Protocol for Covid-19 Issues during Final Exams in the First Semester of 2020-21

Jue, 17/12/2020 - 17:45
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17/12/2020
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Download the protocol in PDF (in Spanish)

1. Purpose and scope of application

This protocol is applicable to the management of issues that arise during final exams that are part of ordinary assessment sessions (convocatorias ordinarias) and resits (convocatorias extraordinarias) – in the latter case, at faculties and schools employing the "self-contained" calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados) – in the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. The aim of this protocol is to address circumstances that are not covered by the UGR Assessment Policy and Regulations (UGR Official Gazette [BOUGR] no. 112 of 9 November 2016), which establishes the procedures, conditions and requirements to be followed in order to grant, where appropriate, a deferred examination session due to extenuating circumstances, in a normal academic context.

Given that in the current circumstances we do not find ourselves in the normal academic context referred to in the previous paragraph, this protocol will be applied in the case of extenuating circumstances related to Covid-19 that occur before the holding of final exams that are part of ordinary assessment sessions and resits (convocatorias ordinarias y extraordinarias), in the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year.

2. Scope

Students who are unable to take the final exams on the dates set by faculties and schools or by academic committees (in the case of master's degrees) in line with the calendar established for this purpose, may request a deferred examination session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances.

Students may request and take a deferred examination session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances in the following scenarios:

  1. Students diagnosed with Covid-19 who are in self-isolation during the period in which the final exam(s) take place.

  2. Students who have been in close contact with someone infected with Covid-19, and who must self-isolate at home, thereby preventing them from continuing their face-to-face academic activities during this period.

  3. Students with Covid-19 symptoms whose situation has previously been communicated to the health services of the Regional Ministry for Health and Family Affairs (CSF) of Andalusia via the channels established for this purpose, and who must follow the self-isolation rules indicated by the relevant health departments or public health authorities.

3. Initiating the procedure

To request a deferred examination session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances, students must fill in the application form that will be made available on the UGR e-Administration Platform (https://sede.ugr.es). The application form must be accompanied by a report from the Health and Risk Prevention Service (SSPRL) of the University of Granada.

In the case of undergraduate studies, the application must be sent to the director of the department in charge of the affected course or courses. In the case of master's degree studies, the application must be sent to the programme coordinator. In the case of courses on which enrolments and teaching activities are managed by different departments, the application form, together with the supporting documents, must be sent to one of the departments in question, who will then inform the rest of the departments involved in delivering the course.

The application form must be submitted before the final exams of the courses that may be affected begin, in line with the established calendar. With regard to scenario 3 above, given that the symptoms associated with Covid-19 could occur in the hours immediately prior to carrying out the exams, the application form, together with the supporting documents, must be sent to the department director (in the case of undergraduate studies), or programme coordinator (in the case of master's degrees), within three working days following the exam date. This scenario will be taken into account as long as it is clear that the symptoms began before the final exams began.

The department director or master's programme coordinator will send the application forms that comply with the provisions of this protocol to the teaching staff involved in the courses for which the deferred examination session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances has been requested.

4. Completing the procedure

In view of the requests for a deferred examination session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances, teaching staff will arrange for a new final exam to be held under the same conditions that have already been established for the other examination sessions, indicating a single date and time, which will be the same for all applicants. In any case, it must be ensured that no applicant is prevented from taking this final exam due to the self-isolation period established for each applicant.

With regard to undergraduate studies, in the specific case of faculties and schools employing the "self-contained" semester calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados), to avoid a potential overlap of dates, and taking into account that the deadlines to carry out deferred assessments may be tight, the deferred examination session due to extenuating circumstances may coincide with the scheduling of final exams that are part of resits (convocatorias extraordinarias). In these cases, it is understood that students will use up the ordinary examination session. In order to hold the final exam as part of resits, where necessary, a date outside the official assessment period may be established.

First Additional Provision

In the case of students who are officially recognised as vulnerable or who are considered to be the main caregivers of legal dependents, as established in the Regulations on Support Procedures for Vulnerable Students and the Main Caregivers of Persons in Covid-19 Risk Groups for the Purposes of Adapting Teaching, Learning and Assessment in the 2020-2021 Academic Year, approved in an extraordinary session of the Governing Council on 5 October 2020 (hereinafter Regulation NCG160/1), the University will procede in accordance with the adaptation of the assessment determined at the time in question, which will in any case ensure the acquisition of the expected competencies.

Second Additional Provision

For situations related to Covid-19 that are not covered in this protocol and that prevent the student from taking the final exam on the scheduled date, the student must send the application form to the department director (in the case of undergraduate studies), or to the master's programme coordinator, so that it can be evaluated and processed accordingly.

Likewise, for incoming mobility students (incoming students on international programmes or the Exchange System between Spanish Universities [SICUE] programme) and for international students enrolled on programmes leading to the attainment of a UGR degree who, as a consequence of restrictions on travel from their places of origin, are unable to attend the final exams, the departments and master's programme coordinators will establish the appropriate procedures to guarantee their right to assessment in ordinary examination sessions and resits, upon notifying the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization, in the case of international incoming mobility students, and the Vice-Rectorate for Student Services and Employability, in the case of SICUE students and international students enrolled on full degrees.

Final Provision

This protocol is only applicable to issues related to Covid-19 that prevent the taking of final exams that are part of ordinary examination sessions and resits – in the latter case, at faculties and schools employing the "self-contained" calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados) – in the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year.

For other possible circumstances that may entitle students to a deferred examination session, the provisions of articles 9 and 20 of the UGR Assessment Policy and Regulations will be applied, as well as the relevant contents of Article 26 of the International Student Mobility Regulations.