What if first term of uni is online?
Starting to get quite concerned, there's talk about unis preparing for first term to be online. Already paid for a term of rent in a house that I'm not living in, what a waste. Now next years accommodation is emailing me to pay since I signed beforehand and I don't even know if I'm going to be living there if first term is going to be online. That's like £3,000 down the drain. How unfair is this to university students? The government and the university itself has seriously left us in the dark. Not to mention a waste of fees for powerpoint slides. I'm feeling annoyed. Can anyone else relate?
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I'm a student rep at uni in London and know from attending department meetings that we're preparing to teach online in September.
Uni of Manchester have said that lectures will be online for first semester and that they are "hoping" to have a few face to face things (probably seminars and tutorials and stuff?) No clue how they are going to work with labs and stuff...
Unis haven't officially announced it but they are preparing to teach online. It's not 100% since nobody knows how corona will progress in the next 4 months but they are preparing to. I guess nobody would pay, maybe fees would be reduced?
I really really hope that they have the library open or something for next semester, because I really can't study properly without one as these few past weeks have taught me 
Perhaps they could do a limited capacity thing? Like having a rule that you can't sit next to anyone directly, like there has to be an empty desk/chair between everyone?
Perhaps they could do a limited capacity thing? Like having a rule that you can't sit next to anyone directly, like there has to be an empty desk/chair between everyone?
Are you serious? Where? That is actually a pisstake.
Original post by SlashaRussia
I really really hope that they have the library open or something for next semester, because I really can't study properly without one as these few past weeks have taught me
Perhaps they could do a limited capacity thing? Like having a rule that you can't sit next to anyone directly, like there has to be an empty desk/chair between everyone?
Perhaps they could do a limited capacity thing? Like having a rule that you can't sit next to anyone directly, like there has to be an empty desk/chair between everyone?
Yeah I think libraries could still work, just have rules where people must sit 2m apart. Thing is, less people would be allowed in...so it would be harder to get in...how would that work?
that's so frustrating :/
Original post by Anonymous
Yeah I think libraries could still work, just have rules where people must sit 2m apart. Thing is, less people would be allowed in...so it would be harder to get in...how would that work?
I guess you just have to be lucky? ://
Original post by SlashaRussia
I guess you just have to be lucky? ://
Do you have the accommodation problem also? Will you be paying to live there?
True, I feel like record numbers of people won't sign up for uni this year...
I totally agree, UoM is a bit rushed in this decision in my opinion. I would have waited till July before making any sort of big decisions such as this! Its going to be weird moving back up to Manchester for one or two hours of tutorials a week 
I suspect that the first term will definitely be online
I was also frustrated at the beginning and was contemplating not going but now I came to terms with the fact that this is the new normal and I'm just going to have to adapt, I'm not prepared to waste another year of my life as I have already wasted two
I was also frustrated at the beginning and was contemplating not going but now I came to terms with the fact that this is the new normal and I'm just going to have to adapt, I'm not prepared to waste another year of my life as I have already wasted two
I feel like universities will have big problems on their hands if they carry on like this. I understand that they may need to do the first semester online if corona is still an issue, but by keeping fees the same price - they’re driving students to consider withdrawing and reapplying for next year.
If a lot of students do this, suddenly universities are under funded and the 2021 admissions cycle is screwed.
They need to put a good plan in place to prevent this.
If a lot of students do this, suddenly universities are under funded and the 2021 admissions cycle is screwed.
They need to put a good plan in place to prevent this.
Yep and we can't really do anything about since we don't take the decisions but the people at the top do 
Original post by 2cool4$kool
I suspect that the first term will definitely be online
I was also frustrated at the beginning and was contemplating not going but now I came to terms with the fact that this is the new normal and I'm just going to have to adapt, I'm not prepared to waste another year of my life as I have already wasted two
I was also frustrated at the beginning and was contemplating not going but now I came to terms with the fact that this is the new normal and I'm just going to have to adapt, I'm not prepared to waste another year of my life as I have already wasted two
I'm with you on this, don't want to waste anymore time. I guess I'm going to have to come to terms with it. I know so many people will be affected by this. Most of my friends think that everything will be back to normal by then. I really hope so, but I'm feeling pessimistic.
Why would the fees be reduced though? I understand that online teaching is not what we signed up for and is definitely not as good as face to face, but at the end of the day, the staff will all still be putting in their time and working, and they still need to be paid. These are unprecedented times and difficult for everyone.
I do feel for people going in to years 2 and 3 (or higher), who have already secured their accommodation contract for next year, when they may be unable to live there. Universities are trying their best, suddenly trying to convert all their teaching to online is no easy feat, and to suggest that they would cut their fees is crazy. Universities are businesses. Not to mention, most never fully pay back their student loan, so as far as fees go, most students will be no worse off.
I do feel for people going in to years 2 and 3 (or higher), who have already secured their accommodation contract for next year, when they may be unable to live there. Universities are trying their best, suddenly trying to convert all their teaching to online is no easy feat, and to suggest that they would cut their fees is crazy. Universities are businesses. Not to mention, most never fully pay back their student loan, so as far as fees go, most students will be no worse off.
I think it's more to do with the fact people want to withdraw because it's not the university experience they wanted, and they don't want to pay the same hefty fee despite it being online. Also because everything seems so uncertain and going into a lot of debt during times of corona is a bit daunting.
To be fair if you are a returning student you would have missed out on way more time, just saying. I think I would have missed out on almost 6 months of university, not counting the multiple weeks of disruption due to strikes (which isn't related i know)
While I'm not one of the people who want to defer, I understand why, because online is not the same as face to face, and next year will be a sad year really. I am sad since I won't be able to hang out with my society, to actually have a good social life, i definitely won't be able to come back to my work (i work at a school part time) and so on. If people are paying for something, they want to get the full experience of it.
Besides, when you defer, the logic is that you have a secured place, you are just taking a year out, so you arent risking your place.
While I'm not one of the people who want to defer, I understand why, because online is not the same as face to face, and next year will be a sad year really. I am sad since I won't be able to hang out with my society, to actually have a good social life, i definitely won't be able to come back to my work (i work at a school part time) and so on. If people are paying for something, they want to get the full experience of it.
Besides, when you defer, the logic is that you have a secured place, you are just taking a year out, so you arent risking your place.
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