Gwangju University Cancels Degree Conferral Ceremony and New Student Entrance Ceremony

Measures to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus... Discussions on Departmental Scale-Down

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju University (President Kim Hyuk-jong) announced on the 4th that it will cancel the ‘2019 Academic Year Degree Conferment Ceremony’ and the ‘2020 Academic Year Freshman Entrance Ceremony’ to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The graduation ceremony scheduled for the 21st and the upcoming entrance ceremony and orientation are canceled, and the university is considering holding scaled-down events by department.

In addition, on the 3rd and 4th, meetings of the infectious disease prevention management team and the infectious disease control committee were held, and efforts are being made to establish a dedicated organization directly under the president to prevent the spread of infection.

The plan is to concentrate dispersed functions into a task force to enable rapid response under a single command system in case of emergency.

Furthermore, infection prevention action manuals have been distributed throughout the campus, and hand sanitizers, masks, contactless thermometers, and questionnaires have been placed for constant use. Fever detectors will be installed at dormitory entrances.

In particular, the International Education Team is continuously monitoring the health status of all international students through SNS and text messages, and is advising Chinese international students to postpone their arrival from the end of this month to early next month.

Discussions regarding academic matters for Chinese international students will be announced after consultation with the Academic Affairs Office.

For Chinese international students entering the dormitories, a comprehensive five-step plan has been prepared. After diagnosis and fever checks, they will stay in isolation accommodations following the principle of one person per room during the incubation period (14 days), and access to the cafeteria and shared facilities will be restricted.

Following the first disinfection and sterilization inside the dormitory building on the 27th of last month, a second round of disinfection and sterilization will be conducted on the 15th and 16th of this month.

President Kim Hyuk-jong said, “As the government is currently taking strong measures to prevent the novel coronavirus, we have canceled the graduation and entrance ceremonies for the safety of students. We will establish a reliable response system after the semester begins so that students can focus on their studies.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.