Summary information for students of IHM at the time of the ban on the personal presence of students at the university and the interruption of its operation

Prague, March 24, 2020

Summary information for students of IHM at the time of the ban on the personal presence of students at the university and the interruption of its operation

On the basis of the crisis measure approved by Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 201 of March 12, 2020, pursuant to Article I (2), the personal presence of students in collective forms of teaching and examinations is prohibited during their studies at universities pursuant to Act No. 111/1998 Coll. as amended (Higher Education Act), due to health threats associated with the detection of coronavirus (known as SARS CoV-2) causing COVID-19 disease.

The aim of IHM is to protect the health and lives of all of us, therefore we fully respect the measures set by the Czech government. At the same time, the IHM management is aware of all the complications that many students will encounter. All IHM academics will do their best to eliminate as many problems as possible after the resumption of IHM operation.

IHM will do everything to ensure that during June 2020 the State Final Examinations (SFE) take place in both the bachelor's and the master’s degree in standard, i.e. full-time (contact) form. In case that it is not possible to organize the SFE by contact, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports prepares the necessary legislative adjustments so that the fulfilment of study obligations, including the SFE, can take place electronically. In this case, IHM would organize the SFE immediately after the relevant legislative amendments came into force, assuming that the SFE could take place before June 30, 2020.

Full-time studies

The timetable is interrupted and is replaced by distance learning. Neither the Rector's leave was announced nor the summer semester 2020 was interrupted. During the self-study, students follow the instructions of academic staff (study materials, study supports, available distance learning tools such as recorded video lectures by IHM teachers, etc.)., with whom they communicate electronically (by e-mail).

It will be decided with regard to the current development of the epidemiological situation when the full-time form of study will continue in accordance with the timetable. It is possible that full-time (contact) form of study will not be renewed in the summer semester 2020.

Part-time studies

Teaching according to the timetable during the V. term of part-time studies (30. 3. - 3. 4. 2020) will not take place and will be replaced by distance form of study. During the self-study, students will follow the instructions of academic staff (study materials, study support, distance learning tools, etc.), with whom they communicate electronically (by e-mail).

Whether the VI. term of the part-time studies (25. 5. – 29. 5. 2020) will take place will be decided only with regard to the current development of the epidemiological situation. The VI. term does not concern the 3rd year of the bachelor’s study and the 2nd year of the master’s study.

Subjects completion in the summer semester 2020

Credits and examinations for subjects enrolled in the summer semester 2020, resp. in the previous semesters, will be possible to take for students of the last years (3rd year of bachelor's and 2nd year of master's studies) who wish to take the State Final Examination in June 2020 within 2 weeks after resuming of the IHM operation. Other students will be allowed to take credits and exams not only in June 2020, but also in the alternative exam period, which will run from August 31 to September 18, 2020.

Credits and examinations meeting the requirements set by teachers of individual subjects must not be entered by academic staff into the IS IHM before they are registered in the study card (index). In order to check the identity of students and fulfil the enrolment in the relevant semester, credits and examinations will be entered into the IS IHM as well as into the study cards (indexes) simultaneously during the renewed operation of the IHM.

Students who have not been allowed to practice due to force majeure, submit only a report on the course of practice to the guarantor of the subject "Practice".

It is necessary to emphasize that the number of credits that students of IHM have to earn to successfully complete their studies does not change. In accordance with ECTS rules, they must earn a minimum of 180 credits in bachelor's and 120 in master's studies.

All internal academic staff of IHM have a mandatory personal presence at the workplace 2 weeks prior to the State Final Exams from Monday to Thursday of at least 6 hours a day, with fixed working hours always obligatory from 9.00 am to 1 pm, the remaining 2 hours at the discretion of each academic worker. In case of absence of external collaborators, the heads of departments under which the subject is assigned are empowered to close the courses and record the evaluation in both study cards (indexes) and IS IHM. These department heads are:

Hotel Management: Ing. Petr Studnička, PhD. (studnicka@vsh.cz)
Travel and Tourism Studies: Ing. Pavel Attl, Ph.D. (attl@vsh.cz)
Economy and Economics: Ing. Věra Levičková, Ph.D. (levickova@vsh.cz)
Marketing and Management: doc. Mgr. Ing. Karel Chadt, CSc. (chadt@vsh.cz)
Languages: PhDr. Romana Kratochvílová (kratochvilova@vsh.cz)

Consultation of bachelor / master theses

Students have the opportunity to fully and continuously consult the bachelor and master thesis elaboration with their supervisors, electronically (by e-mail), using other information and communication technologies (e.g. video conference), eventually by phone. At the same time, all students were given access to materials in the course "Pre-State Examination Seminar" (study material, the whole text of the university text "Principles of final theses", PowerPoint presentation template for the defence of the bachelor / diploma thesis). We point out the changes in the dates and requirements for students who wish to take the State Final Examination in June 2020, as set out in this text, and which differ from Rector's Decree 1/2020.

State Final Examinations

The clear goal of IHM is to enable students who meet the requirements (minimum number of credits, electronic version of bachelor / diploma thesis in IS IHM) to be able to complete the SFE before June 30, 2020. Nothing changes on the SFE dates at the turn of August / September 2020 and January 2021.

It is possible that the SFE in June 2020 will not take place within the dates set in Rector's Decree No. 15/2019, but later, preferably between June 15 and 25, 2020, either in contact (on-site) or contactless (electronic) form.

Students wishing to take the State Final Examination in June 2020 will submit their study cards (indexes) no later than 5 days before the first day of the announced date of the State Final Examination to the Study Department. State Final Examinations will take place 2 weeks after the renewal of the IHM operation at the earliest. At the same time, students will also submit one copy of the bachelor / diploma thesis in a hardcover form to the Study Department. Students are obliged to submit the electronic version of the bachelor / diploma thesis in Microsoft Word format (* .doc, * .docx) into the IS IHM within the deadline set by the Rector's Decree No. 1/2020. Bachelor students are obliged to submit an electronic version of the bachelor thesis to the IS IHM no later than Thursday, April 23, 2020, diploma students are obliged to submit the electronic version of the thesis to the IS IHM no later than Thursday 30 April 2020. The reason for keeping this deadline is the subsequent processing of assessments by supervisors and reviewers of bachelor / master theses. We remind you that these final theses will be archived in both printed and electronic versions for 70 years.

The postponement of the deadline for the submission of the study card (index) and 1 hardcover copy of the bachelor / diploma thesis relates only to those students who will take the State Final Examination in June 2020. At the same time, these students will not exceptionally hand in 2 copies of the bachelor / diploma thesis in spiral binding.

For the other dates of the State Final Examinations (the turn of August / September 2020 and January 2021) it is necessary to keep all dates and requirements set out in the Rector's Decree No. 1/2020.

Graduation ceremony

Due to the highly probable postponement of the date of the State Final Examinations in June 2020, the graduations scheduled for Thursday, June 25, 2020 are cancelled. The substitute date for graduations at the Ambassador Hotel in Prague is set on Thursday, October 8, 2020. All successful graduates of the State Final Examinations up to and including September 2020 will be allowed to attend the October 2020 graduations.

Other measures at IHM

With respect to the current epidemiological situation, the following measures have been decided:

All student practice is cancelled until further notice.
The student survey in the summer semester 2020 is cancelled.
All cultural, sporting and professional events including lifelong learning courses up to August 31, 2020 are cancelled (e.g. SVOČ 2020, vocational training conference, Grandmother's recipes culinary event, Student Senate IHM events).
All attendance meetings of university bodies are cancelled (e.g. Rector's Board, Heads of Departments Meeting, Operations Department Meeting, Departments Meeting, Research Teams Meeting, Working Groups Meeting, Editorial Board Meeting).
Travels abroad are banned to all employees.
Arrivals and departures of all Erasmus + academic or operational staff and students are banned, except for those students who travelled abroad before March 10, 2020 and who are able to fulfil their study obligations.
The operation of all operating sections at IHM is interrupted.

Please send your inquiries about the study, ideally by e-mail to the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs PhDr. Jan Máče, Ph.D. (mace@vsh.cz) or head of the Study Department Ing. Petra Opletalová (opletalova@vsh.cz). It is also possible to contact the CEO of IHM Ing. Petr Studnička, PhD. (studnicka@vsh.cz).

We apologize to all students for the inconvenience caused and believe that together we will manage the current difficult situation associated with the occurrence of SARS CoV-2 causing COVID-19 disease. We also believe that we will meet personally at IHM in the foreseeable future.

Let’s take the current situation as a challenge, not only for higher education, but also for the entire tourism sector and the hotel and gastronomy fields. The situation of all subjects in this field changed fundamentally within a few days.

We wish you all good health and strong nerves.

Ing. Petr S t u d n i č k a, PhD.
CEO
The Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague 8, Ltd.

doc. Ing. Václav V i n š, CSc.
Rector
The Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague