COVID-19 UPDATE 21 APRIL 2020

Kia ora SAE Auckland staff and students

Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that New Zealand will move out of Alert Level 4 from next Monday 27^th April at 11.59pm and shift to Alert Level 3.

Alert Level 3 does allow us to partially open the SAE Auckland campus, however that will be under very strict protocols. By the end of this week, we will provide detail regarding those protocols. In the meantime, here are a few key points that we already know:

Under Alert Level 3, all teaching and learning will continue to be online.
There will be no classes on campus, nor a requirement for any students to come to SAE Auckland. Indeed, government advice is that within Alert Level 3 you should still stay home within your bubble if you can.
Whilst there is no requirement to be on campus for learning and teaching activities, we will start to allow staff and students access to our studios and equipment (for use onsite only) within limited hours and with strict access protocols.
Next week, from Tuesday 28 April – Friday 1 May, the studios/equipment will be accessible for staff only. This will provide us some time to prepare the campus for students, as well as develop further online material for classes.
From Monday 4 May onwards, the studios/equipment will be accessible for staff and students, albeit in accordance with the protocols that will be sent to you later this week.

In all cases, we want to ensure the safety of our staff and students and our protocols will be very strict. That includes gaining clearance and approval from Head Studio Supervisor Alex Ferrier PRIOR to arriving to campus. We will be applying strict physical distancing rules and adopting deep cleaning regimes. As long as we are sensible and considerate of others, I’m sure we can make this work.

I would like to reiterate however that you will not need to come to campus under Alert Level 3. That is likely to be in place for the remainder of this trimester. During the next trimester break (18 May-22May) we will then reassess the situation.

I hope that provides some clarity on how these next few weeks will proceed. Look out for the detail later this week regarding our protocols to access the site. In the meantime, continue to engage with your online classes. And reach out at any time if you have any further questions.

Ngā mihi nui,

Suzette

DR SUZETTE MAJOR, CAMPUS DIRECTOR, SAE AUCKLAND