Oxford and Cambridge current students discussion thread

[sandybayley]

Starting a new one as we filled it up!

Can't believe DS1 will be home in 2 weeks. Must remember to adjust the Ocado shop for when he's back. I suspect we may end up with a few days of his favourite meals 😊

awww PantTwizzler

I see that Cambridge is now delaying arts/humanities students return until 25th February - which means they'll miss a week of term. Does anyone know if they'll likely get an eighth reduction in the accommodation fees?

Also, has anyone heard yet about Oxford - who in DS2's case were supposed to go back on 10th January? If arts/humanities students can't go back also until 25th Jan, they'll miss a whole quarter of that term and again, do we presume that there'll be a reduction in accommodation fees accordingly?

@mutterphore where did you see this about a delayed return?

@mutterphore - I just read the update and my understanding of it is that in-person teaching for arts and humanities students will start from 25 January, but that this will not affect the date that students return.

"Undergraduate and postgraduate taught students who have not already returned to Cambridge will be encouraged to do so during the weekend of 16th and 17th January."

www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/news/update-from-the-vice-chancellor-36

dd thinks in person teaching starts 25th Jan too - but they aren't due back til the weekend of the 16th anyway and normally lectures would start on Thurs 21st - so if those dates work out, its not very different at all.

Ironoaks, if that's correct, then that's better news. Can you let me have the link to that? Might it just mean STEM students?

DS1 just told me the delayed start date based on his reading of some communication from Toope for all students and he may well have misinterpreted it. I really hope he has as I've organised work around the original /normal start dates.

Of course it's lovely having them both home but I know they're also keen to re-start term when originally expected.

OhYouBad, do you think then it effectively means that instead of being allowed back (16th Jan) roughly a week before teaching starts, they'll just be going back a few days before teaching starts?

If that's the case and if Oxford still go back (at DS2's college) on 10th Jan, then the Oxford term must begin much earlier than Cambridge? Is that the usual case anyway?

Unescorted you're extremely fortunate that chargers in your house multiply. When my DC are home en masse disappearing chargers are the source of much angst. The ones who are the most guilty of swiping their siblings' chargers are also the ones who gets most vocal when accused, so life becomes one long charger battle, with huge amounts of outrage on every side.

Ironoaks, many thanks for the link. I can't quite see whether it means that students may well be allowed to be in college from 16th Jan or even 18th Jan and it's only the in-person teaching they won't have or whether they're saying don't come back till 25th Jan? The relevant part of the statement is as follows:

"....In practice this means that in-person teaching for most undergraduate and postgraduate taught students will only start from 25th January. Until then, lectures will be available on-line and any small group teaching will also be provided remotely. We would expect there to be a wide range of provision for students across the University and in colleges including catering, sporting activities and in-person pastoral support.

In-person teaching can take place earlier than 25th January for those students undertaking lab work or practicals. In-person teaching for these students can commence from 18th January, although there may be exceptional cases where this needs to start earlier......"

Any thoughts?

My understanding of the V-C's statement is this:

1. In order to keep within the government guidelines, arts and humanities students will have online teaching only for the first half of week 1 (21-23 January). For the second half of week 1 (25 January onwards) some in-person teaching can resume in the same way as they had during Michaelmas Term.

1. For those doing subjects with a lab-based element, in-person practicals can start from the beginning of term, as the government has different rules for these students.

1. The colleges and their facilities will be open from the beginning of term.

1. The university would like all students to return to their colleges on the weekend of 16-17 January.

I feel greatly cheered by that link :)

My thoughts are that DC should be delegated the task of checking their guidance from their colleges in a timely way and communicating it to the Chief Executive/ driver/slave/parent of the family in a manner that allows for work and other commitments to be made as frictionless and stress free as these blighted times allow. Even the most feckless of them should have been away from home long enough to realise that they are “ adults”. I speak as someone guilty of promoting learned helplessness in my offspring; they will sharpen up if forced to get a train ( from their maintenance grant)and wait for a rescue car trip a few days later if you are busy.

@Ironoaks - Cambridge should get you to do their communications, much clearer.

DS1 says he is due back on 9 January. Was Oxford always going to be a week before Cambridge.

Oh and one of his friends and a bunch of others at LMH have to stay in Oxford until 18 December after a close contact with a positive case in a bar. The college bar I think 😬

@hobbema - I like your parenting style. Benign neglect is what we should be aiming for at this stage.

While we are on this topic, I understand that the teaching week begins on a Thursday for historical reasons, but does anyone know why/how the tradition started?

Ha ! Sandy, not only a puffa, but also a sweatshirt and the most FOUL colleges slides are cluttering the front porch and as predicted mother hen urges wearing off and DT2 not even home yet ( on her way from O now though!)

@hobbema - I did say we should be aiming for benign neglect. Whether I achieve that is another matter.

How long is it reasonable to meal plan around DS1's favourite meals? I reckon 4 days and then he needs to fit back into the family menu.

I think I'm now a lot clearer and DS1 has also had another look at the statement and thinks it probably does mean return on 16th Jan as planned. Whew! I hope this is really correct.

I aimed for benign neglect and he neglected to apply for his student loan or check his battels bill causing much panic when he finally forwarded it to me on the day payment was due. Loan now secured however.

All DS's teaching has been online anyway this term - one of his supervisors isn't even in the same country at the moment.

hobbema that's excellent advice. I've gone a stage further and said they have completely free rein to decide their dates but that I intend to be away from very shortly after the 8th January. I've implied that I could be flexible by about 48 hours :)

@goodbyestranger, I like your style but neither of DC's colleges seem to have much truck with accommodating the lives of the driver/slave/parent. Both colleges are VERY fixed about their arrival/departure dates. Anyone know why some colleges are flexible and other's not?

DD appears to have come back as a functioning adult. If she learns nothing else the fees are worth it.

goodbye they aren't the ones that fit any piece of electrical equipment that we currently own. I have taken to printing out fake works asset number stickers on all the ones I need.

DS1 (C) has been contacted by a new supervisor for next term's paper from outside of his college, as the usual in-college supervisor for this paper can't do supervisions for first year's next term. Am I right in thinking that this is standard practice to have someone from a different college each term to be the supervisor for the cohort?

Also, the new supervisor seems extremely young - like just finished his doctorate or in his last year of it. Might that mean he's really enthusiastic and conscientious - or - never have done any teaching before and not know how to 'pitch' supervisions?

The reading list he's sent is much much longer and more 'niche' than the one DS1's cohort was originally given and also much longer than the one from last term. I think this sounds great but DS1 is a bit daunted, given the scarily 'easy ride' he had in his first term.

It's now 5 weeks for DS1 - and counting - that one of the essays yet to be returned still hasn't been marked or returned from the first term and 4 weeks and 3 weeks for the other outstanding unmarked essays. I guess DS1 can't be given any feedback about how he did across the first term if the DOS hasn't even marked most of the essays yet but it would be good for DS1 to have some idea of how he's been doing before launching into the reading for next term.

Is anyone else's DC still waiting for most of their essays to be marked and returned from last term and also for any kind of feedback/ report on that term?