COVID-19, the disease sweeping the world, has by now well and truly left its mark on Trinity.
With one case confirmed last week (the person is now recovered), the College is a frenzy of discussion about what’s happened so far – and what Trinity should be doing to stop the spread.
Today, misinformation spread about Trinity’s plans for the coronavirus, in the form of a fake screenshot stating that students will be awarded a grade of 65 per cent if exams are unable to take place. Given the preponderance of uncertainty, then, it’s important to take stock of where we are, and what’s happened so far.
Lectures Moved Online, But Tutorials to (Mostly) Take Place In Person
After days of speculation on social media, today the College announced that lectures will take place online, not in person, for the rest of the semester.
In a College-wide email, Provost Patrick Prendergast and Vice-Provost Jurgen Barkhoff wrote that while physical lectures have been suspended, tutorials, seminars and labs will continue as normal. Prendergast’s email came less than 24 hours after 40 academic staff wrote to him urging him to “take a lead” on coronavirus measures, and close the College “for all bar essential lab-based teaching”
But not everyone is following the directive: the departments of history, sociology and classics today told their students that in-person tutorials and seminars will also take place online for the remainder of the academic year.
Book of Kells, Science Gallery and Douglas Hyde Close
As of today, the Book of Kells, Science Gallery and Douglas Hyde are closed to the public. Prendergast wrote today that “Notices of these closures will be posted online and at the main entrances to the college”, adding that the step – whose financial ramifications are unclear – is “being taken in the interests of your health and well-being and to decrease any potential impacts on the larger community”.
The College stopped admitting visitors from noon today, in order to be able to shut at 1pm. The status of Trinity Ball, meanwhile, is also in doubt. The University Times reported last week that College had left open the possibility of its shutdown, pending advice from the HSE’s Health Surveillance Protection Centre, and today Prendergast told RTÉ Radio 1 that “a decision hasn’t been made on that yet”.
“But the decision we will make, when we do will be – in the context of, for example, the St Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled – so it’s obvious that the congregation of large groups is not a good thing.”
College Not Calling Home Students on Exchange – Yet
Students on Erasmus or international exchange are not being asked to return “at this time”, according to an email from Senior Tutor Aidan Seery yesterday. In the email, sent to all students currently studying abroad, Seery wrote that Trinity’s partners in the affected areas have put in place alternative provisions to facilitate students to complete their programmes (online for example) at their host universities. We are confident that our partner universities globally will do all that they can to minimise any disruption to your studies”.
Medicine Students to Take Crucial Clinical Exams Five Weeks Early
Amid fears that it won’t be possible to schedule them any later, clinical exams for Trinity’s final-year medicine students have been moved forward by more than a month, and kick off tomorrow. After confusion over the weighting of the exam, the School of Medicine yesterday told students that the assessments would be worth 25 per cent of their mark for this year.
As a mitigating factor, though, the exam will consist of one long case, rather than multiple cases. The content and time of the exams have also been reduced by the school. Prof Joseph Harbison, the director of undergraduate teaching and learning in the School of Medicine, told The University Times in an email that the school was “advised that we could not wait any longer to hold the Clinical Exams and still have them happen”.
Colleges Fear Financial Consequences of Coronavirus
Universities are at risk of losing tens of millions of euros in tuition fees due to the outbreak of coronavirus. That’s according to a report in the Irish Times yesterday, which flags concerns in colleges and universities about a potential decrease in the number of students coming to Ireland this summer to learn English.
Contingency plans being drawn up by universities include delaying international student entry or providing online courses for these students until the virus threat subsides, according to senior figures in higher education.
“There are significant concerns in the system right now,” a senior person in higher education said. “It has the potential to get significantly worse. The longer this goes on, the more serious the implications are.”
