Dear faculty,

After the Spring Festival and winter vacation of 2020, we usher into a new and special semester at a critical stage of the epidemic prevention and control of NCP.

Two weeks ago, the university conducted an open class and made a sincere promise to its more than 50,000 faculty and students to "start classes on schedule" amid the special coronavirus epidemic. Faculty were asked to prepare in advance in order to carry out online teaching work in accordance with the teaching calendar as scheduled. This would mean that students can study and take classes from home, which is conducive to the overall situation of the national epidemic prevention and control work, ensures the safety and physical health of students, and aids their growth and development. Once the epidemic is resolved, the university will immediately return to its normal teaching arrangements. In the past two weeks, nearly 2,000 faculty have been preparing to use the online teaching platform, and have completed the "Rain Classroom" online platform training courses. More than 20 different types of online live teaching design cases, nearly 300 pages of various online teaching technology guides, "Top Ten Hacks" for online live teaching at home, and countless effective "techniques sharing" and "experience sharing" posts have become the top articles in the WeChat moments for Tsinghua faculty during the past two weeks. This all reflects the special quality and dedication of Tsinghua faculty to teaching and learning, their courage to innovate and pursue excellence! The faculty’s strong support for the university’s decision to adjust the teaching arrangements, and their dedication, creativity and enthusiasm shown in the teaching preparation process moved us deeply, and made us feel confident in the smooth implementation of online teaching during this special time. Meanwhile, the educational administration department will also actively offer a variety of support and services to create more convenient working conditions and a more comfortable working atmosphere.

While faculty were preparing in advance for the online courses, enthusiastic students from all over the country gathered to support teaching preparations remotely. Over 100 public teaching assistants, 2,000 course teaching assistants, and 200 volunteers have completed the training, so that they can serve as effective assistants for faculty to carry out online teaching in the new semester. Even more students are looking forward to the new arrangements for this special semester: they are looking forward to seeing the faculty who arrived early to the class when they enter the online classroom, hearing the faculty in-depth lectures, and experiencing the “cross-screen” interaction with faculty to undertake the "painful yet happy" task of homework.

Dear faculty, in the face of the expectations of your students, no matter if you are already fully prepared and are almost ready, or if you are not used to lecturing online, or not proficient in the operation of the online teaching platform, please believe that your dedication will be felt by your students! We hope that our faculty will maintain high spirits and energy, as their attitude represents the image of Tsinghua and demonstrates the determination of our university in the fight against the outbreak. Every greeting and every caring word of yours is the greatest encouragement to our students. We sincerely hope that our faculty can overcome the technical and communication difficulties faced in online teaching, abide by the basic requirements of school classroom teaching, maintain good teaching order, and complete teaching tasks in sufficient quality and quantity. We also look forward to seeing our faculty using their initiative and creativity to adjust curriculum design and harness the available technology, exploring various ways and methods suitable for online teaching to promote their teaching prowess, and strengthen students’ active participation to improving teaching quality. During this important period of the epidemic, we ask our faculty to do their best in using online teaching as an education method for the benefit of all!

Let us work together, overcome our difficulties, and strive for continuous improvement of the Tsinghua community in the face of changes in the teaching environment and technical challenges.

Let us work together to use high-quality courses to combat the epidemic, to care for and encourage students to learn and develop in a classroom with real-life emotional state, and to show the virtues and morality of Tsinghua people.

Let us work together to turn online teaching during the epidemic into a platform for comprehensive education, to spread the Tsinghua educational philosophy of "value shaping, ability training, and knowledge transfer", and to channel the essence of Tsinghua during this important time.

Let us work together to embrace and maintain the Tsinghua spirit to strive forward, overcome the epidemic, and embrace the coming spring!

Office of Academic Affairs

Graduate School

February 16, 2020

Source: International Students & Scholar's Center