Northumbria University sent an email to all students on Thursday evening, stating that from Monday 16th March, "all classroom based teaching and learning activity will be replaced by online delivery", in light of growing COVID-19 concerns up and down the country.
It appears that laboratories and workshops will remain open, with all other teaching moved online via Blackboard
From the email sent out, it appears that laboratories and workshops will remain open, with all other teaching moved online via Blackboard. However, specific plans for different faculties haven't been confirmed. The email also noted that staff understand that there may be implications on students' final year projects and other assignments and exams, and said that "our emergency regulations will support the changes needed". Many have praised the decision.
This comes mere moments after an email sent by Chris Day (Vice Chancellor) to all Newcastle University students, maintaining that while the university remains open for business, there is a possibility we could be seeing the same approach in the coming days.
Many other universities across the world have been adopting a similar approach, including our close neighbours at Durham University, with all their teaching also being moved online.
If this was replicated at Newcastle, it could potentially mean another week of disruption, right after the current series of strikes have ended. It appears that many striking staff have been voicing concerns on Twitter, over the potential sudden increase in workload, as moving content online could prove to be difficult.
