Full title: Resolution of 23 December 2021 of the Vice-Rector for Teaching and Learning establishing instructions on evaluation for covid-19 issues during final assessment exercises in the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year
1. Purpose and areas of application.
This Resolution is applicable to the management of issues that arise during final exams and exercises that are part of ordinary assessment sessions (convocatorias ordinarias) and resits (convocatorias extraordinarias) in the first semester at faculties and schools employing the "self-contained" calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados), as well as ordinary assessment sessions at faculties and schools employing the "open" calendar (calendario de semestres abiertos) in the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The aim of this Resolution is to address circumstances that are not covered by the UGR Assessment Policy and Regulations (UGR Official Gazette [BOUGR] no. 112 of 9 November 2016), which establishes the procedures, conditions and requirements to be followed in order to grant, where appropriate, a deferred assessment session due to extenuating circumstances, in a normal academic context.
In this sense, this Resolution will be applied in the case of issues related to Covid-19 that occur before the holding of final exams and exercises.
2. Scope.
Students who are unable to take final exams and exercises on the dates set by faculties and schools or by academic committees (in the case of master's degrees), in line with the calendar established for this purpose, may request a deferred assessment session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances.
Students may request and take a deferred assessment session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances, unless otherwise indicated by the competent health authorities, in the following scenarios:
- Students diagnosed with Covid-19 who will be in self-isolation during the period in which the final exam(s) are set to take place.
- Students with Covid-19 symptoms whose situation has previously been communicated to the Health and Risk Prevention (SPRL) Service of the UGR via the channels established for this purpose, and who must follow the self-isolation rules indicated.
3. Initiating the procedure.
To request a deferred assessment session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances, students must follow the procedure available on the UGR e-Administration Platform (https://sede.ugr.es/procs/Gestion-Academica-Solicitud-de-evaluacion-por-incidencias/). The application form must be accompanied by a report from the Health and Risk Prevention Service (SPRL) of the University of Granada (https://ssp.ugr.es/informacion/noticias/covid-19-estudiantes) or a report on the result of a SARS-CoV-2 virus test (PCR or antigen test).
In the case of undergraduate studies, the application must be sent to the director of the department in charge of the affected course or courses. In the case of master's degree studies, the application must be sent to the programme coordinator. In the case of courses on which enrolments and teaching activities are managed by several departments, the application form, together with the supporting documents, must be sent to one of the departments in question, which will in turn inform the rest of the departments involved in delivering the course.
The application form must be submitted before the final exams and exercises of the courses that may be affected begin, in line with the established calendar. With regard to scenario 2 above, given that the symptoms associated with Covid-19 could occur in the hours immediately prior to the exams, the application form, together with the supporting documents, must be sent to the department director (in the case of undergraduate studies), or programme coordinator (in the case of master's degrees), within three working days following the exam/assessment exercise. This scenario will be taken into account as long as it is clear that the symptoms began before the final exams/exercises began.
The department director or master's programme coordinator will send the application forms that comply with the provisions of this Resolution to the teaching staff involved in the courses for which the deferred assessment session due to Covid-19 has been requested.
4. Completing the procedure.
In view of the requests for a deferred assessment session due to Covid-19 extenuating circumstances, teaching staff will arrange for a new final exam/exercise to be held in accordance with the provisions of the course guide for the corresponding assessment session, indicating a single date and time, which will be the same for all applicants. In any case, it must be ensured that no student is prevented from taking this final exam due to the self-isolation period established for each applicant.
With regard to undergraduate studies employing the "self-contained" calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados), the deferred assessment session for the ordinary assessment session of the first semester may coincide with the exam dates for resits. In these cases, for the purposes of calculating the remaining sessions available to students, it is understood that students will use up the ordinary assessment session. In order to hold the final exam or exercise as part of resits, where necessary, a date outside the official assessment period may be established.
5. Additional considerations.
In the case of students who are officially recognised as vulnerable or who are considered to be the main caregivers of legal dependents, as established in the Resolution of the Rector of 23 September 2021, approving the procedure for supporting vulnerable students or the main caregivers of persons in Covid-19 risk groups, for the purposes of adapting teaching, learning and assessment in the 2021-2022 academic year (https://covid19.ugr.es/noticias/covid-19-procedimiento-la-atencion-del-estudiantado-vulnerable), the departments and the master's programme coordinators will establish the appropriate mechanisms to guarantee the right to evaluation in ordinary assessment sessions and resits. In these cases, a positive administrative decision regarding the necessary teaching adaptations issued by the Vice-Rectorate for Student Services and Employability must be attached to the application.
This Resolution is only applicable to issues related to Covid-19 that prevent the taking of final exams or exercises that are part of assessment sessions in the first semester, and resits (convocatorias extraordinarias) at faculties and schools employing the "self-contained" calendar (calendario de semestres cerrados) in the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year.
For situations associated with Covid-19 not provided for in this Resolution that prevent students from taking the final exam or exercise on the scheduled date, and for other possible circumstances that may entitle students to a deferred assessment session, the provisions of articles 9 and 20 of the UGR Assessment Policy and Regulations will be applicable (https://www.ugr.es/sites/default/files/2017-09/examenes.pdf), as well as the relevant contents of Article 26 of the International Student Mobility Regulations (https://www.ugr.es/sites/default/files/2019-07/NCG1451.pdf).
Juan Manuel Martín García
Vice-Rector for Teaching and Learning
