[Academic] Brief update regarding face-to-face teaching

Tue Oct 20 11:21:52 BST 2020

Dear David,

Thank you for your email. Your serious concerns are noted.

I have raised these concerns with the Faculty and put forward our 
Departmental case for continuing with online delivery, without f2f 
teaching. As stated in my email yesterday, the Dean will discuss our 
case with the University Executive Team and I expect a decision on this 
in the next day or two, hopefully before our Department discussion 
tomorrow afternoon.

I'm sorry you can't make that meeting. I'm happy to discuss this with 
you at an alternative time.

Best wishes,

Paul

On 20/10/2020 10:00, David McKee wrote:
>
> Dear Paul
>
> Unfortunately I can't make it to the meeting tomorrow. I would have 
> liked to hear in what manner the University believes the Covid 
> situation has improved in the last two weeks? To my mind the numbers 
> all appear to be going in the wrong direction. With Northern Ireland 
> and now Wales both moving to temporary lockdown, it certainly seems 
> like the situation is generally worsening rather than improving.
>
> At the last Dept Cttee the issue of contingency plans for dealing with 
> staff becoming ill with Covid, potentially as a result of being 
> required to come back in to do F2F teaching was raised. Is there any 
> guidance on who picks up the pieces if teaching staff are 
> incapacitated? Of course the bigger issue is dealing with the 
> consequences of a colleague becoming seriously ill or potentially 
> dying as a result of returning to F2F teaching. Can anyone really 
> believe that 'blended learning' is worth dying for?
>
> In terms of health and safety considerations - the hierarchy of 
> control measures asks first - is it necessary to perform the activity? 
> The answer here is clearly no. We can deliver an acceptable level of 
> teaching remotely without incurring the risks associated with F2F. F2F 
> teaching is an unnecessary hazard that can be eliminated without 
> compromising our ability to provide a suitable education to our 
> students in this time of crisis.
>
> Hierarchy of hazard controls - Wikipedia
>
> At this point in time, I remain opposed to resuming F2F teaching, 
> notwithstanding any additional information or reassurance that the 
> University might be able to offer tomorrow. At the last Dept Cttee 
> meeting (only 2 weeks ago) the view of the Department was resolutely 
> in favour of continuing with online teaching. I believe that this 
> message needs to be reiterated in the strongest possible terms to 
> senior management. You may confidently include me as one of those not 
> willing to return to F2F teaching next week, and nor would I be 
> willing to put forward my colleagues.
>
> From the perspective of running the 3rd year lab - we have been able 
> to deliver a good quality first online experiment experience for both 
> classes. We are preparing to roll out further experiments for PH380 
> next week. Whilst I would dearly love to be in a position to return to 
> working face to face in the teaching lab, I cannot envisage it being 
> safe to do so in the near future. Moreover, having started upon the 
> online route this year, I believe it would actually be counter 
> productive to switch mode at this point mid-semester, and it would 
> create a number of very difficult logistical issues as the new 
> structure that has been imposed on us (PH380 and PH390) complicates 
> matters considerably.
>
> It is a matter of regret that we are still dealing with this 
> situation. I am concerned that the University has failed to heed the 
> health and safety concerns of both staff and students. I reiterate 
> that the students union and UCU both remain opposed to resuming F2F 
> teaching.
>
> According to the attached guidance from the Health and Safety 
> Executive, employees have a *_duty_* to "Tell someone (your employer, 
> supervisor, or health and safety representative) if you think the work 
> or inadequate precautions are putting anyone’s health and safety at 
> serious risk". I believe returning to F2F next week would put people's 
> health at risk and I am raising this with you as a serious concern. I 
> am copying this to the local branch of UCU as I believe this is a 
> matter of concern across the University as well as in our Department. 
> I hope after tomorrow's meeting you will be in a position to raise 
> this concern with senior management.
>
> Regards
>
> David
>
>
> On 19/10/2020 17:42, Physics-HOD wrote:
>> Dear All,
>>
>> This email contains a brief update regarding face-to-face teaching.
>>
>> As you know, the University Executive Team adjusted its plans for the 
>> transition to blended learning, by rephasing the commencement of the 
>> transition phase for two weeks. This means that across the University 
>> there is no face-to-face teaching in weeks 4 and 5 of semester 1, and 
>> face-to-face teaching will start next week (week 6).
>>
>> We are in discussions with the Faculty regarding teaching delivery in 
>> Physics for the reminder of the semester, given that the learning 
>> outcomes for our courses can be achieved via online methods. The Dean 
>> will discuss our case with the Executive Team and I expect a decision 
>> on this in the next day or two.
>>
>> I have scheduled a Zoom meeting (details below) for 4pm-5pm on 
>> Wednesday (21st Oct) afternoon, to discuss our approach to delivering 
>> teaching for the rest of semester 1, including a discussion of the 
>> University’s process of approvals, assurances, and risk assessment. 
>> Please join this discussion, particularly if you are teaching this 
>> semester. Thanks.
>>
>> Meeting URL: https://strath.zoom.us/j/97517250810?from=addon
>> Meeting ID:     975 1725 0810
>> Password:    898474
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Paul
>>
>
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-- 
----------------------------------------------
Prof. Paul McKenna
Head of Department
Department of Physics, SUPA,
University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow G4 0NG
U.K.

Tel: 0141-548-3132 (secretary) / 5712 (direct)
Email: paul.mckenna at strath.ac.uk
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