This is the main information for staff at Leiden University on working from home and face-to-face teaching being cancelled and buildings closed.

Working from home

The rule for all staff is: until 6 April work from home wherever possible. The circumstances may differ for each work situation and staff member. If you have work that you can’t do at home, discuss this with your manager. If your work has come to a standstill because of the circumstances, also discuss this with your manager. If necessary, the faculties and expertise centres will draw up guidelines to ensure that everything runs smoothly. 

• Staff should travel as little as possible. Your manager will inform you if you have to come to work.
• There are various ways to work from home and various programmes that you can use. Read all about it on the staff members website.
• Be extra mindful of cybersecurity when working from home and use a secure network connection. There has also been an increase in phishing emails. More information on cybersecurity when working from home.
• Buildings are only open to staff members who need to do essential work and have permission to do so from their manager.
  • As of 18 March, the Gravensteen building is completely closed.
  • Restaurants and cafés have limited opening hours, and only provide take-away food and drinks. The restaurants at the Huygens building and the Faculty Club are closed.
• The University Library is providing limited services, more information can be found on their website.

Teaching

There will be no more face-to-face teaching until the end of this academic year. As of Monday 23 March, all degree programmes and associated courses will start moving to online teaching and assessment.

This means the following for teachers and other staff involved in teaching activities:

• This week, all forms of teaching, assessment and examination have been cancelled (until 20 March). We will use the time to prepare for which teaching we will be able to offer online from 23 March, and how. 
• As of 23 March, teaching will resume as much as possible through remote teaching.
  • For more information about when and how the online teaching and assessment will be delivered, see the staff website
  • A new website has been launched with tips and tools for remote teaching: http://www.universiteitleiden.nl/remoteteaching. Here you will find all the information you need to start preparing your teaching activities.
  • If you have any technical questions about the website or accompanying Kaltura software, please contact the helpdesk at (071 - 527) 8888 or via the helpdesk portal. 
  • A support team from the Centre for Innovation is available to help you with remote teaching. You can contact the team by using the Remote Teaching Tile in the Helpdesk Portal. 

Other measures

• The University elections are postponed until further notice. You will no longer be able to stand as a candidate on Tuesday 17 and 18 March; this has been cancelled.
• Employees who are abroad, or have business trips planned, can find all regulations and information necessary at travel advice for staff.

We appreciate that these are far-reaching decisions that may have all manner of effects. We are trying to anticipate any problems that may arise, but may not yet have been able to answer all of your questions. We understand that this uncertainty is frustrating, but hope you will understand that this is an exceptional situation. Our own health and that of others is paramount now.