AIBU to sneak into uni lectures even though i'm not a student

[Lecture]

I am in fact a SAHM . We live in a university town and every Wednesday my DM has the baby for the morning so I get a break. About a month ago I ordered a book from waterstones and picked it up from the university branch. I'd never been on the campus before and couldn't believe there was no security or need to show any student ID. After i'd been to Waterstones I got a cup of coffee at one of the cafes and had a wander round the grounds.

Its lovely there, lots of (cheap) restaurants and cafeterias and you don't need to show ID to use them

The next week I went there for lunch and looked around the library for a few hours.

Today I was wandering around and sat on the bench outside the lecture hall. There were hundreds of students milling around and the lecture schedule on a big flat screen TV on the outside wall. Anyway i watched them going in to each room and there were loads of spaces in the halls (big double doors open so i could see in). Then I was looking at the schedule and there were lots of interesting sounding lectures on. It suddenly occurred to me that i could probably just go in and sit in on one without being noticed by anyone. There were quite a few mature students so I don't think i'd stick out too much.

Now i'm home I think I might be being a bit mental (and possibly a bit post natal) to consider essentially stealing lectures I haven't paid for. I haven't told DH or DM i've been hanging around the uni

AIBU (or do you think I could get away with it)

BTW, can't believe the username Lecture wasn't taken!

I really worry about the increasing securitization of campuses: most now have their own private security force, and their role goes way beyond dealing with obvious problems - they manage the space so students increasingly inhabit a bubble, cutting off the activity of the academy from the general public. Libraries are entered only with cards instead of being open to the public, some librarians increasingly behave like they're security guards (I had a woman go absolutely mental at me when I accidentally used DH's card to get in instead of my own, even though I had both on me - I just saw the colour and buzzed in, forgetting I had them both in my wallet).

Such a shame, such an elitism, especially when universities then pay a fortune to do 'civic' initiatives for PR.

I think you should enjoy them while you can. If you get caught pretend you've forgotten your ID then as someone said above you can't really go back again.

Out of interest, what are you learning about?

I think it's great keep going until/if you get "caught". I'm curious, what are you learning about?

Whoops. Thought that first post didn't upload...

I got a degree in green knights

I've love to go back and go to the lectures again. I would get more out of them without that heady undergraduate mix of hangover and social anxiety.

So how is this different to sneaking into the theatre or a concert without a ticket? I am curious?

Which university Jeanne
Tell me and I will email them and ask.

But the OP isn't trying to get a degree so the cost of a degree doesn't matter. Students are paying for more than the actual lectures. They are paying for tutorials, tutors, exams, coursework, marking, admin etc. sitting in on a lecture doesn't cost anything. Unless loads of people do it and paying students can't fit in.
My dad always used to say that universities are public. I have no idea if it is true but I am
Sure you can use the library and coffee shops. Some places you are probably meant to sign in is a visitor.
Go for it. Only problem is if you get asked a question!

Cambridge, may. Others have pointed out that they have this system elsewhere on the thread.

I would suggest that you email the lecturers of the courses you're interested, in, though. If you email centrally, you will get nowhere, partly because I am struggling to imagine who 'them' is in this context. 'Them' is me and my faculty boss, I reckon. If you want to email me for permission, go ahead.

It is different from sneaking into a theatre or concert, budgets are done by taking into account the number of people likely to attend. Lectures are not costed by numbers attending. If you want to get the entire product (a performance at a theatre, a degree course - not a degree! - at a university), you must pay. But if you want to attend a free lecture open to the public, which happens to be part of a degree course, you are welcome.

I can imagine if the ease of walking into a lecture became common knowledge, then security would have to be tightened up. I'm thinking about "touristy" universities - at Oxford or Cambridge there would be a guide waving a flag leading a tour group in and jabbering over the lecturer.

At most universities and with most subjects I can't see an extra bod would cause a problem in terms of overfilling the lecture theatre. I can remember when my dept at university summoned everyone in for a bollocking as not one student had turned up to a particular lecture on public policy on a Friday afternoon...

rhoda, we are allowed to eject people from our lectures, and tour groups especially.

I've never seen it happen, but I did hear a warning about it.

I wouldn't do it because it feels wrong - you are not paying to attend the lecture. I'm surprised you can follow it to be honest - I work at a university and sometimes see lecture content. If you want to study, go on a course.

So how is this different to sneaking into the theatre or a concert without a ticket?

On a theatre you pay to enjoy a performance.
In a university you pay to obtain a degree, with a certificate.

I wish there was more security. At my university we can't leave anything in the kitchen as it gets nicked - food. Mugs. Teabags. It doesn't happen a lot at university but this building is close to a very busy shopping street. I can't believe the public can just wander in! We have to be very careful of our laptops and phones too.

With smaller groups, I always tried to break the large bolus of facts up into smaller, more digestible segments, and asked questions/set exercises/formed buzz groups/etc in the intervals between the more traditional lecturing. It makes for much more effective learning. (However, quite hard to do that within the confines of a 60 minute lecture session.)

You're also supposed to do something similar with larger groups. There are techniques to work with larger groups. The key is to have regular break ups and reset the attention of the audience.

In a university you pay to obtain a degree, with a certificate.

How sad. I saw it as paying to get an education. The degree was a bonus.

I go to a campus uni and there are members of the public milling about all the time. People walk their dogs, go for coffees/food, go to the library and visit the chapel. There has been a number of occasions where my DP and DM have waited for me whilst in a lecture and gone to the coffee shop and had a drink until I was finished.

I'm a uni lecturer and I'm actually not happy with this.

My groups vary from around 10 to about 300 or so.

I sometimes lecture on very sensitive information only appropriate to my students - I wouldn't like any old Joe from the street coming in and I'd question their motives.

My uni also has very tight security, so you wouldn't be able to get in.

Sorry to be a party pooper ...!

I don't see the issue TBH. My lectures were to a large audience, no one would have noticed.

I would go for it!

I would do it in theory. But... What would you do if another student started making conversation with you? What would you say?

A bit at the poster who said you wouldn't understand any of it. Uni lectures are by definition 'entry level stuff'; the idea being the student should then go and do wider, in-depth reading around the topic.

Lweji, I agree. I was a bit annoyed once that all my Masters course lecture materials were free to all on an open access website. I remember asking my tutor, "so what am I paying for?", and the answer was, "you're paying to be able to submit essays, for someone to mark them, and for the certificate at the end."

Uni lectures are by definition 'entry level stuff'; the idea being the student should then go and do wider, in-depth reading around the topic.

It's not that simple. In many cases, lectures follow others and will probably assume the students already have previous knowledge that you may not follow.

In my case, for example, I wouldn't explain what PCR is, unless it was one of the very first lectures on molecular biology.

I sometimes lecture on very sensitive information only appropriate to my students - I wouldn't like any old Joe from the street coming in and I'd question their motives.

This is the same for my university. I'm guessing you teach on a health-related course?

OP, there is also data protection to be wary of. I wouldn't be happy to discuss my projects or assignment feedback with a lecturer, whilst there are people there that aren't registered students on my course.

You don't discuss projects or assignment feedback in a lecture though, do you? You sit down, get your phone out and go on Wii chat while someone at the front starts talking.

I'm struggling to understand why the information presented in lectures would be sensitive - this is probably my lack of imagination, however, as a non-health person! Don't you have to make everything so it's non-patient identifiable, though? I would feel a bit as a patient if I thought my gynae notes were being shown on a massive screen with my name all over them!!

Yes, it is a health related course

Of course patients notes aren't plastered on a giant screen. Intimate medical descriptions are, however, with drawings and sometimes photos from textbooks (all consented obviously).