Information about coronavirus 

Access to Campus

VIA’s campuses are open to all students, and classes are conducted according to the guidelines provided to students by each study programme. Students are notified directly in case of changes.

Face masks are required in all common areas at all of VIA's locations. Find further guidelines on face protection below.

Please follow the guidelines posted on hygiene, keeping distance etc. at each campus.

Follow official guidelines

VIA’s contingency plan and recommendations will follow the official guidelines from the Danish authorities. For general information on the coronavirus outbreak in Denmark, the strategy and recommendations of the Danish Ministry of Health or guidelines on travels to and from Denmark, we recommend that you stay updated by visiting the official site on coronavirus from the Danish authorities. It is also possible to call the Joint Danish Authority Hotline on +45 7020 0233.

Students may also benefit from visiting the Q&A by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Staff

If you are an employee at VIA, go to the employee portal to find more information about working/teaching from home, travles, IT safety etc.

Contact VIA

If you have questions related to coronavirus, please send an email to international@via.dk. 

If you have tested positive for covid-19, it is important that you contact your study programme and inform them that you are ill.

In order to make contact tracing more efficient, VIA recommends that you install the app ” Smitte|stop” on your phone.

Take care of yourself and others – limit the risk of infection!

Symptoms of covid-19

If you experience symptoms of covid-19 it is important that you stay at home and contact your physician by phone, so that you can be tested.

Symptoms of covid-19 are:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Breathing difficulties
• Fatigue

If you are tested positive for covid-19

Contact your study programme and inform them that you have been tested positive for covid-19. In addition you should contact the people you have been in close contact with, as your contacts have to be traced.

The definition of close contacts is:

• People you live with
• People you have been in physical contact with (e.g. through hugs), or someone you might have sneezed or coughed on.
• People you have had close (less than 1 meter), face-to-face contact with for more than 15 minutes, e.g. in a conversation
• People you have been close to (less than 2 meters) for more than 15 minutes in any of the below mentioned scenarios with a hightened risk of infection:
  • Activities involving heavy breathing such as singing, speaking loudly or shouting
  • Activities involving physical exertion
  • Staying in a poorly ventilated room

The above mentioned means that people you have e.g. taken a choir or fitness lesson with in a closed room or someone you have been with in a car are close contacts, if you have been within 2 meters for more than 15 minutes.

Read the Ministry of Health’s information material on what to do if you have been tested positive for more information.

If you cannot get in touch with your study programme

Contact VIA’s corona hotline at +45 87 55 29 59 if you have tested positive and can NOT get in touch with your study programme. ALL other corona-related inquiries must be directed to the individual study programmes.

In addition, we encourage use of the common authority hotline at +45 70 20 02 33. 

If you have been in "close contact" with a person tested positive for covid-19

To be considered a ”close contact”, you have to have been in contact with the infected person from 48 hours before the persons symptoms started and until 48 hours after the symptoms have ceased. If the infected person show no symptoms, you are considered a close contact if you have been in contact with the infected person 48 hours before he/she tested positive until 7 days after a positive test.

If you have had ”close contact” with a person tested positive for covid-19, you must:

• Stay at home and cancel all visits
• If possible, keep distance to the people you live with and avoid physical contact such as kisses and hugs. It is especially important to keep distance to people that are vulnerable due to other health issues or age
• Be particularly careful to adhere to the health authorities’ guidelines on good hand hygiene and coughing etiquette, in addition to focusing on thorough and frequent cleaning
• Be aware of any symptoms of covid-19
• Get tested as soon as possible, even if you do not have any symptoms of covid-19. If you have a Danish CPR number you can book a time at www.coronaprover.dk
• If you are living with someone who has covid-19 and the time of exposure cannot be determined precisely, you can read more about how to get tested here.
• If you are tested negative, you can cancel your self-isolation. But you still have to be aware of any symptoms that may develop

Read the Ministry of Health’s information material on what to do if you have been in close contact with an infected person.

Testing of other contacts

There are situations where you are not considered a close contact according to the criteria mentioned above, but a screening test is still recommended. For example, if you have been in the same class as someone infected, or if you are unsure of whether a safe distance has been kept throughout the class. In this case, you are considered a "secondary contact" and the recommendation is to get tested once.

Recommendations for secondary contacts:

• Book a test at coronaprover.dk as soon as possible
• You are not required to self-isolate and are allowed to go to campus or go shopping etc. both before you get tested and while waiting for the result.
• Be extra aware of any symptoms that may develop and adhere to the recommendations preventing spread of infection, such as good hygiene and social distancing
• Remember to clean regularly and use a face mask where required

If your test comes back positive, you must self-isolate immediately and follow the procedures mentioned above for people with covid-19.

If you are a seconday contact, the people you live with do not have to take any precautions, while you are waiting for your test result. However, if your test comes back positive, they are considered close contacts.

Face masks or face shields are currently mandatory at all common areas at all of VIA's locations. Therefore, it is not possible to gain access to VIA's campuses without wearing a mask or shield.

You must wear a face mask or -shield when moving around campus  - e.g. in the canteen, in the hallways and other common areas. You do not have to wear a mask when eating in the canteen while seated or seated in a group room doing group work, however, you have to put it on when moving to and from your seat. In common areas, you have to wear face protection even while seated, if it is not possible to keep the required distance.

Use of face protection in classrooms

The mask requirement does not apply to teaching situations, as long as it is possible to keep a distance of at least one meter. If it is necessary to deviate from the distance guidelines to carry out the teaching, both student and teacher have to wear face masks or -shields. 

Bring your own face mask

As a student, your are responsible for bringing your own face mask or -shield. However, it is possible to purchase face masks in VIA's stores. Financially challenged citizens may contact their home municipality to get free face masks.

Masks are not a replacement for keeping distance and using sanitizer

Remember to still keep a safe distance to others and use hand sanitizer. These are still the best means of reducing risk of infection.

If you have traveled to a country or region marked “orange” or "red" in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ travel guide, e.g. for recreational trips or if you are entering Denmark for the first time as a new student, you are only allowed on any of VIA’s locations when you have been tested for COVID-19 with a negative result.

The test can be taken four days after entering Denmark at the earliest. Only if this test comes back negative, you are allowed to go to campus. Processing of tests can take up to 48 hours. Therefore, VIA University College recommends that you arrive in Denmark no later than 6 working days before you have to be present at one of VIA’s locations.

How to get tested

In Denmark, COVID-19 testing is free of charge.

If you have a Danish civil registration number (CPR), you can book time for a test at coronaprover.dk and you can check you result at sundhed.dk.

If you do not have a CPR number, you can visit one of the testing centers in Aarhus, Viborg, Herning or Silkeborg and wait in line. You will receive a text message within 48 hours if you have tested positive.  If the test is negative, you will not be notified. If you have not heard from the testing center within 48 hours, you can assume that the test is negative and are allowed to go to campus. For more information, visit the website of the health authorities in the Central Denmark Region.

If you test positive, you must follow authority guidelines, inform VIA and self-isolate. Find authority guidelines here.

Below is the number of individuals with confirmed covid-19 at VIA in week 48 – registered as per 27 November 2020.

Campus Holstebro - 5
Campus Aarhus C - 12
Campus Horsens - 2
Campus Viborg - 1
Campus Herning - 8
Diakonhøjskolen - 1
Filmbyen - 2

All cases have been handled in accordance to our guidelines. Close contacts have been traced and informed and the individuals with covid-19 have been instructed not to return to VIA until they have recovered and been free from symptoms for at least 48 hours.

We follow the development closely and students and staff at VIA who has been in close contact with someone with covid-19 will be notified quickly and automatically.

The tightened restrictions for students living or taking their internship in Hjørring, Frederikshavn, Jammerbugt, Thisted, Brønderslev, Vesthimmerland or Læsø municipalities are lifted from 19 November.

This means that students living or taking an internship in any of the municipalities in Northern Jutland are allowed to return to VIA’s addresses and their internship placements. 

However, it is important that you continue to follow directions from your study programme. 

The Danish borders have openfor international students and at VIA and we are looking very much forward to welcoming our new international students for the 2021 spring semester.

Study start will be different this term. Due to the corona situation, and in order to minimize the risk of infection, all social activities such as freshers’ trips, parties, Friday bar etc. are cancelled until further notice throughout VIA’s locations.

Travelling to Denmark

The Danish borders are open for entry if you are a student in Denmark, however, the guidelines change alle the time - make sure to check the official authority websites before departurend. Find updated information on travelling in and out of Denmark here.

It is a good idea to bring documentation proving that you have been admitted to VIA. Contact your study programme to get a certificate proving admittance.

All new international VIA students must be tested for COVID-19 upon entering Denmark with a negative result before being allowed on campus - read more in the Testing Requirements tab below.

Residence Permit

If you are a citizen of a non-EU country you need a residence permit to study in Denmark. The application process takes place in your home country before arrival in Denmark, and is processed by Danish embassies or Visa Facilitation Service Centers. Normally, the processing can take up to 60 days, but currently processing times may be longer, because many embassies are closed. Please contact the Danish embassy or VFS center closest to you in order to determine when you will able to apply. For more information on Danish immigration, please visit their webpage.

If you are considering an exchange semester at VIA, please be aware that we continue to accept nominations. Learn more about our exchange opportunities.

Find more general information for new international students on this page.

If you have any questions, not answered in the information on this site, please contact the Admissions Office at apply@via.dk if you are a full degree applicant, or your International Coordinator at VIA, if you are an incoming exchange student.

VIA's campuses and other locations are open to students.

Note that all international students are required to get tested for coronavirus before going to campus for the first time. Read more above in the Testing requirements tab.

We follow the recommendations of the Danish Ministry of Health to ensure that students can feel safe on campus. Guidelines are posted on campus and will be distributed to students on e-mail and on Itslearning.

Social activities

Social events are cancelled until 2 January 2021.

In-person, practice oriented classes are a very important part of our teaching at VIA and we therefore advise all students to enter Denmark well in time for study start, if you are not already here. We expect that teaching will for the most part take place as normal in class, complemented by online teaching and self-study.

It is required to wear a face mask or face shield during class, if it is not possible to keep the required distance.

If you are crossing borders in order to return to your studies or is entering Denmark for the first time, we recommend that you download and travel with a “Declaration of Study Activity” from the Self-Service Portal at VIA – mitVIA.

Be aware that classes may be placed later in the afternoons than what you have been used to. This is necessary in order to practice social distancing and make sure that there are not too many people on campus at once.

Please contact your study programme regarding internships and study trips in spring 2021. If you travel abroad, be aware that there may be some limitations as to what your travel insurance covers due to Covid-19.

In case of changes in relation to your study-abroad stay or international internship, please contact int.national.erasmus@via.dk.

Due to COVID-19, the application processing times for Erasmus+ scholarships are currently prolonged. Therefore, it has been decided that from 1 September 2020, all applications (including documentation) must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the mobility activity (e.g. internship, exchange and the like). In addition, guidelines for Erasmus+ has been adapted to accommodate the coronavirus situation:

• It is now possible to engage in ’blended mobility.’ This means that students can start their mobility activity in the country he/she is studying in and go abroad to finish the activity. The total mobility period must still be a minimum of 60 days for internships and 90 days for exchange activities. However, there is no minimum for how long the student is abroad. It is for instance possible to divide the activity by staying 40 days in Denmark and 20 days in Germany. The student will only be eligible for a grant in the period that he/she spends abroad, i.e. 20 day in this example.
• If a mobility activity takes place virtually and the student has gone abroad, she/he will be eligible for a grant – even if the student is not able to be present on campus, it is sufficient to be abroad.
• In connection with ’blended mobility’, it must be clear in the application which period the student is abroad.

For more information go to the ministry’s website (in Danish) or contact your international coordinator for more information

If you have questions about cancelled Erasmus stays, please contact int.national.erasmus@via.dk.

Counselling for VIA students

In the current situation with coronavirus, many students experience difficulties in structuring their everyday life and staying motivated, when sitting at home alone without the option of getting together with fellow students and teachers.

If you have specific questions related to your study programme, please contact the study counsellor at your programme.

If you need help or guidance in relation to your mental well-being, our student counsellors are ready to help you on our chat counselling platform Monday to Friday from 9-12 AM.

Find the chat here!

The individual study programme decides whether an exam will take place online or on campus.

If the current unusual situation makes it impossible to go through with an exam as planned, VIA will seek to offer an alternative test (e.g. a replacement test or an online exam). If VIA deems it impossible to replace the planned examination form, VIA will arrange an extraordinary exam.

As a student, you will be notified of how your exam will be carried out directly you’re your study programme.

In the tabs below, you can find more information on the guidelines for both online exams and exams on campus. 

Please read the guidelines carefully before showing up on campus for an exam. 

Take care of yourself - limit the risk of infection!

1. Please note – before the exam

• You must show up on campus well in advance of the exam, though, no earlier than 30 minutes before your exam.
• If your exam is with preparation time, you must arrive 30 minutes before the preparation time starts at the earliest.
• If your exam is with preparation time, bring your own writing tools and paper.
• Bring your own water bottle, if you need water during the exam.
• Near the exam room there will be dedicated waiting areas. On the exam day there will be signs indicating these areas.
• Wash your hands or sanitize your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub immediately upon arrival on campus. There will be alcohol-based hand rub in the waiting area.
• Avoid hugs, hand shakes and other types of close contact.
• Keep a distance of at least one meter from everyone else - including your fellow students.
• Only stay in the waiting area assigned for your exam.
• Do not move around the furniture in the waiting area. It is arranged according to the instructions of the health authorities
• Limit contact with door handles, handrails and other contact points as much as possible.
• Hallways must be kept clear with no loitering.
• Keep right on stairs and hallways.
• If you feel ill on the day of the exam, stay home and contact your own physician and get a medical certificate. 

2. Please note – after the exam

Once your exam is completed and you have been notified of your grade, you must leave campus immediately.

Campus is still closed to the public. Family, friends or anyone else, who wants to celebrate you, are therefore not allowed to enter campus. Celebrations must take place off campus.

Under normal circumstances, the exam is public. But during the Covid-19 situation, it is difficult to allow access to others. If a fellow student or others want access to your exam, it must be agreed with Student Services well in advance of the exam.

Study Services provides access to the extent possible, taking into account the health guidelines of the given situation.

If you have an oral exam, it will be conducted in Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

The choice of programme will be made by your study programme – based on which is most suitable for your exam and in some cases based on which programmes have been used for online teaching.

When you receive information about your exam, you will be informed about choice of programme. It is important that you read the instructions below for the relevant programme before your exam.

An online oral exam follows the same general exam rules as an ordinary oral exam, but there are some extra procedures that must be followed.

Requirements to your equipment

It will be taken into account that this is an extraordinary situation, but it is your responsibility that you can participate with the equipment you are using when you have an online oral exam.

In order to conduct the exam satisfactory the examiners must be able to both hear and see you. We strongly recommend using a computer for the best experience, but using a smartphone is also an option.

You will therefore need to have:

• A computer with a webcam/external webcam or a smartphone with a camera
• A steady internet connection

We also recommend using headphones or a headset for the best possible sound quality (but this is not essential).

Information about your online exam

Together with a timetable for your exam you will receive information about which programme will be used for your exam and a link for the exam. This information will be sent to you by either Student Services or your teacher.

Following the technical instructions that you find on this page, you will be asked to use you VIAid. This is the same as you use to log on to Itslearning and other VIA systems.

Exam using Zoom

You will receive a link to the exam.

For further information on installing and participating in an exam in Zoom read this guide (pdf): Participate in a Zoom exam

The Zoom version used in VIA is different from the free version. It is in compliance the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Therefore it is a safe system and not as the free version where there is no control over which data is collected.

Exam using Microsoft Teams

You will receive a link to the exam.

For further information participating in an exam in Microsoft Teams read this guide (pdf): Participate in a Microsoft Teams exam

The exam

Get ready early on the day of your exam to make sure you are ready and with the relevant programme open when the exam begins.

Please note:

• There can be delays in the oral exams, so you might not be allowed access into the exam at the scheduled time. As long as you have access to the waiting room/lobby you just wait until being let in.
• You must be able to identify yourself by showing a passport, driving license or other identification with a recognisable picture of you, e.g. your VIA Student card (if you have a digital student card to a “print screen” photo that you can share)
• Make sure you are sitting in a quiet room with good lighting. Avoid sitting in front of a window as it influences the light.
• If you are going to use a Power Point or something similar at the examination you must follow the instructions given from your study programme concerning presentations at the exam.
• Ordinary oral exams are open to the public, which means you that can normally invite friends or other people to watch the exam.
• Oral exams online are closed to the public in order to avoid cheating. You must therefore be alone in the room you are sitting in during the exam (except group exams – see below). The examiners can ask you to show them the room by webcam to ensure you are alone.
• Audio-visual recording of the exam is not permitted unless it is a part of the examination itself. If that is the case, VIA will do the recording (Executive order on examination regulations)
• When you and the examiners have all joined the meeting, the exam will be conducted as an ordinary oral exam.
• When the exam is completed, the examiner will let you out of the meeting again. Please make sure, that you follow the technical instructions on how to prepare yourself to regain access into the exam immediately after the exam. When the assessment is done you will again get access to the exam meeting in order to get feedback and grading.

Technical problems during the exam

If the exam is interrupted due to technical issues and the connection is not quickly restored, you must call the examiner from your phone. You must always be the one to make the call, even if the problems are not at your end - and you must do it without unnecessary delay.

You will get the phone number along with the link to the online exam.

The examiners will decide whether the exam is be continued, discontinued or postponed – and you will be told before you hang up the phone, what is going to happen next.

If the exam cannot be completed

We have meticulously prepared this period with online exams and are sure, that you will do the same. However, sometimes unexpected things can happen in relation with online exams, as is the case with exams held at VIA. If an exam can not be completed online, the outcome depends on whether the reason for the discontinuation of the exam is due to you or VIA – just as is the case in all other exams.

If you cannot complete the exam due to technical issues with your equipment or the internet connection is failing at your end, you will have used one exam attempt, just as you would if you were delayed going to an oral exam because the bus was delayed or your bike had a flat tyre.

That said, it is an extraordinary situation and it will be taken into consideration if you would end up needing to ask for a dispensation for a fourth attempt.

In the case of technical problems during the exam, VIA University College will try the best to complete the exam anyway – by trying the backup system etc. As long as you make sure before the exam that your equipment is working, you have a good internet connection, and you have read the instructions, you will have prepared sufficiently with regards to the practical part of your exam.

The IT department and Study Service will also provide backup for the examinators in case of the need for support, so we will do our best to ensure that your exam will run smoothly.

In case the exam cannot be completed due to other factors than those, that you are responsible of, ie. factors that VIA is responsible of, a new exam will be offered as soon as possible in order to repair the situation. In that case, the interrupted attempt to do the exam will not count as one of your three exam attempts.

Online group exam

If an oral group exam takes place online, it is up to the group to decide whether the members are together in one room during the exam or are sitting at separate locations. The decision should be based on what makes practical sense, while considering health and technical issues.

The following conditions apply to online group exams:

If the group decides to be together in the same room during the exam, the group must ensure that censor and examiner are able to see all group members during the entire exam, also when they are not speaking. If the group is participating via multiple devices in the same room, there is a high risk of technical challenges with sound, e.g. resonance, echo etc.

For that reason, VIA recommends that group members are only together in the same room if the group members:

• Agree that it is a sound idea health-wise
• Are all able to be seen through a web cam in a single device
• All agree that the equipment used for the exam, is suited for the purpose

On-campus group exam

If one or more members of a group are unable to attend an on-campus exam, the study programme will decide how to proceed. This could mean that the person unable to attend (but not sick), have to participate via an online connection and the rest of the group on-campus. The study programme may also decide that all members of the group are to take the exam online, even though only one member is unable to attend. It can be necessary to make this decision with very short notice. Therefore, it is important that all members in a group are prepared to take an exam online, even though the exam is planned to take place on campus.

If one or more group members are unable to attend because they are sick, the study programme will decide how to proceed. The preferred proceeding is that the remaining members must take the exam without the sick group member. The individual who has been ill, must take the exam at a later point. Therefore, it is important that all group members are prepared to go through with the exam even if one or more members get sick.

The rules for exam cheating continue to apply even though your exams are online.

What is exam cheating?

The exam is a test where you prove your individual qualifications within the framework and conditions set by VIA for that exam.

If you at an exam - intentionally or unintentionally – do something that gives you better terms than required, you are cheating.

When submitting a written assignment, you must confirm in WISEflow by a statement of faith and promise that the assignment has been completed without undue assistance.

Wrongful assistance could consist of:

• That you have used unauthorized aids or provided yourself or another student with improper assistance in answering the assignment
• That you have published the work of others as your own in the assignment
• That you have used your own, previously assessed work without a source reference in the assignment answer

In WISEflow, all task responses are automatically checked for plagiarism. The plagiarism check compares the exam answer with all open sources available over the Internet, ie. all websites, articles and projects that are online.

It is plagiarism when, in a written assignment, you try to give the impression that you are the author of an idea, text, set-up or the like, even if the author is actually another. Therefore, to avoid suspicion of plagiarism, it is extremely important that quotes, sources and references are clearly marked in the assignment.

About plagiarism

Plagiarism is when imitating or directly copying someone else's texts, without stating the source and pointing out that this is a quote or summary re-work.

About using your own, previously handed in assignments

You can use extracts from your own assignments according to these guidelines:

• You can quote snippets (relatively brief) in line with all other sources - and using the usual source citation criteria.
• You can work with similar issues as in previous assignments - just seen from the new perspective that the current module requires.
• You can include previously used theories, but the theories must be elucidated in a new context.
• You can use empirics that you used in a previous task, but it is expected to be done in a different - and typically broader - perspective.

Helping someone gain an unfair advantage at the exam is also cheating. Therefore, always think about it if in an exam situation you hand out your own answer to a fellow student.

The penalties for exam cheating range from being expelled from the exam, losing a trial and receiving a warning to permanently being expelled from VIA. The penalty depends on an overall assessment of the seriousness of the offense.

Other examples of actions, which are all considered cheating and may ultimately result in permanent expulsion from VIA:

Cooperation

If the test form requires the preparation of an individual examination answer, you must prepare the answer yourself. Therefore, you must not cooperate with your fellow students or others during the exam. Of course, do not let others work out parts of your assignment.

Counterfeiting of data

If you have to collect empirical data as part of an exam answer, it will be considered cheating if you make up data or manipulate data

Prior knowledge of the assignment

If you are familiar with the exam assignment in advance and you still attend the exam, you are committing exam cheating. You should immediately contact the Study Service of your education, which will offer you a new exam as soon as possible.

If you need technical assistance prior to participation in an exam, please write to VIAservice on viaservice@via.dk. You will then be contacted within 2 working days.

If it is an acute situation, please call +45 8955 1212 - open Monday to Friday 7.30 AM to 3.30 PM.

Please contact Student Services with questions regarding other issues related to your exam. You can find contact information on VIA Studynet on your programme's page/exam.