July 5, 2020 - 13:51h] Notes of the Director. Weekly Report (XV). COVID-19

Dear community,

This week we have entered into the month of July in fully Resumption Phase. Who more or less on these dates used to make plans for a well-deserved summer vacation, or had already made them in advance. This year it is very likely that these plans will have to be adapted to the exceptional and unexpected situation we are in. And we all need a good happy holiday! In particular to those who have suffered the exceptionality of the moment more directly. Lots of encouragement to all!  

Last Thursday, as I announced last week, a Governing Council of the UPC was held and a document relating to the Resumption Phase of the Plan for ending the lockdown was approved. It includes all the measures that must be considered at the UPC from now on with the aim of guaranteeing the maximum provision of the public service while preserving the measures of protection and minimization of risk. In summary, the most important aspects of the document refer to: safety distance, personal prevention measures (also called “respiratory etiquette,” hand hygiene, use of a mask ...), cleaning and disinfection protocols. and action procedures in the detection of cases and contacts.

We attach the document with this message and recommend reading it in depth to find out what the boundary conditions will be from now on for each group and for each service or action. It is worth mentioning that we will have to live with these measures indefinitely and for the good of all we must be informed rigorously and from a reliable source to avoid misunderstandings.

The document is clear enough and the information is organized in different sections:

• Reference organizational measures for the PDI.

• Reference organizational measures for PAS and services in general.

• Health and prevention measures for all UPC staff.

• Protection material and equipment available to the UPC community.

• General measures in buildings, spaces, facilities and equipment.

• General measures for classrooms and laboratories.

• Specific measures in classrooms.

• Specific measures for computer rooms.

• Specific measures for teaching and research laboratories.

• Specific measures in shared spaces: study rooms, libraries, group work rooms, meeting rooms, dining rooms, etc.

• Specific measures in auditoriums.

• Specific measures in spaces for entrepreneurship, incubation or coworking and spaces for associations.

• Specific measures in toilets and changing rooms.

• Cleaning protocols.

• Concessions: bars, restaurants, sports facilities, parking, etc.

• Procedure for dealing with the detection of cases and contacts.

All the measures must be adapted to our reality in each of the activities that we are carrying out and now it is up to us to make a communication campaign to the whole community. We are working hard on this topic and we will keep you informed. For now, we want to advance that certain measures will affect in a very direct way our day to day of the next course.

At the teaching level we emphasize that the occupations of the different spaces of the UPC have been fixed. Thus, we find that for classrooms:

“Teaching activities will be planned considering a maximum classroom occupancy of the equivalent of a safety space of 2.5m ² per person and / or the criterion of 50% of available places. It will be promoted that no one has sitting persons in the front seat, nor in the back, nor in the side seats. If a minimum distance of 1.5 meters is not achieved with this arrangement of the space, it is mandatory to wear a mask.”

And for laboratories:

“Teaching practices and research activity will be planned taking into account a maximum occupancy of the equivalent of a safety space of 2.5m ² per person, and / or the criterion of 50% of the places available and, the individual use of tools and appliances. When the development of the practice requires mobility within the laboratory, or to do practices in pairs it will be necessary to wear a mask.”

All these limitations help to define the legal framework within which we must move next year and, fortunately, allow us to close issues that were still provisional or were under discussion, such as schedules. A proposal for timetables for all September subjects has recently been sent to the entire PDI, which already includes the measures set for the Resumption Phase. A review period is now open so you can take them for granted and publish them the week before enrollment.

Remember that in order to mitigate the effects that we will have next year, it has been approved a series of extraordinary measures, including 76 Learning Grants destined to the School’s students for academic collaboration tasks with Departments. Most of these calls are still open and you can find all the detailed information at information on Scholarships a TAAIESE .

Next week, even though tomorrow Monday is holiday in Terrassa, it will be quite intense and the School will be full of life for several reasons.

On the one hand, from Tuesday to Friday, there will be the University Admission Tests (Selectivity) at our School. These tests will involve the presence and movement of about 500 people around the campus, mainly students from schools in the territorial area of the city of Terrassa. Students will be distributed in 18 classrooms of the TR5 building between 8a.m. and 5 p.m. For this reason, some services may be somewhat affected (e.g. part of the TR5 parking), although UPC staff may also go to work in person.

Moreover, while the final exams of the Master’s Degree in Organizational Engineering are being taken, next week will begin examinations reassessment to be made in a face-to-face form at the TR1 building and will last until July 15. Specifically:

• from the 8th to the 10th of July re-evaluations of the four-month autumn subjects,

• from 13 to 15 July re-assessments spring semester subjects.

It is very important that everyone knows the safety measures that must be guaranteed for the holding of these exams:

• When entering to the buildings you will find a Clean Point with the necessary information and hydroalcoholic gel for the hands.

• You must wear a mask in all common areas of the school.

• In all classrooms the necessary safety space has been guaranteed but in case of doubt, and especially if you have to move, use the mask,

• Hydroalcoholic gel must be applied to the hands when entering and leaving the classrooms, using the dispensers located for this purpose,

• Classrooms with air conditioning ventilation comply with the guarantees and, therefore, we must keep the windows closed until the end of the day (the cleaning staff will carry out the appropriate ventilation and adaptation),

• in classrooms without air conditioning the windows will be kept open whenever possible.

• Isopropyl alcohol and disposable paper sprayers have been provided in the computer rooms so that students can individually clean and disinfect the keyboard, mouse and the table.

And finally, I want to highlight that although it does not look like today is Terrassa’s Festa Major. A completely atypical festival that has not stopped. And it was on July 2, 1904, in the midst of the Festa Major, when our school was "inaugurated" (see attached image). This means that it has been our birthday (congratulations to everyone), and that we have been training engineers for 116 years who have been the protagonists of the social and technological advances of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. There is no virus that can prevent or stop this. I am sure that we will get out of this pandemic and continue to do what we do best: train engineers with highly qualified technological profiles to advance our society towards the future!!

Thank you very much, encouragement, good health and a big hug to everyone. Please be very careful!

Xavier Roca

Director of the ESEIAAT

"Every day that passes we are closer."