When do you think universities will open?

[googlepoodle]

I would think they would be definitely be working to a September deadlines for the new academic year.
But do we think any sooner? I am professional services staff and currently working from home.

[historyrocks]

No way will we be back at my uni until September. I think we’ll be open in some capacity in the autumn, but with some combination of online teaching. Once we’re through exam boards, we’ll be preparing for the worst case scenario of having to teach 100% online.

[Eeyoresstickhouse]

We have 3 plans where I work. 1) a phased opening over the summer. 2) September as normal. 3) January start.

They are concerned about the amount of new students who may defer for a year. This will hit income for unis all over the country.

[BlackLambAndGreyFalcon]

We have been told to plan to teach the first semester at least online.

I'm also PS.

[slipperywhensparticus]

When did they close? My daughters is still open and they are all still working

[ssd]

Where is your dds uni, if its open??

[sproutsandparsnips]

I am keen to know, as I had just started y2 of a taught clinical masters and it has been suspended, partly due to the fact that study leave would have been cancelled and we would struggle to get clinical teaching time. A very selfish attitude I know but I'm really sad and frustrated. It's the uncertainty I think.

[googlepoodle]

I really hope everything can work for September as the knock on effects will be huge for universities if they don’t take in the next cohort. I’m fine to work from home - can do my job from anywhere - but that September deadline is pretty crucial.

[1963mes]

I think there is confusion about what open means.

Of course university staff (both professional and academic) are working from home and education is still being delivered, together with research that does not require labs. However, campuses are shut, apart from labs and workshops being used for Covid work.

[googlepoodle]

I think everyone knows what I meant - but if the campus isn’t physically open in September then it will have an impact on new students coming in. It is already having a major impact for international students.

[VivaLeBeaver]

We’re planning for the new academic year to be normal status. Certainly nothing before.

I’m crossing my fingers and hoping things are ok by sept but slightly worried that they won’t be. If we go down the route of waves of infection peaks and rolling lock downs it will be a nightmare.

[puptent]

I have two due to start uni this year. They will both defer if they can't physically start on time (because of the extra-curricular stuff). I know a lot of their friends feel the same. Next year is going to be interesting.

[purplepandas]

Hoping for Sept but I am not convinced either. Looks like we are preparing for online content even if F2F teaching for international students who may not make it to the UK even if home students are on campus. Agree re deferring, it will hit hard for next year. Makes me wonder about poss redundancies.

[GCAcademic]

We are starting to make plans in case we can't resume normal teaching in September. We've moved autumn term field trips abroad (and the modules they sit within) to later in the academic year.

[LilacTree1]

I’m not an a academic but this caught my eye

Because I was wondering what’s happening to uni exams?

[Chemenger]

We’re planning for a scenario where we have some home students on-campus and at least some of our international students distance learning. The summer will be spent preparing. If no students are on-campus then everyone will be distance learning. The assumption is that staff will be back.

[GCAcademic]

@LilacTree1 - exams are being replaced with various forms of online assessment. Some universities have cancelled first year exams (which don't count towards the final degree mark).

[DeathByBoredom]

I wonder if libraries and support will open face to face over the summer as lockdown will be eased by then

Semester 1 - anyone's guess. Could be the perfect timing for phase two peak in which case, who knows? Physically closed online only? Closed to some? Pushed back to Semester Two?

[LilacTree1]

GCAcademic thanks.

[Letseatgrandma]

My DC is due to start this year-I can’t imagine how they could do it online-I expect loads of them will defer if that happens. There would be no social aspect and no support mechanism.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Have to say if things haven’t improved dramatically by July (ie a vaccine) and i was about to start I’d look at deferring.

[googlepoodle]

Sounds like the knock on effects of not starting the new academic year will be huge. On a positive it doesn’t really start to end of September which buys a bit more time and could possibly be delayed with fewer holidays.
But to have a whole year with no intake would be a disaster and no doubt cuts would have to be made. There is also all the research being cut short and the impact of this on study outcomes.
The difficulty is that universities are such social institutions it’s difficult to imagine anything phased.

[worstofbothworlds]

We are not doing exams except for a few where a professional body requires it, and if students feel they would be disadvantaged they can request exams.
October? No clue.

[hopsalong]

Yes, all very difficult. It's hard to see in humanities subjects (like the one I teach) how research can restart properly before libraries reopen. And it is difficult to deliver teaching from home if all of your books and materials are at work in an office you now can't visit. (With no childcare, it's harder again.)

Most of all, the experience of being an undergraduate is very largely social -- not just in terms of friends, pub-going etc, but academically social, about refining verbal arguments, working out what kinds of questions to ask, what kinds of evidence to use. It's about shared intellectual excitement and enquiry. I don't really see how this is possible by sitting at home pulling together assignments from the visible pages of Google Books and a few old JSTOR articles. In any subject that requires labwork or specialist computing I imagine it will be impossible to deliver the course effectively to students at home.

My hope is that we will be able to reopen normally (with some social distancing measure) by September. The risk to students themselves of contracting the virus is very low, so this may end up being more about academic teaching staff. One possibility would be for face-to-face teaching to be delivered by younger members of staff. I would certainly be willing to do that and let older colleagues or those with preexisting conditions do more of the work that can be done from home (like marking).

[catpoooffender]

We are looking at three scenarios in our planning. 1 - Teaching resumes as normal in September. 2 - Teaching is online in semester one and campus life resumes in semester two. 3- Teaching is online for the whole of next year and campus life doesn't return until September 2021

[DeathByBoredom]

How about split entry? Some start semester one, some start semester two? keeps numbers lower