University experience is awful at the moment

[Cupcakke]

DD moved into university on Saturday. The rules are very stringent, both campus bars are closed, the university library has very little capacity and the restaurant is take away only. There are virtually no freshers events in person.

Her flat mates are very shy and not very social and she is in a small flat.

Large gatherings keep occurring but the penalty for this is very severe so DD very cautious not to attend these.

She is essentially watching Netflix in her room. I fear for the loneliness. The online events she has attended are poorly attended and just very boring.

Teaching starts next week and her In person contact hours are just 4 hours a week.

Anyone else’s dc thinking this years university experience is non existent.

bwlch
And you are absolutely certain that it hadn't been refurbished since the 1940's? Somehow I find that unlikely.
My friend lived there in the early 80s.
I've just looked at the picture of the room on the Uni website

• same radiator
• same basin (no en suite)
• same single glazed metal frame windows
• same built in wardrobe
• same bare brick walls

but now £116 per week

Good points @Poppingnostopping at 12:33:21

I fear the universities, which need to make money, are putting financial decisions ahead of welfare of students.

Surely if that were the case, they'd just hold the lectures F2F ? They have moved the lectures on line, because they want to do what they can to keep the students safe.

I was talking to a lecturer the other day, who said it takes up about 2 - 2 - 1/2hours of their week to deliver an hour's lecture usually (prep and delivery) but 5 hours + to do an online lecture. For F2F, they stand and 'talk to' their basic slide notes. They respond to student reactions and are able to drop in information that might be something they uncovered the day before. Obviously because they know their subjects so well, they can do that. When recording, not only do you feel the need to write our more carefully what you are going to say, you then have to go through afterwards and subtitle the whole thing. Yes, there is software, but it only copes with common parlance / everyday English and doesn't recognise or understand Scientific / medical / technical words and phrases. Now start multiplying that by a lot of lectures.
Then, they are doing f2f tutorials, BUT can only have smaller numbers in the rooms because of social distancing, so they have to do 2 groups rather than one, and so it goes on.

I wish people would understand this is about a global pandemic completely disrupting everyone's way of life, and not some secret plot by any particular university to ruin your child's life.

MY dd has started, as a fresher, and doesn't feel cheated, or that it is a waste of time being there. She is loving life so far. MUCH better being in a flat with other young people, than being in her bedroom here.

@AgileLass - yes of course. I was responding to the post that said their fees don't even cover teaching costs and remarking that the teachers I know at unis see very little of the fee. It seems only a fraction goes on the teaching in my humanities subject. I'm strongly against unis being run as a business-for-profit model, but fully accept there are vast costs beneath the cost of lecturers' salaries.

The article I read in the Times regarding Scottish students quoted a Scottish minister as saying those with anxiety/ mental health issues could go home

My point is that these general sweeping statements about greedy universities not caring about students/misleading students are just irritating when you consider the work that goes on behind the scenes and the absolute commitment most of us have to getting the balance right between health and safety, student experience, and not losing our jobs due to mass redundancies caused by loss of tuition fee income.

Totally agree @catpoooffender

Agree also with @Poppingnostopping at the bottom f P14 about beginning to sound like a teacher on the teacher bashing threads. Thing is, I'm not a Lecturer! I don't work at a University. I am a parent of a fresher, and I recognise my dd was 100% ready to go away, and that the Universities are, as a whole, doing their absolute best for the students - not forgetting whilst also supporting PhDs and Masters students, and also doing their own research - in the circumstances.

BackforGood thanks! What you say about online teaching being labour-intensive is true. I spend about 4 to 5 hours making two 25 minute videos last week. Now doing all the rest.

Also, the technology really isn't where we need it to be for online learning. Teams is buggy, can't use breakout rooms properly, people tend to 'freeze' on it. Zoom is better but currently I'm waiting for a 2 minute video to process, I've been waiting 12 hours now so I can put it up for my students. Capacity for all IT systems- timetabling, video conferencing, cloud capacity- it's all creaking at the seams as the number of students needing to access online all at the same time is 10x what we had the year before.

So, under the circumstances, I feel pleased with what we have achieved. I am ongoingly worried about students who get left out or left behind or are struggling mentally- and that's why I support going home if they can (which someone posted on the other thread about Scotland that students with mental health difficulties will be allowed home).

I notice a lot of people mentioning international students in the halls. Spare a thought for them as well! At my university they are spending £20,000 a year (!!!!) and will see so little of the country they dreamed of studying in, and may not be able to go home for ages.

DS been on phone Leeds looks like to be on lockdown from tonight a load of students are packing up now to go home because their courses are online anyway.

Apparently my DD is still not registered on the course she accepted a month ago - reinstated post CAGs. She thought she'd sorted it on Monday and her id has finally arrived. She dialled into a study group to be told to go away and look at canvas - which is still for the clearing course. It's a similar course (bio based but in a different department) so she was falsely reassured by some of the lecture titles.
She did join a department welcome week meeting via Eventbrite and raised the problem in the q and a chat and was told it would be sorted at some point. Has again emailed name of whoever is supposed to be sorting it.
She's ok with her flatmates and joined the gym but obviously has missed introductory course material. Tutor not replying.
So she's now emailed student welfare to ask for support. She has a history of anxiety and has learnt not to let something fester over a weekend.
She might not even have a course to withdraw from for all I know.

Honestly, I'm starting to feel like the teachers on the teacher thread. Whatever we do- face to face, blended, online, no-one is happy. We get it, no-one is happy, but actually there's still a lot of good learning and responsive teaching going on. I feel cautiously ok about the safety of the campus, but there are still Covid cases.

It's been like this since we we're forced to move teaching online by the government due to a global pandemic. It's made for quite upsetting reading at times.

My students are getting 60% f2f teaching and were responding really well to issues as they arise ( for example, students complained that it was hard to hear us due to the windows being open within 24 hours we've all been issued with lapel mics)
The 40% that is online is incredibly time consuming not to mention logistically difficult if you live with small children. I've occasionally had to record my online content after DS is in bed to guarantee some quiet. Also, facilitating remote teaching is far more exhausting than f2f.

I feel so sorry for many of your DC reading the stories on here. I’m so glad mine haven’t started this year.

Also feel for the international students, many of whole will have a new country and often continent to settle into and the culture shock that can go with that. Without being able to have a fully immersive experience, homesickness is more likely to strike.

I’ve just read another thread where someone’s DC has all her flat mates doing ketamine and drugs as having lots of visitors. Quite unbelievable given Covid, and certainly surprising going by the stories here.

I am sorry teaching staff have felt this thread is critical of them. It is clear the enormous pressure they are under. I used to deliver a module online and hated it. I recognise the ratio of 5 hours prep to 1 of teaching.

My frustration with the uni DS is at is that their Covid safety guidelines are illogical and that their welcome to freshers was cursory. DS and many others in his HoR have gone ahead and met up, made friends, gone out, formed study groups. But not every student is extrovert or active. Some are shy or naturally passive and until a few months ago expected a certain level of assistance to get settled in. It's not a criticism of the academic staff to raise concerns about this. The academic staff are the reason our DC chose the university in the first place. I know nothing about DS's subject, but after sitting in on a lecture on Open day I wanted to sign up on the spot. The teaching is clearly outstanding on his course.

But please forgive us if we squawk a bit about the isolation and uncertainty and the gulf between what they signed up for and what is delivered. No one's fault but still a huge concern and disappointment for many.

[quote unfortunateevents]@caz123456 snap! DS2 moved in on Saturday and only two people have been allocated to his flat of EIGHT! Moving in for that uni has finished now. The other student is, we believe, international and hasn't been seen or heard from since he moved in. He has no idea if they are male or female, he thinks he has heard them moving around a few times in their room but they have never answered when he knocks. So he is effectively completely on his own for cooking, eating - everything. As others have said the students are only supposed to be socialising with their own flat but I know he has been out with the girls from the flat next door and someone came over last night to cook with him. Luckily he is resilient and articulate so will hopefully be able to sort the situation out on his own but if not, I'm going to be raising merry hell. So far he hasn't had a response to his email to accommodation to ask them what is going on. In this time, when everything is online and freshers is effectively cancelled, how can anyone think that this acceptable? Apart from the wellbeing and mental health considerations, his flat is ground-floor and accessed directly from outside so it is not safe for anyone to be in occupation on their own![/quote]
Can he ask to move into a halls with more people @unfortunateevents ?

No beef with staff they are dealing with a pandemic the best they can but the only reason DS and his girlfriend went back was to see each other and be together. Between us and her parents we could have rented them a flat together to live in because between us we are paying £300 a week for their accommodation but we thought they needed the uni experience aiiighh.......

It's awful and could have been avoided. The universities have been effectively forced by govt to offer face to face teaching. It would have been 100 times better to explain this year is a wild exception and modules can run online or not at all. But with no financial support, they have been backed into a corner and it is horribly unfair on staff and students.

It’s not a teacher bashing thread as I doubt the lecturers have been involved in the decision to welcome students to halls. The universities should have been up front about most of the courses being online before start of term. Many students might have chosen to defer or study online from home and we could have saved on the cost. There is no doubt in my mind this was a financial decision by the universities only. Thousands of young adults isolated in their rooms for long periods of time is not great.

Oh your poor DD Gymntonic I hope she gets it sorted!

If it's any reassurance, I know my own department are working through a number of similar cases right now, this week has just been crazy with lots of last-minute adjustments. They WILL all get sorted by next week, it will just take some time. I can't speak for your daughter's department of course but try to reassure her that it will probably all be worked out soon, it's great that she's emailed people already.

Thank you @dreamingbohemian. I'm sure she'll be fine and I'm pleased she's spotted a spiralling trigger. Feeling behind on coursework sets her off, for sure. No harm in finding the email for student welfare in case she needs it in the future.
She's doing her laundry then off with flatmates to look around an area of student housing. I think that's still permissable under "the rules" and must mean she thinks she's stopping.

Oops name change fail

@MrsMcMuffins

It’s not a teacher bashing thread as I doubt the lecturers have been involved in the decision to welcome students to halls. The universities should have been up front about most of the courses being online before start of term. Many students might have chosen to defer or study online from home and we could have saved on the cost. There is no doubt in my mind this was a financial decision by the universities only. Thousands of young adults isolated in their rooms for long periods of time is not great.

No doubt in your mind huh? Well that settles it then.

To be fair @catpoooffender several VC have been on the media and confirmed that for quite a few Universities it is financial . Without the students on campus the funding model doesn’t work plus they cannot afford to lose students . Many universities are on a financial precipice it’s hardly a secret .

I'd agree it's not been a uni-staff bashing thread. While I think that the management at my uni are knobs who announce shit without never bothering to inform the staff and couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery generally... I have said all along that my department staff are fab, have gone above and beyond to try to keep us as-in the loop as they're able to and have really thrown their all into this (just a bit fast on the powerpoint narration at the moment bless 'em!). Considering a few of our staff are pretty legendary techno-numpties (they'll call the IT helpdesk out to turn the computer on) - they've gone at this with gusto! I have an immense affection and respect for my department in the uni - and I think most students do and that's why we all accepted that March-June was pretty much muddling through making the best of it and just rounding out that last academic year.

That does not mean that I do not think that the uni management haven't acted badly in promising this high quality blended learning to force students back onto campus for 4 hours a month of face-to-face (well mask-to-mask across an empty room) sessions... I think they've behaved deceitfully and irresponsibly and the mum in me wants to bang heads together and then go find struggling freshers to dole out hugs to.

Yes I personally don't feel bashed on this thread. People have good reasons to be upset, and we can't expect everyone to know how universities work and why things have turned out this way.

I do hope things will improve in the coming weeks and students will fare much better than it might look right now.

Interesting to note Ireland has just asked higher education insistutions to deliver all teaching online for the next 2 weeks.

Students are there before they were told there would still be lots face to face to worth going and now are not getting that. However if that means universities are "saved", lecturers keep jobs, students going next year have a better time and still have a university to go to and IF this year's students next year have a better time it will not all have been in vain.

By the way on gatherings students may want to look at

s5(6)(a) Health Protection (Coronovirus Restrictions)(England) Regs 2020 pointed out by another layer poster that "there is a gathering when two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other;"

So if one student is in their room sleeping and their flatmate brings 5 friends round that does not breach the legislation. www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/684/contents

However students also have to comply with university rules which may well be stricter than the law if they want to keep their place.