Open University; Closed Lecture Theatres

 University has yet to resume post-summer. Yet, with crashing student systems, rapidly changing module selections and ambiguity about how much of our content will be online or in-person, the impending university stress feels like an emotional reification equal to Susan Hill’s ominous fog in ‘The Woman in Black’. 

Given the way the university ripped off students last year, who can blame the tense trepid talk amongst freshers and returning students alike, that the same will happen this year? It is disillusioning to say the least, to further the potential disconnect between staff and it’s students. I for one feel like I wouldn’t mind spending a few days in a medical rather than an educational institution just for an excuse not to have to deal with anything at all. At least the NHS doesn’t treat its patients like commodities, which is more than can be said for UK universities’ attitude towards its students. 

Of course, it’s new and exciting to now be living in an actual student house with people we’ve spent the last year getting to know. However, in keeping with Manchester’s worker bee symbol, I can’t help but feel like a bee in a hive in which the queen has died. As a result, we’ve been left to nervously flutter around until Erika Thompson can come and rescue us. It’s crazy that Thompson can read a bee’s body language and understand whether they’re feeling anxious or not, but universities and the government seem hopelessly incapable of doing the same for students and young people. Then again, she does get to see them regularly in person. 

In a facebook live interview over the summer with student Ella Robinson, Manchester university staff claimed their willingness to listen to student input. However, recent developments would seem to suggest otherwise. Not only have the detrimental effects of online ‘blended’ learning on students’ wellbeing been ignored, but also the importance of democracy and student voice. I’d also like to question the university’s understanding of ‘blended’ given that literally every interaction I’ve had so far with the university has been through my laptop screen. Unironically, this includes the interview in question. 

Of course, none of us have forgotten how, at the beginning of the year, the move to 100% online learning was only announced once students had officially moved into their accommodations. Thus, many were already tied into contracts. The timing seems awfully convenient for those of us who have now just signed student housing contracts for this year. 

 

Over the last year, Manchester's student population have been scapegoated, profiled, fenced in, and deprived of the service we were led to believe we would, and should, receive. What distinguished our degrees from an open university degree - aside from the 6 grand price difference between the two? 

 

Quite frankly, I think the student led protests were the bare minimum level of disruption we could have partaken in. Is it any wonder that students are unwilling to fully trust an institution’s promise of ‘blended learning’, when that same institution has gaslighted all of us over the past year? The worst part is, the majority of us are still desperately clinging to our degrees as the government has already landed us in thousands of pounds of debt, and it would be a shame not to see it all the way through.

 

Someone at this university needs to be told that things like erecting fences around a student campus, or squandering any hopes we may have had of ever stepping foot in a lecture theatre, needs to be communicated with us directly. What's wrong with sending an email or text, rather than sharing news like this in an online article, or by responding to a student's tweet? This latter method was hideously unprofessional and a poor lack of judgement on the university's part. 

 

Finally, whilst I understand that ‘guarantees on staff numbers’ can never be 100% pertained to at all times, the decision to move lectures permanently online and the effect this will have on the university’s staff members feels incredibly disconcerting. Following the ridiculous marketisation of our education, we feel like customers rather than students - and not valued ones at that. I can't imagine how the university's staff are feeling. 

 

It seems to me that Manchester university has failed to cultivate an inclusive and worthwhile work environment for the university’s academics, and has restricted them to produce nothing more than what is essentially online content worth nowhere near £9,250 a year. Dissatisfaction has been expressed on both sides of the zoom screen, from students and professors alike, as well as in end of year module surveys which have seemingly also been disregarded. 

 

I really love this university, the content of my modules (the ones I could actually access, after the shit show that was student system enrollment), and the teaching I've received for the most part has been amazing and thought provoking. I transferred into second year here from another institution and, despite the unfortunate but understandably necessary move to blended learning, I don't at all regret my decision. However, the idea of seeing out the rest of my university experience without ever having a lecture in the actual building seems like a bit of a kick in the teeth. In no other circumstance would a company get away with such a drastic deviation from the service initially promised to its paying customers.