In view of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, CREUP met for two days at the UV facilities to study and achieve some proposals from the group to guarantee an academic year in the best conditions as possible. CREUP’s working groups, which have been at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry since 1st September, are currently working to design an strategy that takes into account the concerns and needs of students of all Spanish public universities. It is expected that the conclusions reached can be made public tomorrow.

The main conclusions about the beginning of the academic year are academic coverage for students that guarantees training in all scenarios that may arise; universal accessibility in higher education regardless of the socio-economic situation and the digital gap of the student body; and the request for academic quality in the face of changes in teaching guidelines and evaluation methods that is accredited by the corresponding agencies.  

As the state coordinator, Andrea Paricio, has stated, “the will is to work together so that the students continue with the quality training they received and do not lose this same quality that they had until now”. “We want to convey to the institutions involved that it is necessary for students to have a voice in the adaptation of 100% classroom-based teaching to the blended learning that will be given next year,” Paricio said.

With regard to this aspect and the difficult situation of moving from completely face-to-face teaching to virtual semi-presence, the Principal, Maria Vicenta Mestre, stressed that “the student body is the centre of the university and everything must revolve around it, because the future of society lies in the training of students”. Mestre, who expressed her satisfaction that the UV can welcome CREUP, pointed out that “only through joint collaboration between students, Teaching and Research Staff and Administrative and Services Staff and the self-responsibility of all of us, will we be able to get out of this situation that we are in”.