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1/12 A quick thread on student fees and online learning in the coming Fall -- with the caveat that I believe education should be free!
2/12 There have been a lot of tweets and “news” about students demanding refunds and discounts because come the Fall they will be “returning to an online experience”
3/12 What part of the student experience and fees specifically states campus based (genuine question).
4/12 On campus lectures and activities are well established, academics comfortable in their processes and spaces, ably providing, generally, good educational experiences.
5/12 often with on campus experiences students don't see behind the scenes activities that go a good experience, the work of professional services, staff development, the library, estates management (which still needs to happen in a pandemic), the work of IT teams and so on.
6/12 We’re now in a changed state, a state where universities are moving rapidly to provide an experience that they may not have been fully ready for. The workload of academics is increasing because of the pandemic, not decreasing…
7/12 … in addition, as anyone who has been in a webinar or had to work at a screen for several hours will know, online is exhausting. No academic I have spoken to is saying “its great, I’ve got so much energy”
8/12 And as well as the increased workload and increased exhaustion, the majority of academics are rapidly building news skills and capabilities to make sure they can deliver an excellent experience come Fall!
9/12 So my question is, why with all this increased work, increased staff exhaustion, increased staff development, and maintaining a physical estate ready for when we can get back on it, are people saying we want a discount or refunds?
10/12 Right now, in the majority of institutions I am privileged to work with, I am seeing more activity, more stress, and more care for the student experience than I have seen in over 20 years – on top of all the normal work and care that is going on.
11/12 How are they doing that for the same cost as last year is the question we should be asking! As well as what is the state of well being of all staff in universities that are trying to keep education going.
12/12 The Rhetoric should be “even though we are in a pandemic, and staff are overworked, and exhausted, and all this on top of the work of their normal roles, we are keeping fees as they are, and we will still deliver an education to be proud of”
