Dear colleagues,
The corona pandemic has changed the lives of staff and students at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH). The closure of LUH buildings during the corona crisis presents a unique situation in the history of the university. Denying staff and students access to buildings, the infrastructure and study areas, as well as the transition to online learning, presented an enormous challenge and has been a very difficult decision to make in these circumstances.
The closure of schools, day-care and other facilities has been extremely hard for families – especially with regard to reconciling work and family responsibilities. Just before the start of the lecture-free period and the beginning of the summer holidays, we would like to express our gratitude to all those involved in implementing digital teaching activities and conducting examinations for keeping up everyday university operations while caring for children or relatives at home.
From the very start of the corona pandemic, the LUH Family Service has been supporting staff and students by providing various services, including emergency day-care within the scope of Leibniz Kids and Fluxx, childcare services during school holidays or by issuing written confirmations for emergency childcare in day-care centres and schools.
As previously announced in the context of a message from university management on 15 July 2020, the winter semester will be a hybrid semester with a mix of face-to-face and digital learning. Wherever possible, first-semester students will be enabled to get to know the LUH campus.
Both the federal and state governments have introduced numerous measures to support families struggling to balance work and family responsibilities while working from home. LUH will continue to support families by offering various services including day-care, coaching opportunities or doctoral degree completion grants. In addition to the existing advisory services provided by Family Service staff via email, telephone or online, there will be a funding programme addressing members of teaching staff who face difficulties due to caring responsibilities. In cases of hardship, the programme will provide funding for student assistants or equipment. Furthermore, a home-schooling service for school pupils aged eleven or younger will be implemented in the winter semester.
Further information can be found on the website of the LUH Family Service at https://www.chancenvielfalt.uni-hannover.de/de/familienservice/.
Please also refer to the FAQ section on our website, which provides information on any changes and the spectrum of support services available for staff and students.
We wish you a pleasant summer in spite of all challenges!
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Volker Epping
President
Helga Gotzmann
Equal Opportunities Officer
