Here's what the students of Warwick think... Yes Maths is highly regarded at Warwick but would you trust a university that clearly puts money before students education and well-being. This isn't just one course.. Life Sciences has been badly hit (my dds course) with 50 percent of even tutorials going back to online. She is going into second year and has not met anyone from her course yet!
Warwick In-Person Teaching Petition
Dear Vice-Chancellor Stuart Croft,
We are dismayed that the University of Warwick has announced plans to hold large lectures online, despite changes in Government guidance that indicate these events should take place in-person as we return to normality.
What this amounts to is the destruction of the degree and the undermining of the historic value of higher education as it has always been, simply for the sake of universities wanting to rake in higher profits.
But this will come at its own cost:
Online teaching has had a detrimental impact on the quality of teaching and our mental health. Many of us recall being told by our lecturers in 2019-2020 that in-person teaching was superior to online teaching. The past year has clearly illustrated that, despite the best efforts of our lecturers, the quality of online teaching & learning is clearly inferior.
Online teaching has also had a negative impact on our mental health by forcing us to work, sleep, and rest in the same space, reducing overall productivity and contributing to higher stress levels. Furthermore, online teaching has robbed students of the ability to meet and see people on their courses, something which has led many students to feel alone, worsening their mental health. Without lectures to attend, Warwick’s campus will be left barren and lifeless, leaving the distinct community that the university has cultivated for so many years to slowly disappear; an effect that will leave Warwick students, especially freshers as they try to settle in to university life, feeling more isolated than before.
We also recognise that some students prefer online lectures, and we do believe that lectures ought to be recorded and published online onto LectureCapture to allow these students to access the material in their preferred fashion.
If this university values its students more than the money we pay, in-person teaching should be offered.
The undersigned demand that the university reverts to lectures being delivered as they always have been: in-person. We are not interested in a dialogue, negotiations or talks of any kind to stall us. The university’s position is blatantly contrary to official government guidance and deeply damaging to students. If the university does not change its position, we look forward to presenting our case to the relevant decision-makers and the press.
