Loughborough University has published a quick reference factsheet in order to give it’s students an idea of what University life will look like in a post-COVID world.
The factsheet can be found here. We have previously written about this, and that article can be found here. But here’s the brief plans the University have outlined:
Teaching and Learning
The University has announced that both the London and Loughborough campuses will be open this academic year. This includes the plan to deliver teaching in person when “we know we can do it safely and provide additional learning online where required”.
Large lectures are likely to be held exclusively online, at least in the first instance, but there will be the “opportunity for you to ask questions and interact with staff”.
Every student will have in-person tuition and “access to facilities where we can offer this safely”.
Timetables will remain the same in order to “provide you with structure” during the working week.
Places such as the Library and other learning facilities will remain open, with social distancing in place.
Hall accommodation
Halls of residence will be open, and if lockdown measures are re-introduced “you will not be charged” for any weeks you have to return home whilst lockdown is in place.
Social Activities
The University has promised that Loughborough Students’ Union will be “running a programme of activities” that conform with social distancing guidelines.
All Union sections (Action, Rag, Media, Enterprise, Societies, Welfare & Diversity, and Education) will be running. As well as LSU Advice still being open to students.
The University has stated that Hall Committees are working with them to ensure “a full social programme to welcome freshers“.
Sport will continue to the fullest extent that the University is able to.
Health and Safety
According to Loughborough University, the measures being brought in are “some of the most thorough and balanced in higher education”
Additional measures are being considered such as “temperature checking” and “notification systems” in order to make campus as safe as possible.
Analysis
The plans set out by the University are promising, if not a little bit vague. This is understandable, term time is still 3 weeks away and a lot can change from the Government’s side.
Indeed, Loughborough is one of the last Uni’s to return to campus every year and the University may be waiting to see how other campuses cope with the measures.
However, these plans have not changed at all since June when they originally published their statement of intent to return to campus, and we have still not heard any detailed plans from LSU about what Freshers will look like or indeed how the Union activities are going to be run. Time is running out.
I’m not an avid follower of ‘Confessions and Depressions’ but from what I’ve seen, there is a sentiment of distrust and anxiety about what has been announced (and what hasn’t) from the students that post on there.
Naturally, students are worried, and the University along with LSU has a lot of work to do to gain that trust from the students of Loughborough in these next few weeks.
The University is keen for students to return to campus life as safely as possible, but with concerns rising from both the Government and students about the risks of transmission on University campuses, how safe will this really be?
How do you feel after reading both the Government’s concerns and the University’s plans for returning to campus? Let us know.
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Image by Joshua Gray
