The University of Wollongong has axed planned in-person graduation ceremonies and gone back to an online version.
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Graduations were due to be held on July 21-23 but were postponed because of the lockdown.
With COVID-19 lockdowns still in place, UOW made the announcement on Tuesday to provide certainty to students and staff.
The university previously announced on July 28 that courses would be delivered online for the duration of the current stay-at-home orders, with a decision on course delivery for the remainder of the session to be announced before the end of August.
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UOW has been closely monitoring the worsening COVID-19 situation in NSW and is preparing for the likely extension of current stay-at-home arrangements beyond 28 August.
Final exams for Semester 2 and Trimester 3 will be held remotely, with more detailed information about exams to be provided to students during normal exam notification periods.
COVID-safe arrangements are being made for the small number of courses requiring on-campus teaching to meet mandatory practical skills development and for the small number of exams requiring a practical assessment component.
Should COVID-19 restrictions ease, UOW will explore opportunities to return classes to campus where possible, in line with public health advice and student demand. Should this occur, any students preferring to continue studying online will be able to do so.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Theo Farrell, said additional tools, resources and support services were being offered to help teaching staff provide the best possible learning experience for students studying online during this period.
"This decision has been taken to provide the greatest possible certainty to students, while keeping the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and communities as our top priority - as we have since the onset of this pandemic," Professor Farrell said.
In other UOW news, researcher Professor Michael Lerch has been awarded a $179,000 Australia-India Council grant by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to conduct pre-clinical assessment on a novel medical device for neurosurgery.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
