Announcement

Campus rules as of April 2, 2022

The adjustments to the Corona Rules on the Constructor university campus are as follows. They will apply concurrently with the new Corona regulations in the State of Bremen (see below) as of April 2, 2022:

Extensive removal of the obligation to wear a mask (mouth-nose covering)

• The general obligation to wear a mask no longer applies.
• Nevertheless, Constructor university explicitly recommends wearing a mask indoors – especially in rooms where a proper distance or sufficient ventilation cannot be guaranteed.
  (Note for employees: Masks and rapid tests can still be picked up free of charge from the gatekeeper's office.)
• Exception: only in the laboratories is the wearing of a face mask still mandatory until further notice.

Elimination of the 3G rule (vaccinated, recovered or tested)

• The 3G rule no longer applies to the entire Constructor university campus.
• This also eliminates the employer's requirement for 3G checks of employees.

Reporting a COVID-19 illness

• In order to continuously assess and evaluate the COVID-19 situation on campus and to be able to make possible adjustments to the regulations, we ask all students healthinfo@constructor.university and employees (inform supervisors and/or the Human Resources Department) to continue to immediately report a positive SARS-CoV-2 test to Constructor university.
• The quarantine requirement will continue for those tested positive for COVID-19. Individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 must continue to stay in home isolation.

Supplement to the mode of teaching

• In light of the current situation on campus (as of March 31), the 3G rule no longer applies and there is no requirement to wear a mask in the lecture rooms and for research and teaching events.
• Exception: In the laboratories and practical courses, the wearing of a face mask is still mandatory after April 2.
• The “Guidelines for teaching” have been supplemented accordingly.

In the State of Bremen, the following rules will apply under the new Corona regulations as of April 2, 2022:

Adjustment to the obligation to wear a mask (mouth-nose covering)
The wearing of a medical face mask (surgical masks, masks of the KN95/N95 standard or FFP2 masks) is obligatory for persons over the age of 6 years

• in public transport – both for passengers and for personnel
• in doctors’ offices, hospitals, day clinics, outpatient and inpatient care facilities
• in shelters for the homeless and in shared accommodation for asylum seekers.

Adjustment to the 3G Rule (vaccinated, recovered or tested)

• the 3G rule is mandatory in doctors' offices, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, detention centers, and institutions for the treatment of psychiatric disorders
• no 3G rule applies in public transport (buses and trains)
• gastronomy and retail facilities can take their own protective measures, which may include 3G access restrictions, distance rules or a mask requirement
• an obligation for the 3G rule at the workplace no longer applies. Each employer can implement its own protective measures in the course of an operational risk assessment.

Mandatory isolation for individuals infected with COVID-19

• Individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 must continue to stay in home isolation.
• A quarantine requirement for contacts will not apply as of April 2.

Herewith we would like to inform you about the obligation of self-testing during the May exam period (18.5.2021 - 29.5.2021) and the procedures planned for this purpose:

Test Distribution

• Students fill in form listing the in-presence exams they will take in the examination period and how many test kits they need in total.
• Test kits are distributed via the Colleges and, for those students who do not live on campus, via the Student Service Center in Reimar Lüst Hall.
• Distribution via this method will begin on Monday, August 9 and will run also during the exam period.

Test Performance

• Students carry out the tests in their rooms / at home.
• Students test before their first examination. The result of this test is considered valid for any further examinations taken within 48 hour period after the test has been taken.
• After the expiry of the 48 hour period of validity, another test is taken, before the next examination.

Exam Regulations

Students are only allowed to take in-presence exams if they confirm that they have a negative test result valid for the time or that they have been fully vaccinated.

• The student fills in and signs the form “Confirmation of Covid-19 Self-Test".
• Students take a respective form to each in-presence examination.
• Should a student’s test result be positive they may not participate in the exam and inform:

1. registrar@constructor.university as well as the instructor of record to be officially excused for the examination.
2. healthinfo@constructor.university about the positive test result.

Positive tested students must quarantine immediately and take a PCR test. The result of the PCR test must be submitted to Registrar Services regardless of whether negative or positive and replaces the medical certificate required for recognition as an official excuse.

Should a student’s test result be invalid they should repeat the test 30 minutes later or get tested at an official test center. If a student needs a 2nd test kit they can get one from the College Offices/Student Service Center.

• May 17th, 2021 is the thesis submission deadline in order to receive a diploma at the Diploma Ceremony on June 11th, 2021
• If you have a thesis extension from your supervisor and wish to extend your residence permit before it expires on August 31, 2021, please submit your thesis by July 30th, 2021 to allow enough time for grading and diploma processing
• August 31st, 2021 is the last possible date to submit your thesis this semester

Dear Students, the Academic Senate has approved the reinstatement of reading days before the final examination period. Here's what you need to know for this Spring 2021 semester effective as of February 1st:

• The last day of classes will be Wednesday May, 12 2021
• Thursday, May 13, 2021 (Ascension Day) will be the first day of the newly introduced Reading Days period (5 days in total)
• on Friday, May 14, 2021 all teaching is suspended
• the examination period starts on Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Dear students,
We are approaching the examination period and in preparation we would like to make you aware of the following regulations:

• Guidelines for Teaching: The Covid-19 Guidelines for Teaching (see: What are the current guidelines for teaching?) apply analogously to the examinations.
• Face Masks: In view of the current local situation and the recent decisions by the German government not to relax the rules before Christmas, the masks must also be worn for the duration of the exam. On the one hand, this increases the protection against infections. On the other hand, if one of the candidates receives a positive test result after sitting an exam with a group of students we avoid quarantine requirements for the entire group (avoidance of category 1 contact persons).
• Examination Procedures: Please make yourself familiar with the valid Examination Procedures (see: Examination Procedures).
• Withdrawal Option: During this exam period, students have the opportunity for the first time to withdraw from a (final) written examination (see: Announcement – Nov 12, 2020). First and second-year students are considered officially excused from this attempt at the assessment. Third year students are officially excused from the final exam of their module component (course). The deadline for submission of withdrawal requests is December 7, 2020.
• E-Assessments: Some examinations will be offered as on-site e-exams (Westhall-ClamV and/or Lab 3). More detailed information regarding e-exams will follow soon in a separate email to the affected students.

We wish you all good luck with your preparation and exams!

Dear students,
With the Final Examination Period approaching, we would like to give you more detailed information about the new Withdrawal Option. As a reminder: this option lets you withdraw from one attempt of a single written examination during the regular examination period (December / May) per semester without providing justification. [The withdrawal option can only be applied to the student’s first attempt at that examination.] A withdrawn examination must still be taken but it can be taken at a later point (in the make-up period).

The request can be made via campusnet; please see the instructions in the attachment (How to withdrawal).

The campusnet request must be submitted by the last day before the start of the examination period, which is December 7th. Your request will be checked and your instructor of record will be informed. In the case of a rejection of the request (for formal reasons only, e.g. if you have already applied your withdrawal to another exam in the same semester), Registrar Services will inform you and your advisor. If you are not informed, your withdrawal was successful. The risk of receiving a rejection after the written test has already taken place is on the side of the student.

Just like with an official excuse, a withdrawal means that you have not (yet) completed (passed or failed) the module. This may mean missing pre-requisites for following modules and subsequent delay of study. You should therefore in your own interest not use the Withdrawal Option for examinations whose successful completion is a necessary pre-requisite for compulsory courses in the following semester. If you are unsure, please discuss your withdrawal plans with your academic advisor.

Kind regards and good luck with your examinations,
Registrar Services

Dear students,
You were already briefly informed on Monday night that we now have a number of cases of COVID-19 among our students. For this reason, we have decided today on the following measures concerning study and teaching:

• At this stage, the contact tracing is identifying students and staff who are at high risk; initial indications are that these numbers are fairly small. Management is in the process of setting up an internal tracing system to complement the official track and trace process of the public health authorities.
• We recommend extending the online teaching period for freshmen by one week, i.e., in-person teaching to begin on 2 November instead of 26 October. The one-week extension may allow the situation to settle, will allow us to finalize our internal track and trace system, and would coincide with the quarantine period that has just set in for the students identified as COVID-19 positive. Please note the following exceptions:
  1. the first-year lab rotation III will start next week (29 October). Students who are registered for this rotation and will not be able to participate, urgently need to send this information to Teaching and Resource Planning Services (h.bohne@jacobs-university.de).
  2. the Foundation Year will start in-person teaching as originally scheduled on 26 October without the one-week delay.

You will find more details about meeting venues (online format vs. rooms) in CampusNet.

• We also request everybody to immediately return to mask wearing in the classroom wherever practically possible; this stipulation will strengthen the barriers to transmission, and will be reviewed in two weeks.
• Lastly, in view of the quarantine that several students now need to undergo, and the possibility of others finding themselves in the same position over this time, we would like to re-emphasize our excuse policy: students may be excused officially by Registrar Services (registrar@constructor.university) in case of illness or personal emergency. Illness must be documented with a sick certificate issued by a physician (telephone sick certificates due to cold symptoms are available again in Germany since Monday). Other emergencies must be appropriately documented in writing. Quarantine is accepted as an excuse (personal emergency) for physical attendance (e.g. labs).

We ask you all to implement these measures together with faculty and staff. The goal is to keep up the common living and learning on campus also in these times. Thank you very much for your support.

Kind regards,
Freia Hardt

Dear students, dear faculty-members,
Enclosed please find the Final Examination Schedule and the Make-up Examination Schedule for Fall 2020. It is expected that students are planning their presences and absences on Campus according to these schedules.
All examination dates and venues as well as the make-up appointments for the respective examinations will be entered in CampusNet in the next days. Please check your courses/modules for the exam dates.
Some slight changes might still occur. Any such changes will be announced on short notice.

You can also find the examination schedules on teamwork, please follow this link:

https://teamwork.jacobs-university.de/display/RO/Final+Examination+Schedule?preview=/16270/233046481/Final%20Exam%20Schedule%20Fall%202020.pdf(link is external)

https://teamwork.jacobs-university.de/display/RO/Final+Examination+Schedule?preview=/16270/233046482/Make-up%20Exam%20Schedule%20Fall%202020.pdf(link is external)

Important – Please read below:

General rules for examinations and excuses
All modules and module components with a written final examination will have their final exam and corresponding make-up exam centrally scheduled within the respective examination periods (see: Academic Calendar). This is valid for all modules/components of the Bachelor Programs (Year 1-3) and Master Programs.
IMPORTANT: For 1st- and 2nd-year undergraduate students and Master students, the written final exam is usually equivalent to the single module exam. For current third year undergraduate students, the exam is usually only one of the grading components within one of the components (courses) of the module. As a consequence, the grading and excuse policy has different implications for the different study years:

Consequences of unexcused absence:

• 1st- and 2nd-year undergraduate students and Master students (written final exam => single module exam) will automatically be scheduled to sit the exam in the make-up examination period in January. Unexcused absence will be counted as failed attempt of their first trial (out of three).
• Third year undergraduate students will receive a failing partial grade for the exam which contributes to the final grade for a module component (course), which will count towards the final module grade (weighted average of the partial and course grades). Unexcused absence will be counted as fail for the partial or course grade. Retaking module exams continues to only be possible for failed modules and on the basis of the procedure included in the respective policies (see below).

Consequences of excused absence:

• All students will automatically be scheduled to sit the exam in the make-up examination period in January.
• The final exam will NOT be counted as a trial in a MODULE exam for 1st- and 2nd-year undergraduate students and Master students.
• The make-up exam contributes to the final module grade for third year undergraduate students.

Lastly, in view of the quarantine that several students now need to undergo, and the possibility of others finding themselves in the same position over this time, we would like to re-emphasize our excuse policy: students may be excused officially by Registrar Services (registrar@constructor.university) in case of illness or personal emergency. Illness must be documented with a sick certificate issued by a physician (telephone sick certificates due to cold symptoms are available again in Germany). Other emergencies must be appropriately documented in writing. Quarantine is accepted as an excuse (personal emergency) for physical attendance (e.g. for labs or written examinations).

To avoid misunderstandings and mistakes in grading, please refer to the policies of the respective cohort:

1st-and 2nd-year students find the applicable policies here:
bachelor_policies_v3.pdf (III.3 Failed modules)

3rd-year students find the applicable policies here:
bachelor_policies_v2.1.pdf (3.2 Grading and Passing of modules)

Master students find the correct policies here:
master_policies_v3.1.pdf (for students beginning their studies ON or AFTER 1 September 2019)
master_policies_v3.pdf (for students beginning their studies ON or AFTER 1 September 2018)

Best wishes,
Heike Bohne