Guidance for using generic teaching spaces in 2020-21

Guidance notes for educating students in generic teaching spaces in 2020/21.

First published: 23 September 2020 | Last updated: 23 September 2020

Teaching rooms will look very different in 2020/21 and the experience of staff and students getting to and from, and using those spaces will also change.

For our safety measures to be effective, we expect every member of staff and all our students to follow the new protocols and respectfully safeguard your own health and wellbeing, and that of every member of our community.

Below, we set out the operational arrangements, and responsibilities and accountabilities in all generic teaching spaces for 2020/21, to keep us all safe.

Rooms covered by this guidance

Generic teaching spaces includes centrally bookable teaching rooms and departmentally bookable teaching rooms.

• It excludes:

1. PC Cluster rooms – which will be accessed entirely remotely. See Virtual Teaching PCs for more information.
2. Spaces that are managed by academic departments, specifically:

• Teaching laboratories and other specialist teaching spaces (studios, workshops etc)
• Specialist departmental computing facilities
• Non-bookable student spaces (student study spaces; communal facilities; departmental study rooms etc.).

See 'Risk assessments for teaching labs, studios, workshops and other specialist spaces' for guidance relevant to these spaces. 

Note: The term ‘teaching staff’ is used for anyone delivering F2F education in 2020/21. 

What we are doing to keep everyone safe

We have put in place a range of measures to keep you safe.

One-way system

UCL’s buildings have – where feasible – one-way systems in place and building and room capacities have been reduced. Signage is in place to indicate entry and egress routes and maximum capacities in rooms, lifts, toilets, kitchens etc. It will take considerably longer to travel around campus so please bear this in mind and ensure that you allow plenty of time to get to your teaching session.

Corridors

Everyone should avoid lingering in corridors or other communal areas within buildings.

Social Distancing at 2m and restricted room capacities

Teaching room capacities have been significantly reduced in order to maintain 2m social distancing.

The revised maximum room capacity is indicated in CMIS and is also displayed on the door to the teaching room and within the room itself. To maintain everyone’s safety his capacity must not be exceeded.

Room set-ups

Rooms have – wherever possible – been set up to safely maximise capacity at 2m social distancing due to the anticipated number of students on campus. In order to achieve this we have – in some cases – changed the furniture in the room to remove large tables and replace with chairs with writing surfaces. We appreciate that this furniture may not be optimal for every teaching session, but the need to maximise the number of seats and the approach that had to be put in place this year to devolve rooms down to faculties/departments has meant that we are not able to always provide a room that is set up to optimally support the teachers preference or pedagogy.

Furniture must not be moved under any circumstances for these reasons.

Length of teaching sessions and room changeover

All F2F sessions in 2020/21 must follow the block pattern below. The exception to this is if two sessions are merged.

Classes must start and finish promptly at the published times. Teaching staff and students must arrive between 10-15 minutes before the start of the session (no earlier) to allow enough time for the preceding class to have vacated, and to ensure safe entry and be ready to start the session on time.

Cleaning regimes

Teaching rooms will be cleaned to an enhanced specification every morning. Alcohol based sanitising wipes and hand gel will be available in every teaching room for students and staff to wipe down their desk or work area. Gloves need not be worn unless the individual has a specific allergy.

Rooms will be checked more frequently than usual to ensure that bins are emptied and wipes replenished before they run out. However, if you are made aware that no wipes are available please call Ext. 30000 or 020 7679 0000* to report that more are required, giving the building and specific room number (please indicate that you are calling about a teaching room).

Sodexo – our cleaning provider – will be cleaning high contact points (door finger plates; lift buttons etc.) regularly during the day. Wipes and hand sanitiser gel are also available at building entrances.

8am – 5pm Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours please call Ext. 33333 or 020 7679 3333.

Ventilation

All teaching rooms have been surveyed and in accordance with national guidance, changes have been made to ensure that the ventilation of rooms does not compromise your safety. For mechanically ventilated rooms this includes checking rooms where there are known issues and taking specific mitigating actions. Flow of air into rooms has been increased and air will not be re-circulated.

In naturally ventilated rooms windows must be kept open. It is recognised that this may mean that rooms may feel chilly as winter approaches and you and your students are therefore advised to wear extra layers as necessary. A list of rooms that are naturally ventilated will be confirmed to your department. Please make sure that all room users are aware of this.

See Reducing the risk of transmission through cleaning and building ventilation.

Face coverings

We expect staff and students to wear face coverings if they can working onsite at UCL. UCL will provide each member of teaching staff with two reusable and washable masks with a clear panel for you to use when interacting with students. These should be collected in advance of your first session from a designated collection point. Staff should use their own personal face coverings at other times.

See Wearing face coverings on campus and Face coverings and protective equipment during Covid-19 [docx] for full guidance. 

If you are feeling unwell

Stay at home and do not come on to campus. If you feel unwell with coronavirus symptoms while on campus, you must stop your teaching session and travel to your place of residence as quickly as possible. See Reporting and managing potential cases at UCL. 

If one of your students becomes unwell during the session

Students (and staff) should not be on campus if they feel unwell. Any student who becomes unwell should leave immediately, and – if experiencing corona virus symptoms – should follow the advice referred to above.

Managing isolated or localised outbreaks

If it becomes evident that a student in one of your classes has tested positive for coronavirus we will take steps to manage outbreaks depending on the nature of the outbreak (i.e. whether it is a single case or multiple outbreaks). Where necessary we will close teaching rooms for a period of time whilst they are cleaned and sanitised or temporarily halt F2F teaching activity on occasions. In order to do this at short notice we will be holding a stock of teaching spaces specifically for this purpose. In the event of an outbreak, your teaching room may be subject to change at short notice.

No auditing of face to face classes

The Emergency Timetabling Policy for 2020/21 stipulates that there can be no F2F auditing of modules or specific sessions. Students are welcome to do this online, where a department is happy to allow this.
 
It is really important this year that all staff and students adhere to this to keep everyone safe within the limits placed on room capacity under social distancing and the requirement on UCL to record who has been in a specific teaching room. 

What you need to do to keep everyone safe

We have put in place this range of measures to keep you safe but every one of us needs to follow the guidance in this document and on the Keeping our Community Safe webpages. 

It will be some time before we can be together again as we are used to on campus and we all need to support each other as we get used to this “new normal”. If you notice that someone has made a mistake and overlooked these guidelines, please let them know in a friendly and polite way. Or if someone reminds you of your own slip, please don’t take offence – we are all just trying to keep everyone safe.

Download a summary checklist of what to do before, during and after an in-person session

 Download slides to display at the start of your session