What will happen to university students in this lockdown?

[notevenat20]

If we have a lockdown next week, what is going to happen to university students? They can’t send them home as that would infect parents and grandparents. Surely the universities won’t carry on teaching face to face. Will they just leave them restricted to their student halls?

@SueEllenMishke

Parents of potential students beware. What was promised by the universities is not what is happening. There is going to be a massive dropout rate, and a tide of mental health problems due to isolated students.

It's very unfair to blame universities. The blame lies with the government.
They told us to open
The told us to offer as much f2f teaching as we could
Universities that have moved online after the start of term have often been told to do so by PHE.

If you think your university has mid-sold you in anyway then by all means complain but in the vast majority of cases universities are doing their absolute best in very difficult circumstances

This with bells on

@SueEllenMishke

Parents of potential students beware. What was promised by the universities is not what is happening. There is going to be a massive dropout rate, and a tide of mental health problems due to isolated students.

It's very unfair to blame universities. The blame lies with the government.
They told us to open
The told us to offer as much f2f teaching as we could
Universities that have moved online after the start of term have often been told to do so by PHE.

If you think your university has mid-sold you in anyway then by all means complain but in the vast majority of cases universities are doing their absolute best in very difficult circumstances

OK, so why aren't they willing to release the students from their accommodation contracts? (Uni owned accommodation I refer to).

It's very unfair to blame universities. The blame lies with the government.

I do blame the government. They didnt fund the universities I'm sure. So those in charge of universities had to open.

Unfortunately the ones paying the prize are the students and their parents.

Until freshers week Dd was still being told it was 60% f2f, everything on campus opening up although some SD restrictions and masks, etc.

By the end of freshers week this had reduced to 2 sessions a week f2f and this often is reduced.

Even her school based teaching practise next term will be virtual for heaven's sake!!

She doesn't even know what they will even look like yet. Just that the email says that the teaching practise will be done online and be virtual, with her not going into school at all.

And these students have all paid out £9k to be there and substantial sums of money for accommodation, all in the basis of being told things would be very different to what they are like.

We know there's a pandemic and things would be different to normal, but not to this extent.

I teach and I am f2f all day every day with no SDing and no masks, so I do understand what it's like. I know the risks - I'm clinically vulnerable myself bad have unfortunately caught Covid. I'm currently off sick for at least a month with it. Most likely place I caught it was school, most likely from a symptom free young child.

I understand all this from the lecturers and tutors point of view.

But the government really did deceive many students.

But it’s not the fault of academics that senior management won’t do this.

I have a friend who teaches a course. Of the 25 kids in her class, 3 are coming for F2F teaching and 22 are online. So the 3 coming for F2F asked to go online as well. University said, ok but my friend has to teach them in an empty classroom with them being beamed into a wall (in a classroom with poor acoustics). Why? So the University can say we are teaching F2F even if no students are actually in class.

I have been doing all of my teaching f2f until now and fully expect this to continue. Not least because, if students start to go home, that will cost the university millions in accommodation refunds.

Universities have tiers too. The tier will escalate to online learning

It's true that there is a separate tier system for universities. However, I can't envisage a situation other than the country being completely overwhelmed by the virus where we would move up a tier. I will be very surprised if teaching f2f stops at my university next week.

The problem with the beaming in is that it offers a much worse experience than if she was in her classroom teaching them all online. It’s pedagogically absurd to teach an empty classroom facing forward with the students being beamed in on a screen with your back to them (because of how the cameras are placed).

Part of this is that at the start of the year Unis argues that only 10% of students would be online. But in reality between self isolation and students choosing not to come in, at many Unis close to 50% of the students are online. This has messed up any kind of summer planning.

OK, so why aren't they willing to release the students from their accommodation contracts? (Uni owned accommodation I refer to).

I can't comment about this. We don't own any accommodation. This needs to be addressed with individual universities.

They didnt fund the universities I'm sure. So those in charge of universities had to open.

The government have categorically refused to fund or bail out universities.

Until freshers week Dd was still being told it was 60% f2f, everything on campus opening up although some SD restrictions and masks, etc.

By the end of freshers week this had reduced to 2 sessions a week f2f and this often is reduced.

This issue was in part caused by the A level cock up. At the start of the pandemic the government reintroduced a student number cap
Which allowed universities to plan to a certain extent. Then the government removed this cap and told universities to take all students they'd made an offer to. In normal years this would be a nightmare but when you factor in social distancing in teaching rooms it's a disaster. Many just couldn't fit the students in to offer f2f teaching!

Also, last minute changes are often due to staff isolating. If I had to isolate I would have to move my classes online as there isn't anyone else who can teach my students

@Ginfordinner

There is no face to face teaching at many universities anyway. DD is in a house share with 7 friends and would be happier there than coming home. She would be bored to tears with only us for company.

My son is in Manchester and they’ve been told face to face teaching is starting again. Luckily (unluckily?) he lives there anyway so he doesn’t have to contend with this.

Universities are workplaces, for the staff but also for the students.

So the same rules should surely apply as to any other workplace.

Errolthedragon

I think many people, including the government, forget that nurseries, schools and universities are also work places.

My local Uni & the Uni DD is at are doing very few F2F lectures. But are doing practicals for subjects like biology, chemistry, OSCEs (health professionals), engineering, etc.

I have heard of outdoor classrooms being set up (giant marquees).