will be able to return by March 9.
At the current stage of the gradual transition to the on-site format, it’s highly important for students to communicate individually with the heads of their programs and the deans of their faculties as there can’t be a common solution that would work for everyone.
Education at ITMO is primarily about a person-centered approach and individual educational tracks. Each of the university’s programs has its unique features and content. This is why it’s only logical for the learning format to be discussed individually with every program head and student, as we already do with international students who don’t have the opportunity to be physically present in St. Petersburg.
Students can contact the Student Services Office if they’d like to transition to remote learning on account of chronic illness or due to family circumstances. The Student Services Office and the International Students Learning and Support Center are also in touch with our international students who can’t come to Russia at the moment. We are informing the deans of each student’s date of return to St. Petersburg as well as of the international students who are currently abroad..
During the next semester, lecturers in the 65+ age group as well as those with chronic illnesses will continue to teach remotely, same as they did in the previous semester.
We also understand that international lecturers won’t have the opportunity to come to St. Petersburg in the near future, and not all lecturers from other cities will be able to teach practical classes on-site. This also speaks in favor of fine-tuning the educational process by efforts of heads of programs, deans, and the university administration. We also believe that lectures attended by over 50 people should be organized in a mixed format.
We are currently collaborating with Municipal Clinic №75 and several other facilities on assessing the demand for vaccines and organizing the vaccination of a maximum number of willing staff members and students. A corresponding poll for students has already been launched in ISU, and a poll for university staff will be launched on February 5.
Over the course of the time we operated in the distance learning format, we continued developing our infrastructure, opened new classrooms and coworking spaces, and we can’t wait to see our students back at ITMO University!
ITMO Rectorate
