Students of NUS-Business School:<\/p>\n
The COVID-19 pandemic has created much tumult; there will surely be more in the next semester.\u00a0 It is an opportune time for us to renew our commitment to you, our students.\u00a0 Speaking as one, the faculty and staff of the school reaffirm our pledge to provide you with the best education possible.<\/p>\n
We are raising the bar for instruction, and have unanimously voted to raise teaching standards.\u00a0 We will enforce these transparently, by making Student Feedback Scores available to our entire community<\/em>.\u00a0 The faculty expect you to be accountable in your coursework; now, we also expect you to hold us accountable as instructors.\u00a0 We urge you to take this feedback seriously in the future; we will.<\/p>\n In 2020S1, all coursework will be available online.\u00a0 Some of our students cannot get into Singapore; some students in Singapore will be unable to attend classes in person.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been working hard to enhance the quality of our online instruction, and we welcome your support and suggestions.<\/p>\n In 2020S1, all courses will also be taught face to face to the maximum extent possible<\/em>.\u00a0 Again, the school\u2019s faculty and staff are in complete agreement that we must take full advantage of this opportunity.\u00a0 We have social distancing constraints; no more than 50 students can attend a class face to face.\u00a0 This will affect many classes and students.\u00a0 Students in some classes will only be allowed to attend in person on a rotating basis.\u00a0 Teaching may be at odd times: we will be teaching from 8:00am through 10:00 pm Monday through Friday, as well as Saturdays and Sundays.\u00a0 Teaching may also be in odd spaces; we\u2019ll be using all our classrooms, even old and windowless ones.\u00a0 We need to do this to take full advantage of our limited space.\u00a0 But even so, not everyone will be able to go to attend class in person; we simply don\u2019t have the capacity.\u00a0 So, there will be priorities: first, to our new students, who have never been to NUS before; and second to our graduating students, who will be leaving NUS soon.\u00a0 We ask for your understanding while we spread our load in an unprecedented way.\u00a0 But we ask you to maintain high expectations for our teaching; symmetrically, we expect you to work hard in learning.<\/p>\n The next semester will be a new experience for us all; it will not be straightforward, and we expect more turbulence.\u00a0 But it is important to count our blessings.\u00a0 Most importantly, we will teach face to face, a vow that many of our competitors cannot or will not make.\u00a0 This will require a considerable effort by the entire community.\u00a0 The staff and faculty have already made their commitment; we are confident that you will.\u00a0 We expect our students to play a key part going forward, by working hard on their studies, and especially by staying \u2013 and helping others to stay \u2013 healthy and safe.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n We did not choose these constraints, and it is to pointless to complain about them; instead, we plan to be constructive and do our best.\u00a0 We welcome constructive suggestions for improvement.\u00a0 The pandemic was beyond our control, but our response is not.\u00a0 Let us pledge, together, to have a fruitful semester of teaching and learning under extraordinary conditions.<\/p>\n We will get through this.\u00a0 Together.<\/p>\n The Staff and Faculty of NUS-Business School, June 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n July 2, 2020<\/p>\n For the majority of our students, we think the choice between being taught face to face (hereafter \u201cF2F\u201d) or purely online in 2020S1 is easy; almost everyone should receive as much F2F instruction as possible.<\/p>\n Fear is not a good reason to go purely online. \u00a0The National University of Singapore, and the Singaporean Ministries of Education and Health have all decided to permit F2F teaching under certain conditions (which we will enforce rigorously).\u00a0 They are better informed than our students (or our students\u2019 families \u2026 or indeed the entire NUS-Business faculty), and are responsible risk-averse institutions. \u00a0Accordingly, we will follow their lead, and we think our students and staff should too.<\/p>\n We think F2F provides a superior teaching experience than purely online, consistent with a strong global consensus.\u00a0 F2F also permits better social interaction and networking, key reasons to attend NUS-Business; you not only learn more, but it\u2019s more fun.\u00a0 So, we discourage our students from choosing to attend classes only online if they can be taught face to face; they are likely to have an inferior experience. \u00a0But we certainly do not prohibit<\/em> a purely online experience. \u00a0Some students may not be able to attend classes F2F because they cannot get into Singapore. \u00a0Some may not wish to go to Singapore from abroad because of fear of travel, domestic circumstances, or whatever. \u00a0Even those inside Singapore may not be able to or wish to attend in person (for instance, if they live with particularly vulnerable people). \u00a0So NUS-Business will certainly not force<\/em> anyone to attend classes F2F.[2]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0While we encourage students to take full advantage of the F2F teaching we provide, it is up to the individual to choose what she\/he thinks best.\u00a0 While the choice is up to the student, it is consequential; we urge each of our students to think hard.<\/p>\n One final note.\u00a0 Even though purely online delivery is more expensive for NUS to deliver, students will not be charged extra for being taught purely online.<\/p>\nOnline vs Face to Face Instruction at NUS-Business: What\u2019s Best?<\/strong><\/h2>\n