No uni return til Aug/Sept

[Newgirls]

So Edin and St A have said no f2f teaching til next academic year (apart from med and some post-grad) and students should not be there unless v specific needs. Very sad that this cohort are going through this. I assume English unis will follow?

for non lab classes, sticking with how the current term is seems much more sensible.

Exams have been planned as 24 hour do at home, Changing now to 3 hour in person would be very unfair. People are not physically even in the country anyway so online provision would have to continue for some students.

Starting ftf in Sept/oct for new year seems best plan, rather than disrupting what is in place now

(and i get used now to be only person on camera in tutorials bar the tutor, its rediculous when its third years who want to be lawyers and potentially could have jobs come the summer!)

My husband is running a having a progress meeting with a group of 4th year students now, and none of them have their cameras turned on.

Ignore the superfluous 'running' and 'a'. Oh, for an edit facility.

Sone people will have a shock when they start work and suddenly have to have cameras on whatever they feel like.

At dds uni they have said some chemistry students can go back (as well as medics) but not other students. So lab work yes but other subjects no

Most science subjects, including engineering, will have missed labs and I know that at least one university is planning to schedule those in term 3 after the exams if restrictions allow. Exams will be brought forward to the start of term but will remain online and effectively open book.

@Changi

My husband is running a having a progress meeting with a group of 4th year students now, and none of them have their cameras turned on.

What’s the relevance of this? Do you mean it would be better if they were in face to face teaching/lectures? I know mine would prefer that. Not much point at the moment other than for tutorials

It was a response to burntoutbabe's post saying fellow students were not using their cameras despite being in their third year and future lawyers.

Ah I see. It shows really that it’s not the same is it, however hard the lecturers try

I think it depends on the Uni, I think Warwick have probably done a decent/good job. Dd states cameras are on, f2f tutorials all the way through term 1 as well as quite a few labs. Some on line labs this term really not great so important they get back next term. She actually prefers online lectures because it gives her greater control over workloAlso performing much better in tests whilst at home...

She's really missing her friends (although close friends have stayed home) she is a real party animal so just as well she is at home!

That should state workload.

A policy of having cameras on for tutorials is the way surely? Not for lectures. That’s certainly the case at my daughters uni.

I don't think students should be obliged to turn on a camera. I hope students can be allowed back into libraries and face to face lectures however. I don't link those 2 issues - forcing them to turn on a camera in a non face to face lecture and opening up university properly again.

why not force them? its a horrible experience when everyone is just a black box, saying nothing. no one learns anything.

some of them could be at work in 6 months time, and expected to have cameras on whatever.

@burnoutbabe

why not force them? its a horrible experience when everyone is just a black box, saying nothing. no one learns anything.

some of them could be at work in 6 months time, and expected to have cameras on whatever.

Because some won't have good enough internet. At my son's Uni, they didn't want cameras turned on when on campus because the Uni's own internet system couldn't cope with the extra bandwith of thousands of students using their cameras at the same time. When students are at home, many will have slow/intermittent broadband, made worse if there are others in the household also on the internet, i.e. working from home or siblings doing online schooling. Rather than any kind of "general" rule, it should be only when needed, i.e. one to one tutorials or small groups, etc.

@Xenia

I don't think students should be obliged to turn on a camera. I hope students can be allowed back into libraries and face to face lectures however. I don't link those 2 issues - forcing them to turn on a camera in a non face to face lecture and opening up university properly again.

I agree. Priority should be getting students back on campus, getting lecturers back on campus, and getting more face to face sessions started again.

Interesting- DD also at Oxford has been told she doesn’t have to go back for the summer term and she’s studying Chemistry! I guess it might depend on the college. Fortunately we haven’t had to pay for the 2 terms (so far) that she hasn’t been there; one advantage of living in College I guess.
My husband’s Uni have refunded (or not asked for) campus accommodation for this term, but they are already in tens of thousands in debt, which as he says, pays the salaries of the staff working there (or doesn’t in this case).

@Numbersarefun

Interesting- DD also at Oxford has been told she doesn’t have to go back for the summer term and she’s studying Chemistry! I guess it might depend on the college. Fortunately we haven’t had to pay for the 2 terms (so far) that she hasn’t been there; one advantage of living in College I guess. My husband’s Uni have refunded (or not asked for) campus accommodation for this term, but they are already in tens of thousands in debt, which as he says, pays the salaries of the staff working there (or doesn’t in this case).

Yes my dd has been refunded. I think some unis are sort of turning a blind eye so they don’t have to?

how and where can we find out a university's financial situation?

Are Glasgow university doing any refunds?

Is Glasgow struggling in the pandemic?

I'm starting to get cross. I'm expecting to be back in a full school on 8th March, unvaccinated. I'll be with up to180 different students each day, in close contact with no masks. Yet Unis are giving no f2f until September ? Someone explain how that makes any sense ? If it's safe for schools then it's safe for Unis. Or neither is true.

but most Uni students don't live local to their Universities and making them move there to do f2f for a few weeks makes no sense as the lecturers/tutors ALSO need to provide for remote students.

So do I. Been remote teaching and in person since January. If I'm spending my days with 1,800 other people's kids I'd like my own to get something for their £9,250. We don't have large lecture theatres which could be partially full. I'm just fed up that schools are apparently covid safe but Unis are not. Mine are back as their degrees require it. But v little actual contact time and neither been contacted by a tutor for months. Just as well they are ok.

Yet Unis are giving no f2f until September ?

Some are planning for April. There is little point in dragging students back to uni a week before the Easter vacation.

Mine are already there as have practicals. So why can't yeh start some lectures f2f for the courses already back, if it's safe ? I'm 53 & will be unvaccinated when go back on 8th so if it's safe for me it must be for lecturers too ? Or is it not safe ?

@burnoutbabe

but most Uni students don't live local to their Universities and making them move there to do f2f for a few weeks makes no sense as the lecturers/tutors ALSO need to provide for remote students.

But huge numbers of students are paying rent for accommodation that they can't use. Unis encouraged students back in September, encouraged them to rent accommodation, etc., so they really can't just glibly tell them all to stay home now.

Unis encouraged students back in September

Unis did what the government told them they had to do.