According to a memo from the Martine Smith, Dean of Graduate Studies on the 20th of September a working group of the Graduate Studies’ Committee comprised of students, staff and management decided that the guidelines of lecture recording of 2020-2021 (that all lectures should be recorded) should remain in place for 2021-2022 “given the uncertainty about the public health environment and the extent to which reliance on remote teaching and learning might persist”. This policy should “remain in effect where possible – i.e., lectures should be recorded and made available through the VLE where possible and practicable, for the remainder of the academic year.”
Since September 2021, many students indicated the lack of access to remote learning and the changing attitudes of College, as described in the results of our inclusivity survey. Recently, the College seems to have backtracked on its promise completely.
The fact that a working group comprised of all stakeholders approved a certain set of guidelines which then seem to have been removed by the Provosts’ Office by a snap of a finger indicates deep-seated issues with governance. It is absolutely undemocratic and inconsequential to act in such a way. There was also no proper communication around the issue.
We demand an immediate re-instation of hybrid learning – recording of lectures – since the pandemic is not over for many people, such as those who are immuncompromised or cannot get the vaccine for medical reasons.
We are releasing the memo from the Graduate Studies’ Committee below. This memo was presented at the COLSAG meeting on the 21st of September 2021 .
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