When do you think universities will open?

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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.

If they do not take freshers in September then people will defer and I suppose there may need to be a year when lecturers are not paid and a massive change in everything. As most young people don't get covid 19 it seems an over reaction to close down until 2021.

I’m sure lecturers are needed but if income is down surely that needs to reflect in salaries? It depends on how much the uni has in the bank?

Some facilities, catering, lab technicians etc could be furloughed like in my office until reopening. Hopefully temporarily.

My daughter will be assessed on subjects she has had no lectures on this year it is unbelievable. I am beyond annoyed to be fair she may as well teach herself hope the stikes were worth it. This will result I think in students seriously considering options

That’s shocking Malificent

It's really, really tough. Have you all seen the latest news from Durham - planning for a permanent shift to more online teaching? I think others will follow, but it's a big gamble, especially doing it in a rush and probably on the cheap. Do students want a degree from Durham, or do they want to have gone to Durham? Because I don't think they're quite the same thing.

I think there will be some universities in the UK who go bankrupt this year. The university is work for is incredibly, incredibly worried and this time last year they were holding meetings to tell us all that we easily had the reserves to get through Brexit.

I don't quite understand what's possible with pay - the university is committed to a national payscale so does that mean paycuts would have to be national? What about stopping people moving up the payscale? My employer keeps talking about how they're doing everything they can to avoid redundancies which I suspect is laying the ground for some very unpopular decisions.

The strikes were incredibly badly timed in hindsight, but then no one had that hindsight at the time. Not a chance now of any of the demands being met so people just gave up weeks of salary and sacrificed student goodwill for nothing.

Many professional services staff are paid very little. Academic staff aren't really ok much when you compare with other sectors. VCs talking a pay cut would be a good place to start given they are on several hundred thousand.

@maleficent53 do you mean topics she hasn't covered at all (either in person or online?) because that is not allowed.

VCs talking a pay cut would be a good place to start given they are on several hundred thousand.

Well, it would be a nice gesture but nothing more. Even the most bloated VC salary is negligible compared to the financial impact this will have on universities.

I know exactly the financial impact this will have, but it's a start. It's a point of principle more than anything.

there may need to be a year when lecturers are not paid
Then there won't be any lectures to come back to.
I'd probably quit entirely, retire early or maybe try for a civil service job in my field, or possibly become a consultant.

the university is committed to a national payscale so does that mean paycuts would have to be national?
Yes, or making some redundant, some departments may not survive.

What about stopping people moving up the payscale
As it's based on previous record, this isn't a short term solution. I anticipate that most academics who are mothers will be massively disadvantaged long term, because they will have a long period of not being able to work.

I think there will be some universities in the UK who go bankrupt this year
This is more likely. But it won't help the others to pay their staff, unless all the students want to move to the remaining universities, so competition for places increases, and fees don't go down.

The strikes were incredibly badly timed in hindsight, but then no one had that hindsight at the time.

I personally think the strikes were badly timed, full stop. Striking before the pension valuation was due (this month) was an act of stupidity. The other strike aims were nebulous and amounted to little more than “change the whole system” - as if that were in any way possible. I think there are serious problems with the way UCU conducts itself (I resigned from it a while back) but that’s a whole other story.

there may need to be a year when lecturers are not paid

Who on earth would work for a year for no pay? Lecturers wouldn’t come to work which would really stuff the 2nd and 3rd years up!

@maleficent53 yes, all examined material should have been taught in some way.
(As I said above, we aren't running exams anyway, except for a very few. I taught only in non strike weeks this year by chance, so I am relieved I won't be marking all my topics over those taught online, or skipped!)

I also didn't agree with the timing or tactics of the strikes (and also left UCU, though that was also because I moved from academic to professional services and UCU really does not give a fuck about PS staff). But I do feel sorry for people who thought they were doing the right thing by striking.

I also recently reduced my hours but the university took 3 months to process the change, so I have my strike deductions, followed by 3 months with paying back a month's salary over pay

Most staff have been told 1 September for a return to normal opening- many non academic are furloughed for as long as the government scheme allows. Library to reopen once lockdown ends though.

Ps some lecturers are currently seconded to the testing centres, that contract ends in August here

I imagine 10 to 15 University's do need to close but Covid related bankruptcy is not the answer. Those struggling most will be those with the highest number of BAME/first in family. The government will have to bale at least temporarily to allow mergers to take place to avoid affecting the futures of the most challenged HE demographic. It would be a disastrous optic for the government.

However cuts will come and I expect this is the very beginning of marketisation rather than the end. The four fights now are for:

Survival/sustainability
The students
The 80% of staff who perform well
Academic integrity through research and teaching excellence.

I would totally have supported any action by university staff that had not impacted so badly on students. However this situation is untenable I feel my daughter and her cohort have been collateral damage. We can afford to bail our children out help with house deposits etc I am well aware others cannot. Think research and choose carefully. Look at options uni is not the only option for bright engaged young people and if only offering on line teaching and limited social stuff think again. You have many options, do not waste your time and money.

I think the strikes protected staff and students from COVID as the campus was practically empty for weeks on end.

Students refused to cross the picket line to support the poor hard done by lecturers who have a super-secure guaranteed pension. It isn't as jammy as it once was but those of us who have seen our pensions practically wiped out by recessions in the past appreciate how good it is.

I think my daughter and all her mates caught covid 19 at all the house parties they had when lectures ceased due to strikes and yes I am a hcp.

I'm aware of more students complaining about cancelled lectures than refusing to ceoss picket lines.

My husband works at a university which didn’t strike, and the students weren’t coming to seminars and lectures by the time they stopped f2f teaching. The last class he taught before the campus shut down, four students turned up out of 22. The students’ union was campaigning strongly for the university to cease f2f teaching (there had been COVID cases on campus, and other universities had announced moves online by then) and the university social media accounts were besieged by students saying that the university was being irresponsible and endangering them.

It’s very unlikely that the virus will have disappeared by September. Many people will still be fearful and will continue social distancing, but others will want to get on with life and will accept risk in order to do so. How universities are supposed to keep the two camps (those wanting f2f teaching to get their money’s worth, and those too scared to attend classes and wanting online provision) happy is beyond me.

@LisaSimpsonsbff where did you see the news about durham?