University life for our soon to be Year 2 undergrads (2019 intake): social bubbles (bursting?), the new normal and hopefully no second wave

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread

I am all for students heading back to uni and I guess if they are there they are less likely to visit grandparents and so pass it on to vulnerable relatives.
I think the evidence from Europe is that it started in the young and then they passed it onto older family members. I guess the sensible thing is just to stay in little social bubbles and it should keep everyone safe.
My DD was pretty fed up last night with the new rule. I suspect that it will be broken in every university town and city. I just can’t see how they can stay away from each other!

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/324762

This is on Facebook. Most of the posters who posetd on that thread have said that they feel it is wrong to ask for a reduction in tuition fees. University costs aren't any lower, so if they reduce the fees the university offering will suffer and many universities will go into liquidation.

It is a shit show for everyone, not just the students. I have a friend who works at Leeds university, and she told me that their income has gone down by £200,000,000. So if tuition fees are reduced the income will be cut even further. How is this going to help the students?

I won't sign the petition.

Re passing infection on to the community I was thinking more about supermarket shopping. It would be better if universities kept bars and common rooms open to keep students on campus.

In UK students are not to go home if they become ill, however counterintuitive that may be for us as parents.

I asked Newcastle DD and she said they have heard nothing from the uni about the data breach, just saw it in the news.

It is odd that both Newcastle and Northumbria have been attacked. Someone really has it in for Newcastle.

DD knew, but she probably read it in the news as well.

@Ginfordinner I'm with you - the loss of revenue will mean massive redundancies in the university sector. It's a slippery slope and one that I want no part in. It's an ill-thought through petition.

DS was on the train home last week an indian student had been travelling for 17 hours to get back to Bangor uni. he said he was being tested when he arrived there.

Then perhaps the universities need government support. The fact is, our students have been short changed, some more than others if affected by strikes too.

Then perhaps the universities need government support

I agree, they do. I know your daughter was badly affected by the strikes. From reading on here and on FB I think humanities subjects suffered more than science subjects.

I Agree petitions against fees and/or campus accommodation costs are ridiculously short sighted. To the extent that parents are paying/topping up loans these are sunk costs. Nobody is “losing” anything - the students don’t pay anything till they are in work a d the parents have presumably budgeted in the expense. To withdraw funds now will inevitably lead to some establishments closing - reducing choice to future cohorts, leading to job losses from academics down to cheaters abs severely damaging local economies especially in those smaller towns with new universities which a big local employers

Cleaners not cheaters 🤣

DS is a humanities student at Durham so has been hugely affected by the lecturer strikes and Covid. I was tempted to sign the petition but have decided not to as it puts the whole higher education system in jeopardy. I think I'd prefer DS to go out and protest but that may be illegal as of Monday? Let me sleep on it and I may change my mind....

This is really interesting.

www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/health/university-illinois-covid.html?referringSource=articleShare

“At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, more than 40,000 students take tests twice a week for the coronavirus. They cannot enter campus buildings unless an app vouches that their test has come back negative. Everyone has to wear masks.

This is one of the most comprehensive plans by a major college to keep the virus under control. University scientists developed a quick, inexpensive saliva test. Other researchers put together a detailed computer model that suggested these measures would work, and that in-person instruction could go forward this fall.

But the predictive model included an oversight: It assumed that all of the students would do all of the things that they were told to.

Enough students continued to go to parties even after testing positive, showing how even the best thought-out plans to keep college education moving can fail when humans do not heed common sense or the commands from public health officials.

Last week, the university reported an unexpected upswing of coronavirus cases and imposed a lockdown. Students had to stay in their dorms or off-campus housing except for essential activities, which included going to class.”

There’s lots more - it’s interesting to see what they’ve learnt from the experience.

We also have petitions here to reduce fees. DD’s college has reduced tuition by 10% for those who pay full whack, but if you’re already getting financial aid from the college then you continue to pay what you’re assessed to be able to afford.

Yes, agree the young people have potentially lost out with the strike action but there is more at stake really. The whole of the higher education system is in jeopardy at the moment. And if you'd got multiple relatives working in it, you might have a different view!

Yes my DD lost EVERY possible day during strike time which was twice between October and March, then Covid hit. It’s left a bad taste I’m afraid. The petition is already over 130k so it will get to be debated.

@HoldMyLobster 10% is a gesture at least.

The academics may have been less keen on strike action, had they anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic.

It would be interesting to know what % of annual student fee income is spent actually on teaching (as presumably, that would the only refundable bit). I suspect it's a lot less than one might imagine. Does anyone know?

That Illinois University 'case study' regarding management of COVID-19 makes for interesting reading @HoldMyLobster. Clearly the policy makers, public health officials and staff on site overlooked their own student years - isn't it the very environment in which we expect our young people to challenge the status quo?

Yes ds is a biology student. Due to strikes and Covid he's had no lab. time this year.

A 10% reduction in fees is a token gesture but isn't really enough to make much difference - it may be different in the US though as I believe the fees are much higher than over here (or does that depend on whether you go to a private or state university?)?

I see Birmingham has just gone into lockdown - what does that mean for students who are freshers and/or haven't returned there as yet?

And Sunderland and Newcastle teetering on the brink too.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

I see Birmingham has just gone into lockdown - what does that mean for students who are freshers and/or haven't returned there as yet?

And Sunderland and Newcastle teetering on the brink too.

Leeds will be on the list glad we are dropping him off tomorrow, despite the news that if he gets sick he will not be allowed home. He has chosen halls again 7 in the flat 5 of them first years hope he and girlfriend can be a calming influence.

I guess it will be all university towns and cities before we know it @justasking111. Are your DS and his g/f the 'flat parents'! That will be fun (or possibly not...) and make them feel very grown-up.

haha flat parents well they are the only 2nd years, very domesticated joined at the hip since they found each other last September. She is absolutely lovely he is a lucky lad.

Young love @justasking111 - oh those heady days!