The academic environment this year has been more turbulent than any previous and now we are faced with a second lockdown. As you will all be too aware the UK government have placed those who call Chester, Warrington and Shrewsbury home in another national lockdown, as of November 5th, 2020. So, what does that mean for us at the University of Chester? Well, if we take the government guidelines at face value then education is not too affected. It is important to know that socially distanced face-to-face lectures can still go ahead as planned. This is a great relief to those students who have expressed their wishes for the university to continue and increase face-to-face lecture provisions. To those students who are raising potential concerns around returning to the lecture theatre after this announcement, I urge to attend. The open letter from the Universities’ minister, Michelle Donelan outlined that there is no evidence increased transmission is occurring within the education setting and instead, the most transmission of the Covid-19 virus is happening in the community and residential settings. This is backed up by university data which outlines suggested less than 30 are isolating with positive cases and a large percentage of those are due to community transmission. This is testament to the University of Chester covid response which has allowed for our campus to remain relatively covid-free in comparison to many other universities in the North West and across the UK.
If students are to remain on Chester, then there must be a valid reason for them to do so. In my eyes the clearest reason for students to remain in Chester, Warrington and Shrewsbury is to attend face-to-face sessions. Unlike the NUS and UCU, we at CSU have listened to our members on a local level and have advocated for increased face-to-face lectures. We have written reports which have been presented at University Deans’ group, Student experience committee and directly to the Pro Vice-chancellor for student experience. We are pleased there has been a positive response to our report. Students can rest assured that the university is seeking out those areas where in-person lectures are being used sparingly to make immediate changes
There are also other essential university facilities which are available to students to use during the nation lockdown. Access to the libraries across all campuses will remain open, with increased opening hours at Parkgate road, Warrington and Shrewsbury sites. Alongside this, the University has repurposed three student accommodation blocks outside the seaborne library (Parkgate). They have turned them into hot-desking suites for staff and students, two of which are solely for student use. We are aware these opening times do not suit everyone’s schedule. As your Vice president for education, I am continuing to look into and advocate for lecture capture provisions and 24-hour access to libraries for students.
