{"id":4751,"date":"2024-10-11T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaudie.co.uk\/press\/?p=4751"},"modified":"2024-12-05T02:12:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T02:12:50","slug":"reduced-hours-at-rice-cube-spark-student-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2024\/10\/11\/reduced-hours-at-rice-cube-spark-student-anger\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduced hours at Rice Cube spark student anger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undergrads returning to Aberdeen after summer break have told The Gaudie<\/em> of their frustration after \u2018staffing issues\u2019 have forced the Duncan Rice Library to \u2018temporarily\u2019 close at the earlier time of 22:00 – with over 91% of students surveyed saying they had no idea of the change in opening hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just six months after the closing of the University\u2019s voluntary severance scheme, which saw 153<\/span> staff departing, a lack of staff means that for night owl students, studying in the library is not an option. When asked if the opening times of the SDR were sufficient, 46% of students told <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i> they disagreed, with only 25% of students happy with the hours of operation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A \u201clack of study spaces\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University operates a number of study spaces across both Old Aberdeen and Foresterhill, and despite listing these on the \u2018<\/span>Students\u2019 section<\/span><\/a> of the University website, it seems many students are unaware of their existence, with third-year Sociology and Linguistics student Nella noting that although she is aware of the many options,\u00a0 \u201cthey are not advertised nearly enough.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Glancing at the list of available study spaces, the obvious solution to the library\u2019s shuttering would be for the 83% of students who said they\u2019d use the SDR between 22:00 and 00:00 to head to the MacRobert building \u2013 which can be accessed 24 hours a day by swipe card access. Yet, when asked by <\/span>The Gaudie,<\/span><\/i> 72% of students had no idea that the MacRobert building is open throughout the night.<\/span><\/p>\n

One second-year student suggested the aesthetics of the SDR also hinders availability:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe layout of SDR really didn\u2019t cut it. It\u2019s a great building architecturally but with the space in the middle it quickly becomes crammed even at 50% capacity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They continued with a suggestion: \u201cIt would be great to have other spaces such as in department buildings which would maybe get rid of some of the traffic in SDR.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is clear that many classrooms <\/span>are <\/span><\/i>available for students to use but it still appears there is a striking lack of awareness. Studying the list of available locations further, it seems the problem is not a lack of study spaces, but instead a lack of advertisement, with over 76% of respondents telling us that there are not enough spaces to study on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could 24\/7 access during exam season be at risk?<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a University spokesperson, the earlier closure is only temporary, but as the University scrambles to find security staff to cover the later opening, students have told us of their worries as the term edges closer to exam season.<\/span><\/p>\n

A second-year Politics and International Relations student said: \u201c[Last year] in November and December, I found that even after a 10 am lecture the library would be really full, sometimes even 75% and when looking for other places to study like the MacRobert caf\u00e9 and Fraser Noble, they are full too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another concerned second year studying Psychology agreed, adding: \u201cduring exam time there isn\u2019t enough space and rooms to study in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every seat is usually taken and it\u2019s hard to find a place around campus. Now I have a bookable study room in my accommodation but for others, I don\u2019t know what they would do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The reduced opening times undoubtedly raise concerns about the \u2018Rice Cube\u2019s\u2019 hours during the busy exam season \u2013 and serious questions must be raised about the future of 24-hour opening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent FOI by <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i> revealed the cost of operating between 00:00 and 08:00 was \u00a347,134 for just 45 days of extended opening in 23\/24. The cost of contracted staff for the 24-hour opening was almost \u00a336,000 in 22\/23.<\/span><\/p>\n

University responds\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Addressing the concerned students, a University spokesperson said: \u201cThe University has temporarily reduced opening times between 10 pm and midnight at the Sir Duncan Rice Library. The reduction applies Sunday to Thursday and reflects reduced availability of staff needed to safely operate the building at those times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the beginning of term use of the library between these hours is very low even at 10 pm and falls rapidly by 11 pm.\u00a0 Occupancy can then be as low as 11 individuals in a library with a capacity of 1,000. We know that as exam time approaches, demand for study spaces increases and we are working to ensure that we can meet those needs as the academic year progresses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Students wishing to follow the trends in opening hours for the SDR and Taylor libraries may wish to consult ricecube.live, a tracker developed by computing students Alan Fleming and Ben Greenidge, which reports live occupancy and trends. Unaffiliated with The Gaudie Student Newspaper.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Undergrads returning to Aberdeen after summer break have told The Gaudie of their frustration after \u2018staffing issues\u2019 have forced the Duncan Rice Library to \u2018temporarily\u2019 close at the earlier time of 22:00 – with over 91% of students surveyed saying they had no idea of the change in opening hours. Just six months after the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":4761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":31,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[757,232,233,758,756,183],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-4751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-campus","9":"tag-exam-season","10":"tag-sir-duncan-rice-library","11":"tag-study-spaces","12":"tag-the-rice-cube","13":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Kirsten Koss","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/kirsten-koss\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sir_Duncan_Rice_Library-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["campus<\/a>","Exam Season<\/a>","Sir Duncan Rice Library<\/a>","study spaces<\/a>","the rice cube<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>"],"unlinked":["campus<\/span>","Exam Season<\/span>","Sir Duncan Rice Library<\/span>","study spaces<\/span>","the rice cube<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 11 October 2024","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 11 October 2024 00:01","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2024 02:12"},"featured_img_caption":"Sir Duncan Rice Library. Credit: Rita Zaumu.","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4751"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4763,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions\/4763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4751"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}