On Aug. 9, the Academic Affairs team announced that the 2021 Fall Semester will begin online. All classes in POSTECH, including experiment and graduate courses, will be conducted non-face-to-face for five weeks from the start of this semester—from Sept. 6 to Oct. 8. Further decisions regarding whether face-to-face classes will resume after five weeks are to be announced by Sept. 27.
According to the Academic Affairs team’s notice, students should refer to the syllabus or contact each department’s office to check their modified course plans. Inquiries regarding overall academic changes can be made by contacting the Academic Affairs team via phone (279-2445) or email (shawnjeong@).
Prior to this announcement, on June 28, the Academic Affairs team had given notice that face-to-face and non-face-to-face classes will be held simultaneously in the 2021 Fall Semester. At that time, the school had decided that face-to-face classes would be reasonable if strict social distancing guidelines were applied in classrooms, and night classes were permitted in order to mitigate populated zones on-campus.
However, the announcement made in June was reversed due to the recent COVID-19 resurgence. Despite nationwide level three social distancing measures and intensified social distancing rules of level four in the Seoul metropolitan area, Jeju-do area, Busan • Gyeongsangnam-do area, and Daejeon • Chungcheong-do area (announced Aug. 13), the number of daily COVID-19 cases in South Korea has been topping 1,000 for over 40 consecutive days since July. Moreover, the fourth wave of the pandemic is turning out to be more severe than ever, due to the highly transmissible Delta variant and delayed vaccination schedules.
Although academic plans have changed, Postechians are still allowed to enter the dormitories. Postechians who wish to enter dormitories must follow the POSTECH Housing Services and Infectious Disease Control’s Guidelines thoroughly. To obtain further information, the Department of Academic Affairs advised students to refer to the Information on the plan for the operation of the summer vacation and second semester of 2021 posted on the Student Notice Board in POVIS. In addition, the previously announced course registration confirmation and add/drop period was changed to Aug. 30 to Sept. 15.
Meanwhile, the Infectious Disease Control of POSTECH has decided to internally implement level four social distancing on-campus, starting on Aug. 12. Professor Joon Won Park, director of the Infectious Disease Control, urged members of POSTECH to avoid using off-campus facilities and receive their first doses of COVID-19 vaccinations by September.