With the global health crisis forcing schools to stop face-to-face classes and adopt distance learning, the Visayas State University (VSU) has set a “wellness” week to give students and faculty a time to recharge from the rigors and demands of the new normal education.
VSU President Edgardo Tulin on Friday issued Memorandum Circular 104 implementing the one-week break from November 23 to 27, with no virtual classes, learning tasks, quizzes, exams, or deadlines to address the physical and emotional well-being of students and faculty.
This would give them time to catch up with missed-out class outputs or submissions and “discover one’s strengths and weaknesses that would help them build resilience and positivity in moving forward to achieve their life goals.”
“The wellness week is time to recharge faculty and students. Yet, it doesn’t mean that faculty members would stop doing things that are expected of them, such as module preparations if they have not started or completed such deliverables,” Tulin said.
He added that the university has to comply with the civil service requirement on attendance but they could apply for a work-from-home scheme in consonance with the school’s standard protocols.
In preparing the modules, Tulin said it is up to the teacher to decide, considering that each has a set timeline in the delivery of lessons to students.
“The faculty members are encouraged to have wellness activities at least one hour every day within the week to enhance the physical, mental, and emotional health, such as attending health webinars and doing physical exercises like Zumba,” he added.
Due to schedule changes, deadlines previously set on November 23-27 to the following week have been moved plus the subsequent adjustments of the other deadline to prevent overloading of course requirements.
The VSU, a leading global university in agriculture and allied fields, welcomed more than 13,000 students for School Year 2020-2021 in October.
Its flagship campus is located in Baybay City, with satellite campuses in Tolosa, Isabel, Alangalang, and Villaba, all in Leyte. (PNA)
