Impact on Universities

[shpalman]

Gavin Williamson uses videolink to tell university conference: ‘Get back to in-person teaching’

[shpalman]

Awaiting a tsunami of covid

Green Passes are mandatory for anyone who wants to come into a university building here but I really wonder who is going to check the students.

[Bird on a Fire]

Just to add an international anecdatum, my uni in Portugal is going back "to normal", as they put it, but "will continue to respect the issued recommendations, in particular the mandatory use of masks, good hygiene practices, ventilation of spaces, physical distance and respect for the entry and exit circuits."

So not that normal, really. I think it's 1 m between all students and mandatory ventilation of teaching spaces, but I've done all my credits now so won't be going to campus anyway.

[warumich]

Fucken teaching starting next week and I've already got two colleagues off sick with Covid. We're not going to last into October.

[snoozeofreason]

Scene: A computer lab in the UK

Student: I'm sorry I missed the lecture on Monday, I had a fever.

Me: Have you got yourself tested

Student: No, I don't need to because I've been double-jabbed.

Me: ̶I̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶u̶b̶l̶e̶-̶j̶a̶b̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶,̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶N̶O̶T̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶v̶e̶r̶.̶ ̶G̶e̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶t̶e̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶! I think you should go and get yourself tested. Free lateral flow tests are available on campus, and from most pharmacies.

[shpalman]

Imperial College switches to online learning effective immediately

[bob sterman]

Imperial College switches to online learning effective immediately

While other universities are continuing with face-to-face classes and on-campus exams.

[headshot]

Yup. Frau HS’s Uni announced no change to on-campus and face-to-face learning, as well as research…”in line with Govt guidelines”.

No academic staff are encouraged to work from home though…

[shpalman]

Imperial College switches to online learning effective immediately

While other universities are continuing with face-to-face classes and on-campus exams.

Loughborough went online too apparently

[science_fox]

Imperial College switches to online learning effective immediately

While other universities are continuing with face-to-face classes and on-campus exams.

Much discussion here. Humanities has switched online, neither Physical nor Biological science have done so. Obviously labs has some impact here, but the lectures could be online, but aren't. Exams - much dithering, they'd rather have them in person but aren't sure whether they'll be able to, and instead are running down the clock to prepare either way. Union even less happy than normal - and on ASOS, so won't rush to set things up either.

[science_fox]

https://twitter.com/JamesBSumner/status ... 4740748292

Explains a lot

[Bird on a Fire]

https://twitter.com/JamesBSumner/status ... 4740748292

Explains a lot

Excellent thread, thanks.

[shpalman]

As of yesterday it's now mandatory for all university staff to be vaccinated (or recently recovered from infection, or have a valid exemption). A Green Pass has been necessary for quite a few months but a negative test isn't sufficient anymore.

This is fine, we're not morons who don't know the difference between the vaccine totally and perfectly preventing catching and transmitting the disease, and significantly reducing the probability of catching and transmitting the disease.

We used to have a portal where we could upload the QR code from our Green Pass but this was probably illegal for the same reason that they can't ask for and record personal medical details. So this is gone, replaced by a facility to upload exemption certificates where applicable.

We all got an email about the exemption certificate (and how to self-declare if you are waiting to get your next dose soon) which says to not reply with your vaccination Green Pass, refer to the email went sent a few minutes ago on how to do that.

So I searched through my INBOX and saved messages folder for which email that might have been. I found one which detailed the law which comes into force regarding obligatory vaccination at the university and says that they'll send details about how to verify yourself later.

[shpalman]

The Politecnico is having a discussion which seems to be heading towards "well, the students actually appreciated lessons in streaming during the pandemic, but some of them were still following the lessons online instead of physically coming to lectures once the emergency ended*, and we can't allow that because we know better than the students what's good for them, even if we don't have enough big rooms for all the students or enough professors to teach them all in smaller rooms, so no more streaming".

Except it takes about three hours for everyone to say this in every meeting we have about it, which I've been following in streaming.

* - ha

[Ken McKenzie]

So, we're also seeing a wave of other secondary impacts on HE (at least in the UK).

1 - as hybrid working has become entrenched in professional employment (ONS data shows that over 80% of IT workers and over 70% of professional services workers are working in a hybrid way as of October 2022 (I am given to understand that this forum likes evidence, so here is some from today: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economic ... eukeconomy - you want the workforce tabs), it appears that a significant proportion of degree-educated staff in the UK are now working in a hybrid way and are likely to do so for the forseeable future. This means that institutions now need to prepare graduates for hybrid working. Note that this is very much less imperative for people who don't go to university who are much less likely to be able to access hybrid working. Bit of a social divide developing which is why some on the Right are looking at hybrid working as a culture war topic.

2 - a much wider appetite for flexible working across the private sector, entirely linked with occupational shortages across professional employers - note that in the same dataset above, over 30% of employers say they are finding difficulty recruiting professionals - coupled with the erosion of pay and particularly pensions in parts of HE means that the sector's attractiveness as an employer has eroded sharply in the last 2 years or so. Put bluntly, there is an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in the sector, particularly for professional staff and especially in certain areas. It is bl..dy hard to recruit and retain IT staff in particular.

[shpalman]

Student beauty and grades under in-person and remote teaching

• I examine the relationship between university students’ appearance and grades.
• When education is in-person, attractive students receive higher grades.
• The effect is only present in courses with significant teacher–student interaction.
• Grades of attractive females declined when teaching was conducted remotely.
• For males, there was a beauty premium even after the switch to online teaching.

[bob sterman]

Student beauty and grades under in-person and remote teaching

• I examine the relationship between university students’ appearance and grades.
• When education is in-person, attractive students receive higher grades.
• The effect is only present in courses with significant teacher–student interaction.
• Grades of attractive females declined when teaching was conducted remotely.
• For males, there was a beauty premium even after the switch to online teaching.

A few observations...

This idea that Sweden "stayed open" during the height of the pandemic clearly doesn't apply to their universities. Looks like they might have had even less face-to-face teaching in 2020-21 than some of us did in the UK.

Do they not have anonymous/blind marking there? Author seems to suggest that instructors knowing the students could directly affect grades for coursework (rather than perhaps just more attractive students getting more advice and tutoring from instructors).

This is actually a 4-way interaction, as it is a finding for females not males...

...the triple interaction between Online, attractiveness, and the indicator for non-quantitative course is highly significant for female students.

4-way interactions can be interesting - but pre-registered 4-way interactions are much more interesting.