New university academic year & covid...

[Kim]

If I were a prospective student, I would be evaluating what it is that I expect to get out of university. I have never had a job where I have used anything I learned during my university courses (undergrad and MSc). Maybe I did university wrong!
Edit to say that it wasn't wasted time - I learned a lot about myself, the world and my subject.  I'm old enough that I didn't have to go into giant debt to do that though.

... whereas I have made continuous use of what I learned at uni, and have several of my old textbooks sitting on a shelf above my work desk right now.

They still haven't bought you a monitor stand?

[Karla]

If I were a prospective student, I would be evaluating what it is that I expect to get out of university. I have never had a job where I have used anything I learned during my university courses (undergrad and MSc). Maybe I did university wrong!
Edit to say that it wasn't wasted time - I learned a lot about myself, the world and my subject.  I'm old enough that I didn't have to go into giant debt to do that though.

... whereas I have made continuous use of what I learned at uni, and have several of my old textbooks sitting on a shelf above my work desk right now.

They still haven't bought you a monitor stand?

Oh, they have.  The monitor just had the non-useful books under it though; the RF books that I actually read had their own space on the shelf already.

[fd3]

If next year is a complete write-off then it's an issue for final year students.  Every one else can do lectures and MOAR lectures and do practical the following year.  Sure it would be better to do uni properly, but what are you going to do that is better than uni?  Work @ Tescos?  If one less fun year at uni better or worse than starting a real job a year earlier vs a year of post-school work?

[Mr Larrington]

Professor Larrington tells me that Oxfod seems wedded to the notion of Business As Usual come the autumn.  The notion of delivering tutorials while wearing a mask is not sitting well with her.

[Cudzoziemiec]

In Bristol the 'Nightingale hospital' was converted out of one of UWE's buildings. I expect there are similar cases around the country. If it's deconverted for the start of the academic year, it won't be there for the expected subsequent waves. If it is, university life will be affected in some way. Or quite likely we'll achieve some midway state in which it is unusable to both academia and medicine.