May 17, 2021
Dear Yonsei students and professors,
Yonsei campus without Yonsei students looks hollower while the green leaves of May getting livelier day by day. For three semesters, COVID-19 has been keeping us from holding on-campus face-to-face classes. Every time I prepare for the new semester, I wished Yonsei people could indulge in study and research on Yonsei campus, but I had to let go of the wish due to the lingering COVID-19 situation.
In preparing for the fall semester of 2021, we have reviewed the opinions of various experts and domestic and foreign cases, and opinions of students, parents, and professors in search of ways to achieve the two goals of quality of education and safety of Yonsei students and faculty. With these consultations, we decided to run fall semester classes as follows:
1. For a course with less than 50 students: In case of assigning an experiment/practice room or lecture room that can accommodate twice the maximum number of enrollees, classes can meet face-to-face once a week (1 hour a week for undergraduate courses, 3 hours a week for graduate programs.)
2. For undergraduate courses, face-to-face classes should be conducted in the on-campus automatic recording classroom so the students who cannot participate in the on-campus class can take real-time video classes instead. Non-face-to-face evaluation options should also be given to students who cannot participate in the on-campus evaluation.
3. If the whole class run non-face-to-face, more than 1/3 of the class time should be real-time video classes to enable interactive communication. Nonetheless, for subjects that real-time video classes are not possible, such as large classes with more than 300 students, pre-recorded video classes are allowed when prior approval is given.
4. At the International Campus, classes will be held in non-face-to-face manners, but small classes including experimental and practical classes will be run as blending sections or non-face-to-face ones varying from section to section.
There are still wantings compared to usual campus life, but the school will do its best to return to the former Yonsei University as soon as possible. We will make every effort to ensure that there are no gaps in on-campus quarantine measures, including rapid PCR testing, as well as expanding classroom facilities for simultaneous face-to-face lectures.
I look forward to the time to meet you on campus and hope you make the remaining semester a more meaningful time. May the grace of the Lord always be with all Yonsei people.
President of Yonsei University