鈥榃e鈥檒l feel the aftermath of this cyberattack throughout the academic year鈥�
During the cyberattack, the 果冻传媒 and Student Affairs (ESA) 果冻传媒al Planning team drew up the new timetables and exam schedules. Jorg de Jong's team had to rearrange about 10,000 (educational) activities. In addition, depending on the results of the Q2 resits, alternative exam moments must be organized for 232 unique courses in consultation with the departments.
During the first days of the cyberattack, it quickly became clear which scenario was the most obvious for education at 果冻传媒. The exams of quartile 2 were just around the corner, and the start of education for quartile 3 was postponed for one week.
鈥淲ithin our 果冻传媒 Planning team, we discussed this scenario extensively. Schedulers have looked at the consequences. What kind of problems do we encounter? I found that method very strong during this crisis. A scenario was put forward from above, and it immediately went into all layers of the relevant services for feedback on its implementation,鈥� says Jorg de Jong, team lead of 果冻传媒al Planning at ESA.
Huge sliding operation
鈥淭here were no discussions within our team about the chosen scenario. We knew: this has been decided, and we will implement this.鈥� The team brainstormed about the action plan for rescheduling the more than ten thousand educational activities planned in the third quartile. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of work, but within the team, service is paramount, and we wanted to do it right.鈥�
The fact that they did not have access to other systems was a complicating factor. 鈥淔ortunately, we could use TimeEdit, our external scheduling system. But the link with, for example, BookMySpace, in which we book teaching rooms, was not there.鈥�
Everyone was working quickly, accurately, and focused. This was real teamwork!
Jorg de Jong
Fifteen team members were at home at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday during the cyber crisis's first week, ready for the monster job. 鈥淲e did it from home because of the poor Wi-Fi on campus. We have moved department by department, week by week. In an ongoing Teams meeting, colleagues were available to ask questions and solve error messages.鈥�
De Jong looks back on this day with pride. 鈥淭he occasion was anything but nice, but this was still beautiful. Everyone was working quickly, accurately, and focused. By 18:00, we were done. This was real teamwork!鈥�
Rescheduling exams
In addition to shifting the educational planning, the 389 planned exams of quartile 2 also had to be moved back a week. The biggest challenge was to find enough invigilators for this.
鈥淣ormally, we have about 135 invigilators walking around during the exam period, who work for us more than full-time for two weeks, in some cases. That planning is fixed well in advance. Many invigilators are retired and unavailable outside the pre-planned period.鈥�
Proud
鈥淚 am proud of my team's work during the crisis,鈥� concludes De Jong. 鈥淎t such a moment, you appreciate even more that they work so incredibly hard for our university.鈥�
鈥淒uring the crisis, I noticed we have a community you can build on. Who listens to each other and respectfully works together to solve problems. I am very grateful for the understanding and help we have received to overcome this crisis quickly. I hope that appreciation for each other and the realization that everyone has made the best of it will continue to prevail in the coming period,鈥� says De Jong.
This remains human work; mistakes will undoubtedly surface in the coming period. I hope that we will respond to this with understanding.
Jorg de Jong
鈥淓veryone in our team has put their best foot forward, but it is still human work. We have moved all education; undoubtedly, mistakes have crept in. We didn't click right 10,000 times. I hope teachers and students will also understand this if something unexpectedly goes wrong. And we enter into a conversation about this together in a respectful way.鈥�