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.

@saltedcaramelhotchoc I like your idea and am going to offer it to my first years when we do online tutor!

I agree with you that online teaching is much better than many think- Zoom seminars are actually reasonably interactive if you make them like that and hardly the same as abandoning students just to watch videos online- plus I'd point out making those darn videos is an art form in itself!

Just spoken to DS two flats he knows of in his building covid positive so are isolating. Freshers week is a nothing despite their bragging on instagram, FB etc. he is a second year. Six in his flat, 2 second years, one final year who did two years at a chinese uni. and three first years. One is from Israel and tells them to shut up a lot because he is recording stuff into his phone. One chinese guy who is so shy and hides in his room. One girl who went home because it was so dead but has come back now.

To be honest they are pretty much being sensible, sticking to the flat except for shopping and exploring. It is nice that DS and girlfriend are second years so can advise the first years.

I’m also an academic and am dreading the first years starting and am worried for them. I’m doing my online teaching as live lectures and will try and utilise break out rooms and group work as much as possible.

They already have a Facebook group going so I’m hoping they are bonding a bit on there.

After many months at home and no job prospects, I suspect lots of Freshers will stick it out as the least worst option.
So sad.

I think most unis have Facebook groups for new undergrads (and often new postgrads too) - please urge your offspring to try and use these groups to find others. I agree it's a pretty awful time for all of them right now, particularly those away from home for the first time. The unis are doing their absolute best, often with hands tied behind our backs (our plans have had to be approved by our local PHE) and OfS are monitoring. Teaching I feel should be largely ok in terms of delivering learning outcomes. Students unions are being pretty crap, but to be fair they're often run by youngsters with very little experience of life, let alone a pandemic.

For the academics on this thread, something which my course is trying is a buddy system. It was advertised as opt-out, and essentially you give your contact details and were put into a random group with an exchange of contact details so you could meet people on the course slightly more intimately than through online lectures. We also have a large facebook messenger group for the course which also helps for sharing news/information.

We’ve buddied all our first years with a volunteer second year on the same course.

Xenia - walking groups. My dd has joined one and they have been banned from using mini buses etc by the uni. They really are making it very difficult. I hope they find another way.

No outdoor or indoor drama or music rehearsals although this seems to be allowed in my local area for amateurs and professionals. The rules seem stricter on campus than at home which isn’t helping my Dd mood.

Glad to hear about the teachers who are being very proactive - thank you for your efforts.

Also it is not easy for those who do not use and will not use social media like Facebook. Not everyone uses those things even young people for lots of reasons. One of my sons for example cannot spend too long at a screen due to eye issues even now he has his new glasses. His course is 100% online. I have said I willpay for all printing that he needs and all physical books - his course this year are only making materials available on line. His sisters who did the same course in their day got a whole suitcase delivered at the start of the course of law books, legal materials, folders. This year is only on line. That is not very helpful.

His twin who is doing the same course based at home is printing a lot out too. I paid £250 last week for printer ink cartridges alone for him and he prints as little as possible.

I cycled a lot at university so may be that is something students can still do and reading physical books in their rooms I suppose and outside when the weather is okay too.

2 out of 650 students turned up to online drop-in sessions I put on this week and last week, to discuss questions or concerns about teaching before the semester starts.

Our new students won't even have logins to access anything online on the uni systems yet (we go back later than what seems to be the norm). One of our lecturers put an online thing together a month or so ago now explaining where they were at in terms of planning/timetabling/course structure which we REALLY bloody appreciated!

I'm on the bloody portal every day seeing if any more of the pre-recorded stuff is available so I can get ahead of myself - but gawd it's a trudge and lonely - especially if you're not "in" a social group - on campus I have groups of people I can sit with and chat to but I'm not in any of the groups that connect socially - so that element has just gone this year and loads of 'em will only chat to me when they want to know what deadlines are looming cos I'm organised!

Depending on his eyes, you might be able to get the university to make an adjustment for him for the printing Xenia.

I used to get extra printer credit, and I could have requested materials that were double spaced or a different font or size. Most of our lecturers gave us handouts that were fine for me, so I didn't use it that much.

I've also heard good things about a tablet that looks like a kindle recently (the sort of matte look), if he starts to really struggle. I'll try to remember the name of it.

DS starts in just under ten days time. I am trying to remain upbeat but realistic about the first term. DS has been given details of his household of six which includes three doing his subject. The idea is that they will go to meals and attend socially distanced events together.
Fortunately DS's sport is going ahead so that will be an opportunity to meet freshers outside of his household. DS also plans to cycle and get out and about in the fresh air to explore his new city. He has been advised by the accommodation officer to take sufficient meds, snacks etc to withstand up to 14 days self isolation which seems a sensible precaution.

Thanks. He also can have anything printed he wants as I will pay and buy books so hopefully he can work it out. To be fair to his institution not a lot of people were unhappy with just online materials (they say) in the last year or two. Anyway he is not a fresher and has friends already so it could all be worse.

Xenia I would really recommend getting a laser printer , we have a small Samsung. The ink seems expensive, I think about £120!but despite having three dc printing including geography projects and my MA dissertation the ink lasted a year. I would not go back to an inkjet now

e-ink tablets. This is the make I've seen.

Does anyone know if the SUs/NUS are planning to take action and suggest improvements?

At Warwick, the improvement suggested by the SU seems to be to ban practically all face to face teaching. And with some very bizarre reasons given for not consulting the wider student body before launching their campaign, to boot...

Catch up with DD. She's tacked herself onto a group of six booked into a bar tonight and with another group at a table at a university bar tomorrow night.
Registration still not fully sorted a month after switching course, but it's speeding up now term is closing in...she's managed to get hold of her tutor for a one to one and to catch up on whatever she's missed. Has joined the gym but can't go until her registration is complete. Hockey six haven't processed her application because she's not fully registered but a friend has had an email telling her that the society is full and has no more space for Freshers, so probably no great loss there.
Has met just one person on her course, completely by accident, at some kind of party. Timetable for next week hasn't been shared yet, and is likely to change week on week, apparently.
Happy enough and says she wouldn't want to leave her flatmates now even if an ensuite in party central became free. So that's about as settled for day 5 as I could have hoped, I think.

Got to ask what do you think is the alternative? As someone who lives in a university city. I think the students aren't doing enough to protect people. This is about the many not the few

Mine has managed quite well I think. Made contact with course and hall people on line. Made plans and has been to Spoons, in parks to meet up and done various trips round the city. Mostly sticking to the guidelines although the odd flat party has happened. Which I think is necessary for mental health. We can't lock them in. They need people. I've suggested to DD that she watches lectures with 5 others in one of the study rooms in halls. They can then chat and ask questions of each other.

I really feel for freshers. I'm a final year and I think all years from my course will have 3 hours per week f2f. This seems bountiful in comparison. I am wondering if there is anything I can offer in the way of companionship (outdoors) as I am an old gimmer.

@GaribaldiGirl I like the horse though 😊. I keep telling DD the alternative is being home with us again. She just wants to get started.

Accidentally added the horse 😂😂

This is all so sad to read. DD so far has been able to make good friends in her hall flat (6 of 8 have checked in, 2 haven't turned up yet but I think are international), lots of inter-mingling between other flats which is a little bit of a concern, but has also connected in person/social media to arrange SD visits to museums etc but this is Central London so maybe easier than a campus/lockdown area. She is a humanities/science subject (could go one way or the other!) and will have 4 hours of live lectures, 3 hours of lectures that can be watched not live and 3 hours in-person seminars/tutorials each week. So far she's very happy with that compared to some courses so seems a good balance. The medic/vet etc friends in her flat have a lot more hours with all three approaches, but the uni so far seems to have it right. There has been lots of fresher online events which she hasn't attended (a real shame as I can see so much work has gone into making it a good experience from the SU/ambassadors etc), the in-person events sold out very quickly, but despite that they seem to be making their own events from what I hear. So not all doom and gloom here but big hugs to those struggling elsewhere. I also would have advised deferring for DD but she was furloughed from her hospitality job and not many prospects in the next 12 months so I think she's in the best place for her this year

My DD has just been told that there is no face to face for her course, not even for seminars. Thats a lot of time in your room learning on your own....