Edit (16th August 2021) to remove the reference to "September" in thread title, giving the ongoing nature of the impact on Universities.
I wanted to make a thread specifically about Universities as this has popped up a few times over the last few days but it's probably better not to detract from the general "public life" thread.
Although the point of this thread was general University discussion, the main point was this article, alluded to in another thread, which surfaced yesterday - the quite frankly preposterous idea of "Students might have to stay in a protective bubble" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52897727):
I've also looked into these surveys of people, of which "71% of students" wanted term to start later to get more in person teaching. This article does not cite its source for the figure, but my previous research has found that these are very small sample sizes of less than 1000 students (bearing in mind that there are 1.8 million undergraduate students at institutions across the UK - 2018/19 figure, https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-data.aspx). One thing they've forgotten to consider is that students don't want to put off their study until January - they want to resume where they left off in September with as little (or preferably no) social distancing as possible, and as much of the student experience restored as possible.
Second point. Reducing capacity in accommodation blocks (as mentioned in the article). So we will have less international students, with unprecedented impacts on student finances. The Universities can't win - they either accept less students because they're attempting to maintain social distancing for a ridiculous amount of time, or they try and attract more domestic students (which I'm not sure is going to work), fill up accommodation and then there's people sharing few bathrooms between many. But accommodation rakes in money too, and at the moment, some institutions are starting the process of voluntary redundancy. Like a lot of the economy, we can't afford to continue like this for much longer. Students are becoming increasingly restless about paying over £9k (myself included) and it worked as a short term measure in the summer term but it won't satisfy people come autumn.
And I accept the point in the article about lectures online meaning fewer people - but there's still going to be a lot of people wandering around campus trying to use facilities as not everything can be done online. And people don't want to just sit in their rooms 24/7, especially with pubs and (more specifically) clubs closed - nothing for a lot of people (I know not everyone) to look forward to in the evening.
I wanted to make a thread specifically about Universities as this has popped up a few times over the last few days but it's probably better not to detract from the general "public life" thread.
Although the point of this thread was general University discussion, the main point was this article, alluded to in another thread, which surfaced yesterday - the quite frankly preposterous idea of "Students might have to stay in a protective bubble" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52897727):
The above quote is the first section of the linked article. And there are quite a few problems with this. Firstly, students live in halls of residence in their first year only (with some very very small exceptions). So sharing accommodation with people taking the same course would already not work for second, third, fourth years etc. We've all sorted out our housing, I am living with 4 others and all of us are doing different courses to each other. But the idea makes little sense anyway - is it to increase in person teaching? In which case, we've got groups of 8 people sitting in different corners of the lecture theatre, and capacity is still vastly reduced? Small group teaching without social distancing? It seems a lot of effort to go to for something that poses little threat to the group anyway, and it would mean that tutorials can go ahead but seminars would have to still be 2/3 separate groups. Not that it matters anyway, because it's only possible for first year students. Not to mention the fact that people don't want to and will not do this anyway - they will continue to mingle in student accommodation and there will not be enough staff to stop them. It makes no sense.Students might have to stay in a "protective bubble" of the same small group, when the UK's university campuses reopen in the autumn.
University leaders suggested students would live and study with the same group to minimise mixing.
They were setting out safety measures for a socially-distanced student life - including a virtual freshers' week.
A survey suggested 71% of students would prefer to start the term later, if they got more in-person teaching.
University campuses have been closed since the coronavirus lockdown, with teaching switching online, and their representative body, Universities UK has been setting out how they might bring students back for the autumn term.
How might campuses stay safe?
To prevent the risk of infection, the Universities UK briefing suggested students could be kept in small groups, sharing accommodation with people taking the same course, using the "protective bubble" approach used in primary schools in England.
Liz Barnes, vice-chancellor of Staffordshire University, said she had been discussing the idea of protective bubbles with other universities - with her university expecting to have eight people per bubble.
By housing students in groups taking the same subjects, with timetables that bring them on campus at the same time, it would minimise contact with other students.
"The more that we can keep them into a small group of regular interaction the better in current circumstances," said Prof Barnes.
Students could see others outside, but there would be controls on who could go inside accommodation.
This would also assume that university accommodation would have a big reduction in capacity, so that social distancing could be possible and facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms could be safely shared.
If lectures are delivered online, there would also be fewer people on campus.
I've also looked into these surveys of people, of which "71% of students" wanted term to start later to get more in person teaching. This article does not cite its source for the figure, but my previous research has found that these are very small sample sizes of less than 1000 students (bearing in mind that there are 1.8 million undergraduate students at institutions across the UK - 2018/19 figure, https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-data.aspx). One thing they've forgotten to consider is that students don't want to put off their study until January - they want to resume where they left off in September with as little (or preferably no) social distancing as possible, and as much of the student experience restored as possible.
Second point. Reducing capacity in accommodation blocks (as mentioned in the article). So we will have less international students, with unprecedented impacts on student finances. The Universities can't win - they either accept less students because they're attempting to maintain social distancing for a ridiculous amount of time, or they try and attract more domestic students (which I'm not sure is going to work), fill up accommodation and then there's people sharing few bathrooms between many. But accommodation rakes in money too, and at the moment, some institutions are starting the process of voluntary redundancy. Like a lot of the economy, we can't afford to continue like this for much longer. Students are becoming increasingly restless about paying over £9k (myself included) and it worked as a short term measure in the summer term but it won't satisfy people come autumn.
And I accept the point in the article about lectures online meaning fewer people - but there's still going to be a lot of people wandering around campus trying to use facilities as not everything can be done online. And people don't want to just sit in their rooms 24/7, especially with pubs and (more specifically) clubs closed - nothing for a lot of people (I know not everyone) to look forward to in the evening.
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