EDUCATIONAL/STUDENT FACILITIES
CAMPUS LIFE DURING CORONAVIRUS
Jan Capper, CEO of College and University Business Officers (CUBO), takes a look at the impact of Covid-19 on higher education sites, as they face the most adverse challenges ever witnessed.
We are working in uncharted territories right now, in the most challenging times and conditions that college and university campus services professionals have ever had to face.
Residence life, catering and security teams are all at the frontline, looking to ensure that students remaining on campus are safe, fed, and in good mental and physical health. This has been the key priority for every institution.
Since universities moved to online tuition and closed their libraries, lecture halls and leisure facilities, many international students. As per latest government advice, they will remain in student accommodation, along with others who for various reasons have not left. University is, in effect, now their year-round home.
This places significant pressure on the wellbeing of those students and the teams who are looking after them, as staff step back from face-to-face contact to ensure social distancing at the very time students are most vulnerable and looking for reassurance.
There is also a challenge around compliance as students see the entire campus as their home and the grounds as their garden. While most are complying, social distancing is not always observed and teams on the ground are looking to ensure the government guidelines are met and work with security to ensure safety and protection for all.
No-one knows what the next few months will bring. Advice changes literally daily – send students home, keep them on site - so adaptability is paramount. New operational procedures have to be implemented and communicated to a large number of students and staff in increasingly short time periods.
When it comes to operational procedures, one size does not fit all. If we consider the plight of students self-isolating in halls, those halls may be catered or self-catered and
rooms may be en-suite or non-en-suite. Every scenario needs to be thought through from a Covid-19 health and safety perspective, including delivery of food, essential shopping, cleaning and waste removal.
Contingency plans are being implemented fast, as universities share and learn from each other via online forums like CUBO’s. Some of the changes that we are seeing now include:
• The provision of meals to students in catered halls in a managed way that includes social distancing. This includes take-away, food packages and a delivery meal service.
• Staff redeployment - with online learning and training to help train staff in areas where they don’t normally work, in a bid to maintain the right levels of frontline cover and cover those off sick or in high-risk groups.
• The management of commercial contracts - clarity around cancellation charges and the application of insurance and force majeure clauses.
As to the future, universities are expecting tough times ahead, with the biggest concern that the next academic year intake will remain for some time unknown. The long- term impact on international students, in particular, could be significant.
Normally, universities would be planning their new student intake for the coming year. Instead they are faced with the possibility of housing existing students who may not be able to leave due to restrictions still in place or visa expiry.
They would also now be gearing up for their commercial summer business – conferences and summer schools that deliver important revenue to most institutions. We are hearing that most conferences are postponing rather than cancelling, but whether the companies and industries concerned will be in an economic position to run these events in 2021 is far from clear.
Throughout this difficult period, the campus services continue, with our key workers – cleaners, security, caterers, residence life teams, accommodation staff, campus convenience stores and others - still working to give students every support possible. Some student accommodation is being prepared for our amazing NHS staff. Another group of heroes are the frontline staff in student and other residential accommodation, working hard to respond to a unique situation as it evolves on a daily basis.
www.cubo.ac.uk/ www.tomorrowsfm.com TOMORROW’S FM | 47
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