‘Full on-campus experience’ to return next academic year
Updated: Mar 13
Online learning to end, University says
By Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco
Courtesy of Aedan Brennan
Beginning in September 2022, when the new academic year begins, all teaching will be conducted on campus and in person, the University announced Thursday afternoon.
For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, the University expects all seminars, lectures, and tutorials to be in person, as announced by Professor Ruth Taylor, the Vice Principal for Education.
Accordingly, students will no longer have the option of studying online, as was the norm during the last two academic years. Taylor commented on the University’s rationale for the shift, writing,
‘…as we prepare for a return to a full on-campus experience with far less emphasis on online learning, this is no longer considered a necessary measure.’
Taylor continued, writing, ‘We believe that your learning – and the learning of your fellow students – significantly benefits from direct peer-to-peer interaction which is best delivered through on-campus teaching and learning.’
By September 2022, it will have been two and a half years since the last time full teaching was held in person. Accordingly, the return to a ‘full on-campus experience,’ per Taylor, will no doubt require adjustment for the student body, many of whom were only in their first year or still in school when restrictions began two years ago.
Furthermore, Taylor announced that per government guidance, the University’s COVID testing centre in Old Aberdeen will permanently close at the end of April.
Students will be able to procure lateral flow tests until 15 April and PCR tests until 29 April.
However, no announcement has been made on whether the use of face coverings and social distancing will continue during the next academic year.
The University’s last announcement, from 17 March, only said that such measures would be in place until the beginning of spring break, and that further guidance would be released thereafter.
