After four semesters of online classes, KAIST has finally formally released plans to resume offline classes. On November 22, KAIST announced via Portal that all of 2022 Winter semester courses will be held in-person unless absolutely unavoidable. There were only a few exceptions that would make a course stay online for winter: courses requiring online learning as an educational objective, courses taken by international students who are unable to arrive in Korea, and courses taken by students in self-isolation or quarantine. The evaluation criteria for the courses will either be A-F or S/U.
KAIST has notified the students that this plan is in accordance with the Korean government’s policy of phasing in different stages of recovery and normalcy to daily life. As a result, a set of guidelines have been posted by KAIST to inform the professors and students about the safety requirements. These consist of COVID preventative measures within the classroom as well as General Course Safety Guidelines. The preventative measures within classrooms specifically dictates that each department will designate a person in charge of maintaining and conducting the preventative measures, and will monitor the compliance to these guidelines. This job involves disinfecting objects and rooms that are frequently used for educational purposes multiple times a day. The students will be responsible for wiping down tables and the plastic partitions between each seat with provided alcohol swabs. The General Course Safety Guidelines specify that the attendance roll will now record each student’s PCR test results or vaccination status. Masks will be mandatory, with windows recommended to be open after the class ends to air out the room. Disposable microphone covers must be used in lecture halls, and must be replaced between classes. Students may only use every other seat in classrooms, while classes without seats must have one student per 4m2 of floor space in the room.
One of the most important guidelines, and arguably the one that will be the most talked about, is the vaccination certificate and PCR test result. This hasn’t been made mandatory for students yet, and is still only a strong suggestion. The Office of Academic Affairs has stated that even for physical education classes where it is difficult to wear masks, it is still only a strong recommendation that fully vaccinated students or those with periodic negative PCR testing results take the course.
Whether one agrees with the guidelines or not, many students will be looking forward to the possibility of offline classes in the upcoming Spring semester, with many more hoping that offline classes are here to stay for Spring 2022 and beyond.