500 to 1,000 additional corona proof study spaces on campus

All the corona restrictions mean that students are spending most of the day in their rooms. They take online classes there, work online with their work groups and do their required study there. TU Delft’s campus has a small number of corona proof study spaces, but these are only accessible for vulnerable students upon the request of their academic counsellor. TU Delft does not have a definition as to who falls in this group.

In recent months the central student council of TU Delft has insisted several times on extra study places. TU Delft intends to increase the number of available spaces as soon as possible, says Policy Officer Danko Roozemond. “We see that students’ well-being is increasingly under pressure and it is important that they can leave their rooms.” Effective on 1 March, there should be an additional 500 to 1,000 study spaces for students who feel vulnerable but who do not fall under the vulnerable students group. Students would then not need to ask permission from their academic counsellor, but they would have to reserve a half day in the reservation system of the buildings in question. The spaces reserved for the vulnerable students group will remain.

It is not yet clear exactly how many spaces will be created. “We have asked Pulse, the Library and all eight faculties to scale up the number of study spaces. The one building will have more space than the other,” says Roozemond.

Extra personnel 
Monday 1 March is the date that they are striving for, but there is no certainty that that date will be attained. The expansion needs to be approved by the Executive Board. “And it will also depend on how quickly we can arrange the personnel. More study spaces means more BHV (emergency first responders) people, cleaners, security, supervisors and other support staff.”

Studying on campus is, and will remain, completely corona proof. The higher flows of students that the study spaces will bring is manageable, says Roozemond. Further, everything is designed in line with RIVM (Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) directives. “The tables will be at one-and-a-half metres from each other, there will be a maximum capacity for each building, good ventilation etc.”