AMU INFO - N°24

Dear all,

This issue of AMU Info finally marks the gradual return to our normal rhythms, which we are beginning to see in France with great pleasure. The effects of the national vaccination strategy and the decline in the spread of Covid-19 are now being felt and I am very pleased about this.

I am pleased to inform you that as of 19 May, the return to the classroom for colleagues will be gradual - with incentives and on a voluntary basis - until 30 June, which should mark the complete return to the classroom for all of us. To accompany this return in complete health security, each colleague will be able to receive a Covid-19 self-testing kit. Of course, we must remain prudent, both within AMU and in our daily activities, by continuing to rigorously apply the barrier gestures with the wearing of a mask.

The start of the new academic year in September is also planned to be in person, provided that satisfactory sanitary conditions are maintained. Our events schedule will also gradually resume in person, while respecting sanitary constraints. I am very pleased to announce that an AMU party is being organized for September 6. It will be an opportunity to meet again with joy and conviviality around music, in particular.

By then we will have welcomed Laurence Corvellec, the new Director General of Services of AMU, to whom I wish an excellent installation among us, as of June 1st.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

1. resumption of administrative and political activities in person :

• As of May 19, colleagues will be encouraged to come back to the office one day a week.
• From 9 June: encouragement for colleagues to return to the office two days a week.
• As of 30 June: end of remote work. Resumption of face-to-face work and application of the validated teleworking arrangements, subject to additional ministerial instructions.

2. Provision of self-tests at COVID-19

At each site, you will be able to receive a kit of self-tests for personal use for 5 weeks. This will allow you to return to the clinic in complete safety. In case of a positive test, you will have to declare it on our Inst'AMU application and to your hierarchy, as well as respect your isolation, perform a PCR test and continue the isolation while waiting for your results, for a minimum of 7 days. On the campuses, the modalities of distribution of these kits will be communicated by the Deans and Directors of components at the end of the week. On the Pharo site, the distribution will be ensured by the DHSE team within its premises, every morning from 9 am, from Thursday May 20th.

3. Preparing for the start of the student year in person

Today, even if the information on the start of the school year is evolving, it allows us to plan and organize a student start in person. Restrictions are obviously still possible depending on the evolution of health in France, and we are preparing for this as well.
However, our aim is to reaffirm the importance of face-to-face teaching activities and to integrate digital activities as an enrichment, added value, or personalization of the student's course.

The compulsory transition of certain activities to distance learning would only take place under health pressure. Thus, 2 situations are possible next September, depending on the contamination figures and the rate of propagation of the virus at the beginning of the school year:

• Scenario 1: a classic semester, in class. The sanitary protocol would allow the reception of students in class.
• Scenario 2: a hybrid semester. The health protocol would not allow students to attend all of the classes in person, as their attendance would be limited by the capacity of the teaching rooms. Some courses would therefore be distance learning.

These conditions of reception could of course vary during the semester according to the evolution of the disease (appearance of cluster, seasonal return of COVID...). Scenario 1 is to be preferred but we can quickly switch to scenario 2 if necessary, especially for courses with a large number of students (more than 150).

A communication campaign for students is already ready: administrative registrations will be possible online from June 28. The school certificates will be downloadable on the digital working environment and an email informing about its availability will be sent automatically to the student. The student cards will be distributed physically according to a protocol chosen by the component in compliance with the sanitary rules in force at the time of the distribution, avoiding queues in front of the schools.

We have put in place new integration measures in order to welcome students in the best possible way: training in digital tools; assistance in the acquisition of computer equipment, financed by the CVEC and granted on social criteria, for students in precarious situations. Students with a digital divide must have priority access to campuses to benefit from the connection in case of health restrictions; integration days and knowledge of the university organized at the request of the components.

Concerning the modalities of knowledge control next semester, they were voted in CFVU and are similar to the modalities we knew before the health crisis. Since the CFVU of last July, a text has been introduced in the modalities of control of knowledge and competences indicating the possibility of revising them in case of change of the health situation.

4. Welcome to the Director General of AMU Services: Laurence Corvellec

I am pleased to inform you of the recruitment of Mrs Laurence Corvellec to the position of Director General of Services (DGS) of our university. Laurence Corvellec will take up her post on Tuesday 1 June 2021 to ensure the implementation of the university's strategy with the governance team, and to monitor its management unity and operational application in conjunction with the team of administrative departments and common services. She will be assisted in these missions by Mr Jean-Philippe Potier. After having carried out political and administrative missions within the IRD, and then held the position of Deputy Regional Delegate of the CNRS "Ile-de-France Ouest et Nord" district, Mrs Corvellec has held the position of Director General of Services of the ENS- PSL (Ecole Normale Supérieure - Université Paris-Sciences et Lettres) since 2014. Her twenty years of commitment to ESRI, and the acquisition of a solid experience forged in strategic management functions, have convinced me of her assets to accompany our community in the development trajectory that I wish for AMU. I warmly thank you for the warm welcome you will give him.

Yours sincerely

Éric Berton

President of Aix-Marseille University