It was a rapidly developing situation. As with all the other universities, we were following instructions from the Czech government, and these instructions were changing daily. We monitored the situation and took carefully-considered decisions. We began our preparations two weeks before the official order to close all educational establishments in Prague– proactively identifying the possibility of a closure and working with all our faculty members to prepare them for an eventual closure and transition online. UNYP’s IT department worked very effectively with us to train all the staff, so that everyone was ready to begin working online. In my opinion, it was a reasonably smooth transition, considering the circumstances, the abrupt nature of events and the fact that we didn’t lose much working time during the process of switching from offline to online teaching.
Our students didn’t miss out on the opportunity to conclude the semester either, and although it might not be too apparent to the student body, we were also cooperating closely with our partners during this time. We put a lot of extra work into communication and collaboration with our Double Degree and Study Abroad partner universities from the United States, Europe and elsewhere, in order to provide support and solutions for their students studying with us, and we have received some really very positive feedback from them. I would like to take the opportunity to thank UNYP’s faculty and staff for all the extra work and effort they have put into managing this crisis.
Right now, we are eight to nine weeks out from the end of the semester, and I think it was only logical to decide to complete this semester online. We are taking into consideration the fact that the situation around the new coronavirus is still unfolding, and it is probably going to last longer than most people initially thought. We understand that it will take some more time for things to get back to normal. However, this exercise gave us the ability to identify a lot of strengths that UNYP already has, and various tools that we could use in the future to enhance our classes.
We are running the Admissions process in the context of the new reality. Before the quarantine, a good part of the Admissions work took place online, so this department has been affected much less than Operations. At this stage, we understand that there is still going to be a demand for quality higher education in the Czech Republic and other countries. Degree seekers might become more selective and careful in choosing a particular degree. In terms of education quality, UNYP’s reputation speaks for itself, so we are hoping that there might be some unexpected further growth potential.
This program equips students with skills and knowledge that can positively impact their career and life by giving them a profound understanding of business processes. For companies, the value is immediate and substantial as our graduates can apply a lot of the theory, knowledge, and skills that they develop during the program directly to the operations of the company. Society will benefit from businesses that operate more efficiently, and from managers with better work ethics and the concept of social responsibility.
I hope to have enthusiastic students with a desire to grab onto the opportunities that high-growth entrepreneurship can offer to them, whether they would like to pursue a new venture or advance a corporate career.
The most exciting aspect of teaching Entrepreneurship is continuously covering, analyzing, and presenting in class some of the most breathtaking and innovative new venture products and services that are changing the way we do business and we live our lives. Additionally, I enjoy the experience of overseeing my students working on and delivering a practical real business plan, based on their own original ideas. I am pleased and proud to have had several of my students start new ventures based on projects that they prepared for my course.
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University of New York in Prague
Londýnská 41, 120 00 Praha
ID no: 25676598
Phone:
+420 224 221 261
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Email: unyp@unyp.cz