DCU Statement on the upcoming 2020/21 academic year

Having completed the academic teaching year in recent weeks by moving all our degree programmes online and with online alternative assessments for students due to commence next week, our focus at Dublin City University has now shifted to planning for the period ahead and, in particular, the next academic year. 

We have commenced a formal and detailed Scenario Planning process that will inform our decision-making in the coming weeks and months. While this process will track, and be informed by, the evolving public health context, we wanted to provide some level of certainty at this time to our students, prospective students and staff regarding the upcoming academic year. With this in mind, the following summarises the decisions we have taken and the conclusions we have come to at this stage:

DCU is planning to resume full operations for the coming academic year, but in a manner that takes account of the current public health context.

For both continuing students and new Postgraduate taught students, DCU will begin Semester 1 of the 2020/21 academic year on Monday October 5th 2020.

The start date for incoming 1st year Undergraduate students remains unclear at this stage but, if the Leaving Certificate examination proceeds as currently planned, beginning on July 29th, there will be a significantly delayed entry for these students until November at the earliest.

DCU will bring students and staff physically onto campus only when, and in a manner, that is safe to do so and we will continue to be guided by the HSE and the Department of Health on this matter.

We expect that social distancing requirements will operate through the rest of 2020 and into 2021. This will mean that we are unlikely to be able to run any large-group, campus-based activities in Semester 1 at the very least.

As a result of this, we are planning for dual-mode delivery of teaching, involving both online and face-to-face delivery as appropriate. This is also likely to entail revisions to the academic calendar, changes to programme structures, and new approaches to the use of space on campus.

DCU is internationally renowned for its commitment to, and expertise in, online learning and we will leverage this, together with significant international strategic partnerships in this context, to deliver a high quality learning experience for our students.

Irrespective of what context evolves over the months, however, the quality of the student experience, the provision of an excellent learning environment, the support of pioneering research, and the welfare of both students and staff will remain central to our planning and decision-making.