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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

University life for freshers (2019/20) - we're hopping towards Easter with a pandemic to avoid **Title edited by MNHQ**

970 replies

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 19/02/2020 19:28

Previous thread

OP posts:
Kuponut · 13/03/2020 06:10

Apart from one of our lecturers who I swear does it on purpose - all our online stuff is very clear and I regularly run them at slightly enhanced speed!

Benjispruce · 13/03/2020 06:27

@mum2eim which uni is that?

Obvious @Ginfordinner I know to look on the website for the official line.My DD is worried that there are plans for them to lose their 3rd term that only staff have been warned about. She’s already lost 16 days to strikes and had her field trip cancelled.

MarchingFrogs · 13/03/2020 06:36

I’ve just been on the phone to my DD. She said they’ve been told to take all their belongings home this term incase they can’t come back.

Presumably she is in university owned and managed accommodation with a contract that only covers term time?

Kuponut · 13/03/2020 07:55

Taking everything home used to be routine when I lived in halls as they'd re-let the rooms for conferences and whatever else during the vacations. Telling them to take things home seems a sensible bit of advice as they might not be back bang on schedule as things presently stand and they may leave stuff they end up needing behind otherwise - even if it's stuff like revision notes or whatever (although all of mine are paperless)

bigTillyMint · 13/03/2020 08:10

@simbobs I like your thinking!

@ZandathePanda, DD speeds up all lectures online as she says they don’t tell you much anywayGrin

@Benjispruce, I’m totally with you on the DU not giving our DC value for money or the proper uni experience Angry
And if he has to remove all his stuff, we will have to go up for him. But it will have to be when we are off - not sure how that will work Confused

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 13/03/2020 08:47

@bigTillyMint what about self-storage up there? Probably a lot easier to sort out sooner rather than later.

OP posts:
bigTillyMint · 13/03/2020 09:24

DD used that in Bristol between 1st and 2nd year. It cost £££ and was a pain for her to transport her stuff (2uber trips IIRC) DS has friends in 2nd/3rd year so might be able to store stuff at theirs (and way less stuff than DD!), but he’s going to want/need all his clothes/trainers....

Kuponut · 13/03/2020 09:27

I'm a Durham grad myself from a previous degree and even the Alumni office has now emailed out the university's corona guidance.

As of Thursday 12 March 2020, we wish to make students and colleagues aware of the following key advice and decisions:

The University will remain open, but we are asking our academic staff to change the format and delivery of their teaching from Monday 16 March.
From Monday 16 March until the end of Term (Friday 20 March), classroom teaching of all forms will cease and alternative modes of teaching should be used by all instructors.
We are advising students that if they wish to leave Durham following their last class on Friday 13 March, they can do so, and participate in classes remotely for the final week of Term.
The Library will remain open.
From Monday 16 March, we are encouraging colleagues to explore remote working options with their managers.
Colleagues who are at most risk from the coronavirus will be asked to work from home wherever possible and will be enabled to do so.

Seems to be the key bits

I'm incredibly angry I've had more info from a university I went to 20 years ago than the one I'm currently at to be honest. Ours are currently arranging drop in sessions for next week and bragging that the one last term was attended by over 100 students. I despair.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 13/03/2020 09:28

Oh, I thought it would be quite reasonably priced unless hiring a room-sized storage space? I guess where the university accommodation is in relation to storage units is an issue. Bristol halls are in the pukka part of the city and I guess the latter more likely to be in cheaper, on the outskirts type location, some distance away?

OP posts:
Kuponut · 13/03/2020 09:39

DD speeds up all lectures online as she says they don’t tell you much anyway

By the time I cut out all the "talk to the person next to you about what you think about what I'm going to tell you anyway and if you've read the lecture slides you'll have a fair clue what the answer is" from one of our lecturers (who is lovely but goes overboard on the "interactivity" bless her) I can get a 2 hour one down to about 45 minutes on 1.25 speed.

MrKlaw · 13/03/2020 10:26

Does anyone do a group buy type storage? Most of us wouldn't need a full storage unit, so you could club together - maybe with those you're planning to share with next year?

Kuponut · 13/03/2020 10:29

I'd try a shout out on the uni social media groups (we have a one for our year's intake) to see if any student houses have a garage or shed or spare room they would be prepared to offer out for a small sum if needs be. Otherwise it might be worth contacting the uni - I know my old college at Durham did have some rooms for students to store their stuff in during vacations.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 13/03/2020 10:34

Dd is coming home tomorrow. She has to empty her room BUT can store bulky, non valuable things in the lockable cupboard in her room and doesn't have to empty her kitchen cupboard of pots and pans or staple dry food or tins. So that's a lot less to bring back than I thought. Thinking of taking the vacuum bags up so she can fit more in her cupboard.

mum2eim · 13/03/2020 10:57

Benji my DD is at Durham.

bigTillyMint · 13/03/2020 13:02

@mum2eim, DS hasn’t mentioned that, but I’ll ask.

TBH I can’t see how they could rent any rooms to anyone anyway for the same reasons as wanting the students to go home. So stuff should be safe in their rooms till the summer?

simbobs · 13/03/2020 13:02

There must be a massive difference in term length between different places. My DS has 3 more weeks.

bigTillyMint · 13/03/2020 13:05

@mum2eim he says he hasn’t been told to. Poss different halls?

Ginfordinner · 13/03/2020 13:14

DD finishes on the 27th, and goes back exactly a month later. Exams start in May, the last exam being on 5th June. She has until 28th June to vacate her halls.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 13/03/2020 13:20

Daily Fail (sorry) article about some universities closing early...

OP posts:
Kuponut · 13/03/2020 13:21

Durham's always had short as hell terms in comparison to other places - we've got flipping weeks to go yet (and we're all losing the will)!

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 13/03/2020 13:22

More akin to Oxbridge term lengths then @Kuponut?

OP posts:
Baytreemum · 13/03/2020 13:26

My DD has been told that ‘worst case scenario” is that May and June exams will be postponed until August Shock

justasking111 · 13/03/2020 13:49

DS finishes 4th April. Spoke to him last night asked if any precautions in place re virus?, no idea, any e mails?, not checked. Bangs head against wall. Uni website no help either. His girlfriend was more helpful some areas are shut down now on some courses.

Kuponut · 13/03/2020 14:01

We still have been told absolutely nothing - business as usual, but with clean door knobs.

Even if things stay running - there's a hell of a lot of us likely to be ill and missing exams and we've had nothing from uni, and we KNOW there are confirmed contacts on campus.

pollyannaperspective · 13/03/2020 14:33

DC at US uni has received this from their faculty. I thought it measured and positive. Have amended location details.

"Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 illness outbreak months ago, I have been monitoring the evolving situation at our University, both in [US city] and across the global network. During this period, I have been working closely with faculty and staff to maintain the continuity of your academic coursework, academic advising, co-curricular engagement, and wellness support, even under the current conditions of your remote instruction and interaction to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Many of you have begun to depart campus ever since the last day of in-person classes this past Tuesday, thereafter participating remotely in your classes and preparing to pivot toward spring break.

I could well imagine that you and your familieslike many students and their families at various universities around the globeare having concerns about what the future holds for us all. I have concerns, too.

Yet I have been buoyed by the resiliency I have witnessed in many of you thus far. If there is a time for all of youor, more precisely, for all of usto demonstrate the qualities of leadership and perseverance for which [Uni] has been renowned, now is that time. I have confidence that you will continue to rise to the occasion and achieve your goals, despite the uncertainties of our time.

I have faith that we all will rise to the occasion.

Today, our goals focus on maintaining and, in some cases, improving the connections that unite us as a faculty community. We still seek (1) to advance your intellectual engagement across our curriculum; (2) to double down on the strategy of our co-curricular outreach to you; (3) to innovate social engagement in virtual spaces as creatively as we have in physical spaces; (4) to lean even more on the influence of social media to build bridges between and among us; (5) to discover new ways of building faculty experiences that could lead to positive memories of our University and higher education; and (6) to welcome, eventually, the next generation of admitted faculty students to our community.

I have faith in our faculty and staff to achieve these goals on your behalf.

Our learning curve to accomplish these goals may be steep on short notice and under such complex conditions. But the new ideas that we imagine and implement during this process will make us appreciate even more that higher education can always improve the lives of others and the world around us. Our common embrace of higher education not only should bolster our common effort to overcome even the most daunting challenges before us; it should strengthen our common faith in one another.

I have faith in you.

Please remember that the faculty Advising Office staff is available to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have. Please email your advisor directly at ... . The Dean of Students Office is also available to assist you at ... . The [Student health/welfare] is also available for you 24 hours/7 days a week at .... .

Please continue to pay attention to the important communications by [University]. Also know that faculty has its own landing page to provide you specific resources and information on how to continue with your studies during this time.

I hope you have a good spring break and, ultimately, a productive semester. "