FaQs for International Exchange Students of the spring semester 2020

Should you feel sick, please consult a medical doctor - you will find contact details of English-speaking doctors on MyUniMa.

The Charité Universitäts­medizin Berlin has created a questionnaire as decision support for a possible doctor's visit and/or a coronavirus test. Moreover, it provides you with information on risk reduction and helps society to optimize patient flow.
The app does not substitute clinical diagnostics by a doctor; however, it simplifies procedures in our health care system, gives you individualized recommendations for your next steps and summarizes your data. The app can assist you in evaluating whether it is necessary to see a doctor and/or to know if a test for coronavirus is recommended for you. Medically relevant information will be summarized at the end of the questionnaire and you can take it with you to a doctor's appointment.

You can access the questionnaire here: https://covapp.charite.de/, switch to English in the upper right-hand corner, and start the survey. After completing the survey you get individualized recommendations based on your answers. You can also print out the summary afterwards.

The questionnaire is anonymous and will be recorded by the device (e. g. cell phone) you use when taking the survey. Your answers will not be transferred to Charité nor any other third party.

If you feel like you should get tested for SARS-Cov-2, please ask yourself: did you have contact with an infected person or did you return from a so-called 'risk area' recently? If so, please contact a medical doctor on the phone first and state your case.

The city of Mannheim also established a Corona-Hotline: +49 (0)621-293 2253

Outside their office hours, this number should be available as well: (+49) 116 117

The city of Mannheim also gives information on their website: https://www.mannheim.de/de/informationen-zu-corona/informationen-in-verschiedenen-sprachen#  (scroll down for information in English and other languages)

If you have spent more than 48 hours in a foreign country, you are required to pass a two-weeks mandatory quarantine when returning to your residence in Baden-Württemberg. 

Persons entering from abroad must immediately report their whereabouts to the responsible local policeauthority at 31corona(at)mannheim.de and enter a 14-day quarantine.

During the 14 days in quarantine, you are not allowed: 

• to leave your apartment without the permission of the public health department.
• to receive visits from people living in other households. 

Any violation of the rules may be imposed by a fine.

There are some exceptions:

If you are returning from

• a member state of the European Union
• Iceland 
• Norway
• Switzerland
• Principality of Liechtenstein
• the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland

and the case number of new infections of the country listed above has not exceeded 50 per 100.000 over the last 7 days, you do not necessarily need to quarantine yourself.

The 'Robert Koch Institut' keeps track of these case numbers and updates them daily on their website which you can refer to.

These rules have been in force since April 10, 2020 and will be valid until June 15, 2020.

Translated information from the German national and international television news liveblog of the Tagesschau:

• https://www.lengoo.de/blog/tag/covid-19-live-blog/

Governmental websites:

on entry and travel restrictions:

• https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/kurzmeldungen/EN/2020/03/corona-ein-und-ausreise-en.html 
• https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus

on the general situation, social distancing, and travel restrictions/border control:

• https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/civil-protection/coronavirus/coronavirus-faqs.html#doc13797140bodyText3

On 06 May, the federal and state governments agreed on the following updated guidelines for social distancing:

Everyone is advised to limit contact with people other than those living in the same household to the absolute minimum necessary.

• When in public a minimum distance of at least 1.5 meters is to be kept wherever possible between all persons other than those living in the same household.
• You are now permitted to be outside your home with people of one household other than yours and with those who live in your household.
• You are, of course, still permitted to leave your home to buy food and other supplies, go to the doctor, exercise outdoors, and other essential activities.
• Gatherings of more than 5 people private homes, or other private premises are unacceptable. The police and public order authorities are enforcing these rules on social distancing.
• When going shopping or using public transport, e.g. tram, bus or train, you now have to wear a temporary mask.
• Events and other gatherings in churches, mosques, synagogues, and the assemblies of other religious communities are prohibited.

The operation of cultural, educational and sport facilities, places of entertainment, and restaurants shall be prohibited until 3 May 2020.

For more detailed information:

German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community
https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/civil-protection/coronavirus/coronavirus-faqs.html#doc13797140bodyText3

Ordinance of the State of Baden Württemberg from 09 May 2020: https://www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/fileadmin/redaktion/dateien/PDF/Coronainfos/200509_CoronaVO-konsolidierte_Fassung_englisch.pdf

Information about the compulsory mask: https://www.mannheim.de/sites/default/files/2020-04/englisch._Information%20about%20the%20compulsory%20mask.pdf 

Digital teaching and learning offers have been introduced by our Departments and Schools and will continue until the end of this term. We are well aware that the current situation will not allow all students to return to Mannheim to sit their exams. Hence, we are working on solutions on how the semester can be completed digitally.

Business School: Most lecturers have already moved their courses to an online teaching format. You will be informed by your lecturer either via email to your University of Mannheim email account or via Ilias on the organization of the individual course in online format. Kindly access the Online course offer during suspension of teaching until the end of the term to see which courses have already switched to online teaching. The list will be updated regularly.

Department of Economics: Some professors/teachers have already switched to online courses. You will be informed by your lecturer either via email to your University of Mannheim email account or via Ilias on the organization of the individual course in online format. Should you not have received any information regarding a certain course from your lecturer yet, kindly get in touch with them directly and inquire about their plans on the course organization.

Law Department: Most professors/teachers have already switched to online courses, either by using ZOOM or by video/audio recordings. You have been informed by your lecturer either via email to your University of Mannheim email account or via Ilias on the organization of the individual course in online format. Should you not have received any information regarding a certain course from your lecturer yet, kindly get in touch with the departmental exchange coordinator, Dr. Elisa Berdica (international(at)jura.uni-mannheim.de), and inquire about the plans on the course organization or directly with the lecturer. Kindly do the same if you still have trouble accessing ILIAS. You will also receive all the necessary information regarding online assignments and possible alternative examination types.

Regarding the courses that have been cancelled or that have not taken place yet, we are trying to find alternative dates and solutions and you will be informed accordingly.

School of Business Informatics and Mathematics: Most professors and instructors have already switched to online courses. You will be informed by your lecturer either via email or via Ilias or the webpage of the course. Should you not have received any information regarding a certain course from your lecturer yet, kindly get in touch with them directly and inquire about their plans on the course organization.

School of Humanities: You have received an email by your departmental exchange coordinator, Dr. Ana-Sofia Uhl, stating all courses shall be continued online. All professors/teachers handle the continuation of their courses individually. Should you not have received any information regarding a certain course from your lecturer yet, kindly get in touch with them directly and inquire about their plans on the course organization. Should your professor not reply within the next four working days, you can also reach out to incoming(at)phil.uni-mannheim.de.

School of Social Sciences: You will be informed by your lecturer either via email to your University of Mannheim email account or via Ilias on the organization of the individual course. Depending on the format of the courses, there will be various forms of online courses and/or assignments.

German language and culture courses: All German language and culture courses will continue online. Instructors handle the continuation of their courses individually and will inform you about the organization of the individual course either via email or via Ilias. Should you not receive information from your instructors within the next week, you can also reach out to germancourses(at)uni-mannheim.de.

The University's Student Services and the Registrar's Office are discussing which special regulations can be put in place to ensure that all students have the possibility to complete necessary coursework and examinations before the end of the semester. Please understand that we cannot answer any individual questions on this matter until then.

Exam Registration

Please note that there are two different exam registration periods:

Master Business exams: 26 Feb – 11 Mar 2020 
All other exams: 14 - 25 April 2020

Please note that there is a difference between course registration and exam registration  ->  courseregistration  ≠  examregistration:

You have to register for all examinations (incl. oral exams, term papers, presentations etc.), regardless of whether you had to register for the course itself or not. This means: apart from course registration at the beginning of your studies at Mannheim you MUST register for any learning performance if you want the final result to be included in your transcript - if you do not register, the final grade cannot be included on your transcript.
You also have to register online for the exams of the German language and culture courses offered by the International Office - please pay attention to the course number when you register! (If you are not sure about the course number for your German course, please check it in your profile in myUniMA).

Registration is done online via portal2: https://portal2.uni-mannheim.de. After log-in, kindly click on “My Studies” -> „Exam and academic records“ -> „Exam registration“.
There you will find a detailed description on how to register. In case there is an exam missing or for any other exam-related questions, please send an email to portal(at)uni-mannheim.deand include your full name, student ID number, and the title of the exam.

In light of the current situation, you will not be charged any fees for late registrations or changes in registrations for the spring semester 2020. In case you did not register for an exam / learning performance in time, please provide Express Service with your request for late registration or change in registration via e-mail (expressschalter(at)verwaltung.uni-mannheim.de) before the deadline. Please make sure to include course number and course title in your request.

Only by registering within the general registration period, can you avoid a clash of exams. Exam times and rooms will be announced.

Please note that the registration periods for block seminars or midterms might vary! For those courses, please pay attention to what is announced during the lecture.

Here you can find the  exam dates. Kindly take note of the exam regulations regarding late exam registration and withdrawals.

The A3 Library and the Schloss Ehrenhof Library are open Monday to Friday from 12 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except for holidays). Access to the library locations is only possible after a personal seat booking via the Primo catalog. Further information is available at https://www.bib.uni-mannheim.de/en/seatbooking/

• A maximum of 50 persons (in addition to the library staff) may be present in the library locations at the same time.
• For the entire stay in the library locations a mask obligation exists.
• The minimum distance of 1.50 m must be observed at all times.
• Working in groups is not permitted, the group work rooms are closed.

Media from the A5 Library and the Schloss Schneckenhof Library (BWL) can be used in the A3 Library. Please send an e-mail to the corresponding library location in advance: for media from the A5 Library to a5erw(at)bib.uni-mannheim.de and for media from the Schloss Schneckenhof Library to bwlerw(at)bib.uni-mannheim.de.

Please inform yourself about the complete hygiene concept in the library locations before your visit:
https://www.bib.uni-mannheim.de/fileadmin/ub/sonstiges/Hygieneregeln_kurz_BBs_eng.pdf 

The scan service for students and academic staff for printed titles from all library locations, including the Central Lending Library and the closed stacks, is continued. Please also make use of our significantly expanded digital offer of e-journals, e-books and databases.

You can find an overview of the University Library’s current range of services and resources at https://www.bib.uni-mannheim.de/en/corona/

The Studierenden­werk has reopened its Information Center. Services and consultation are now available daily (Mo-Fr) from 11 am until 2 pm for consultation and other services. 

Documents and requests can still be submitted via the mailbox as before. 

Contact:

Tel. 0621 49072-777
E-mail: infothek(at)stw-ma.de

Should you have problems accessing Portal² or Ilias and/or opening uploaded materials, kindly visit: https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/it/support/.
If you cannot find the answer to your question there, kindly get in touch with our colleagues from University IT support via itsupport(at)uni-mannheim.de. 

Please inform the central international office at the University of Mannheim, the departmental exchange coordinator at your respective school in Mannheim, and the responsible coordinator at your home institution.

International Office: incomings(at)uni-mannheim.de

Departmental Exchange Coordinator: The list is here.

As of 24 April 2020, teaching operations will be resumed in digital form for the remaining semester, so kindly do not dis-enroll from the University of Mannheim as you would not have access to your University email account, Ilias, or Portal2 if you did, nor would you be enrolled as a student of the University of Mannheim anymore. Digital teaching and learning offers have been introduced by our Departments and Schools and will continue until the end of the term. We are well aware that the current situation will not allow all students to return to Mannheim to sit their exams. Hence, we are working on solutions on how the semester can be completed digitally.

Should you decide that you need to dis-enroll at a later point in time, you will be able to do so via e-mail.

Should you have dis-enrolled and now consider this - in light of the above mentioned information - to be a mistake, please contact incomings(at)uni-mannheim.de so we can help you fix this.

Should you live in one of the residence halls by Studierenden­werk Mannheim, please consider this before you leave Mannheim:

In case you will not return to Mannheim, please make sure to inform your hall manager about your move-out and to definitely leave your keys in the post box of your hall manager before you leave. If you do not return your keys, Studierenden­werk will need to replace your key and lock. In this case you would be charged between €400 - €500 for the replacement.
Face-to-face move out appointments with your hall manager are currently not possible.
Kindly clean your appartment/room before leaving in order to avoid an invoice issued for additional cleaning costs by our housing partner.

Please also make sure to comply with all contractual obligations of your rental agreement with Studierenden­werk.

Please always contact housing(at)stw-ma.de at all times! You can find further information on the contact persons here: https://www.stw-ma.de/en/About+Us/Contact.html

Currently, there are no face-to-face consultation hours. Instead, Studierenden­werk Mannheim offers the following phone consultation hours:

• Mon - Thu: 9.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.
• Fri: 9.00 a.m. - 12.00 a.m.

Please also refer to the information provided by Studierenden­werk along with your rental contract and move-in.

Studierenden­werk informs about their measures for protection against the Corona Virus here: https://www.stw-ma.de/en/corona.html

Make sure to contact your landlady/-lord/residence hall management and make sure you understand your legal obligations regarding your rental agreement.

De-Registration of your residency is possible via e-mail. Therefore, this can still be taken care of when you are back in your home country.
Only if you are very sure that you will not want to return to Mannheim to resume your studies as of 20 April, you should do so.
For the purpose of cancelling your membership with a German statutory health insurance we recommend de-registering at the Residents' Registration Office.

Non-EU students: please be aware of the fact that de-registration also has an effect on your immigration status. Please refer to the FaQ section below.

Here is what you would need to do to de-register.

You have de-register at the Residents’ Registration Office. In order to de-register as a citizen of Mannheim you need to send:

• a scan of the information page of your passport
• a scan of the filled out and signed “abmeldung”. The translation (“De-registration K7_english_explanation”) will help you filling it in. Kindly select the date you have left/will leave Germany.

Both scans need to be send to the following email address: buergerservice.mitte(at)mannheim.de.

If you are on a visa:

If your visa is not valid for the entire duration of your stay make sure to get in touch with the Foreigners' Registration Office via auslaenderbehoerde(at)mannheim.de. You can also find detailed contact information, office hours etc. on MyUniMa.

If you are on a residence permit:

Kindly check if it is valid for the entire duration of your stay.

Should you decide to de-register your residency - you should know that this will also terminate your residence permit, effective the day of de-registration.

Should you disenroll, you should know that your residence permit will expire within 14 days after dis-enrollment.

Please take a look at the manual provided by the Welcome Center - we will move this information to this part of the website at a later stage.

If you still need to get your (Erasmus+) Learning Agreement and/or a Statement of Arrival/Departure signed, please prepare it, and send it to incomings(at)uni-mannheim.de. We will sign it and send the document to the responsible coordinator of your home institution.

As of today, there will be no option for refunds for the semester fee or the semester ticket.

Generally, there is a possibility to receive a refund for remaining amounts on ecUM cards. Kindly get in touch with autoload(at)stw-ma.de. The staff working at the Infothek at Studierenden­werk Mannheim will deal with your inquiries directly.

In case you need to close your German bank account, we recommend contacting your bank directly to learn whether you need to close your bank account in person or if you can do this remotely.

We have reached out to several blocked account providers. So far, Fintiba and Coracle have replied. Fintiba/Coracle requires either:

• a blocked account release letter from the responsible Foreigners' Registration Office in Germany

or

• a blocked account release letter from the German embassy/consulate in your home country

stating that the blocked funds can be released. Once Fintiba/Coracle received the document from you, they will initiate the refund process.

As soon as we have information from other providers, we will upload them.

To our knowledge, testing is only available for medical reasons. Therefore, we doubt that a request for a negative-test for non-medical reasons will be considered by public health authorities and medical facilities.

The university’s main cafeteria now offers a take-away option which you can order online on the Studierenden­werk’s website.

If you would like to have a meal from the cafeteria, please note that from Monday through Thursday you need to pre-order on the previous day until 12 pm for pick-up on the following day. Due to organizational reasons, any orders for Monday need to be placed on Friday until 12 pm.

When placing an order, please fill out the form on the Studierenden­werk’s website where you can select a meal (regular, vegetarian, dessert) and a pick-up time between 12 pm to 2 pm.  Here you can find the daily menus.

Afterwards, provide your full name and email-address, then click the button “Jetzt bestellen”.

Please remember to pick up your order during the selected time frame and note that ordered meals are prepared specifically for you.

The University of Mannheim's Institute of Sports offers you the opportunity to stream various courses offered by the institute online in your living room: https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/sports/program/

For general inquiries, please contact the International Office: incomings(at)uni-mannheim.de

For questions regarding coursework, examinations, etc., please contact your departmental exchange coordinators: You can find the list of coordinators here.