A student of the ITS Geophysical Engineering Department when scanning PeduliLindungi before entering the PTM class

Campus ITS, ITS News – Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has again held face-to-face learning (PTM), since 7 February. With the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and the enactment of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) at level 3 in the City of Surabaya, ITS also evaluates the implementation of PTM so that there is no wider spread of Covid-19 among its academics.

ITS Deputy Chancellor I for Academic and Student Affairs Prof. Dr. Ir Adi Soeprijanto MT said this evaluation was carried out by eight faculties at ITS. “In this evaluation activity, there are several faculties that still have problems in implementing the hybrid approach,” he said.

However, continued Adi, ITS has made several efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in its academic community. One of them is the allocation of Wisma Bougenville ITS as an independent isolation room (isoman) for ITS residents who are exposed to Covid-19.

Hybrid lecture atmosphere carried out by the ITS Interdisciplinary School of Technology Management (SIMT)

Not only that, but the ITS leadership also circulated a decree stating that lectures must be held online. “However, because this situation is dynamic, we leave it to the department to determine whether the lectures will be conducted hybrid or online,” he explained.

Even though the health protocol (prokes) has been implemented strictly by the ITS academic community, there are still several incidents that caused the spread of Covid-19 to occur in the ITS environment. One of them is the gathering of students in several places when they will take part in PTM such as the ITS 1 Tower Building, the Joint Course Organizing Unit Building (UPMB), and the Joint Lecture Coordination Sub-Directorate Building (SKPB).

According to reports from several ITS Covid units (Satgas), many officers are overwhelmed in managing students who gather in the ITS environment. Not only that but there are also still many classrooms that have not been opened, causing many students to gather in one place.

Disinfectant booth provided by ITS to support offline and hybrid lectures

He continued, several departments finally had to implement temporary closures due to the complicated spread of Covid-19. Among them is the Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Chemical Engineering, Informatics Engineering, and several other departments. “The temporary closure was carried out by several departments for five days,” said the professor of Electrical Engineering.

ITS has provided several facilities that can be used by lecturers who teach hybrid or online in the ITS environment, such as wi-fi in each department, providing tracking cameras, smart boards, and several other facilities. However, there are still lecturers who have difficulty using these facilities. Thus, it is necessary to provide technicians who can assist lecturers in preparing hybrid or online lectures.

Although there are still some complex cases of Covid-19 spreading currently, ITS continues to strive to improve the facilities and performance of the task force in supporting ITS academics. Both in education, security, and health. “We all hope that this pandemic will end soon. So, lectures at ITS can run well again,” he concluded hopefully. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Bima Surya Samudra