Hi all! It is day 4 of isolation and we have seen such tremendous spirit and community. We have a number of changes around academics, housing and the creation of tailored communications to different communities that we encourage you to get involved with.
Academic Issues
This is a difficult time for all of us during this transition to online learning and teaching. Ruqia (Education Officer) is working closely with the Pro-Vice Chancellor of learning and teaching to make sure that you guys get the education you deserve. We have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and hopefully you will all soon hear updates regarding online examinations and assessments. Rest assured we are working with the University to come up with a solution that will work for everyone.
We are also working on making sure all final year students get a one-month extension on their dissertations given the way this semester has gone with strikes and uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus.? Following the cancellation of the Summer Ball and uncertainty surrounding graduations, we will push for final year students to have an alternative graduation ceremony if the summer ceremonies won’t go ahead. Don’t worry we got you! Please do not hesitate to contact your Academic Rep if you have any concerns about your academic experience.
The government recently announced the cancellation of A level exams and there has been a lot of talk about using predicted grades. In response to this we are coordinating an open letter to the department of education highlighting our concerns. Predicted grades are not an accurate measure of academic potential and given that institutional racism lies at the core of our education system, a lot of BAME students and students from lower-socio economic backgrounds are under-predicted. We have a google form to collect stories and signatures so please do take a look. Stay tuned for updates.
PG Community
All postgraduates will be emailed today with a link to join our online Microsoft Teams group, here you can connect with each other and also feedback any specific issues or concerns you may be facing.
PGT Link – Join with code: k0o7w3e
Doctoral Link – Join with code: 1in95kd
For those of you on campus, don’t forget to join our mailing list for relevant comms.
If you're having trouble joining the groups, please email Jiani at?supostgrad@bath.ac.uk.
International Students
Yesterday we set up an International Community Microsoft Team for international students to be able to come together to share experiences during this difficult time. We will be using this as one way to gather any concerns you have to feedback to the University to ensure that you are getting the information from the University you need.
You can join by using this code: rnk0gt1
We will be holding an online drop in through the Team on Tuesday 2 March 16.00-17.00 GMT.
Accommodation
We are very aware that many of you have several concerns regarding both on campus and off campus accommodation, ranging from rent refunds, contracts and?to how to get your belongings home. Rest assured we are collating all your worries together and working with the University Senior Management to ensure key communication and decisions are made as quickly as possible. We are aiming to get a set of FAQ’s specific to accommodation out next week. If you have any specific issues you want us to include in our discussions please contact Alisha sucommunity@bath.ac.uk
Hardship Fund
We just wanted to share the details of the Hardship fund with you again. Please do consider using this if you are having financial trouble since the outbreak. We are working with the University on increasing the pot of money to make this more accessible to more students.
Community
We are still overwhelmed about how our Corona Community group is growing. The ideas and kindness that is being shown online is really something for us all to be so proud of.
We appreciate that there are still many of you in Bath and you may be having gatherings to say your goodbyes as many of you start to drift off home. We just want to ask you to still remain considerate for your neighbours who may be working from home, might be NHS or other key workers who still need to get up and go to work or have young families.
Don’t forget if you’re willing to help out where you can we have the contact card you can drop into vulnerable neighbours downloadable on our main page.
Chaplaincy support to our community
The University Chaplin Nigel is keeping the chaplaincy open, lit and warm, if any one does want to drop in. The water urns are on and the chairs are 2 meters apart. The Chaplaincy is also the drop off for food for students leaving Bath.
Tins and Pasta – food bank – Southdown and Twerton churches. Perishable food is taken to Julian House
Nigel (nr472@bath.ac.uk) and his colleague Karen (karen.turner36@gmail.com) are also available on email, and out and about. They are always happy to arrange a conversation – phone, facetime, or a socially distanced meeting.