VS & Vice President for Academic Affairs
Back on Campus - But How? [30.06.21]
A virtual coffee with Marie-Luise Dralle, Hauke Delfs, and Prof. Dr. Korinna Huber. Image: University of Hohenheim
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Falling incidence rates, rising vaccination rates, and the first easing of restrictions just in time for the heat wave: Ms. Dralle, Mr. Delfs - can you join in the general optimism?
Delfs: It would be nice. But unfortunately, no. Because while more restrictions are being lifted and, for example, soccer matches can now take place in front of an audience again, it is still completely unclear to us students how things will proceed in the next semester. This is increasingly demoralizing.
As young people, we have now taken on three semesters of online study and shown solidarity. Slowly but surely, however, many of us are wondering where society's solidarity with the younger generation is. Unfortunately, this valuable time of our studies is being lost in the long run.
Dralle: My optimism is somewhat dampened. Instead, the question marks are becoming more and more numerous. Why aren't politicians now pulling out all the stops so that we can finally return to classroom teaching in the fall after three semesters? We asked Minister President Winfried Kretschmann, Science Minister Theresia Bauer, and Social Affairs Minister Manfred Lucha this directly in an open letter.
After all, a university without face-to-face teaching is like Baden-Württemberg without Maultaschen and Käsespätzle.
The state recently invited students to a student summit - what concrete progress did that bring?
Dralle: To be honest, we came away from this meeting disillusioned and without any progress. Unfortunately, it reinforced my impression that politicians are not taking the situation of students seriously. For example, it was sold to us as a success that one person per 20 m² is now allowed in the library again. As if that would solve our problems...
Delfs: What we really need is an offer of vaccination for all students this summer, so that we can return to the lecture hall in the coming semester. But that would then also require the current minimum distance rule to be lifted. Otherwise, how are face-to-face lectures supposed to work if only one-fifth of the students can get into the lecture hall?
And please: Don't decide all this only two weeks before the start of the semester! You can't find an apartment in Stuttgart that quickly. After one and a half years of the pandemic, we no longer have any sympathy for such hasty actions.
A good year ago, we sat together in a similar constellation for an interview. Back then, the lockdown was just a few months old - in the meantime, we're in the third digital semester. What has that done to students?
Dralle: I have to say that I belong to the group of students who have kept their shared apartment and stayed at the university. I have my social network in Hohenheim and have continued to maintain it even during the lockdown - if necessary, via online get-togethers, etc. If you can let off steam after a bad day and hear that others are suffering from very similar problems, then at least you don't feel so alone.
But online events can hardly replace personal interaction. And I'm also gradually reaching my limit: I'm just out of steam now. The motivation has reached rock bottom.
Delfs: Of course, the problem is even greater for all those who are new to the university during Corona - and some of them have never even experienced a lecture in a lecture hall. Around two-thirds of all students state that they have suffered more from psychological problems since the lockdown. I find that very frightening and I cannot understand why the state is not now taking the initiative to effectively counteract this.
If the politicians don't set the course now, the new first-year students will really go from the frying pan into the fire: first remote learning at school, then online studies...
You can imagine that there will be gaps in knowledge at one point or another...
Delfs: Exactly. And if you're not on site, you can't take full advantage of support services like tutorials, bridge courses, and so on. Because these are actually based on personal contact.
Huber: This is also a problem for students from higher semesters. So far, we've had relatively few dropouts, but we've noticed that a lot of students are postponing their exams. We want to prevent them from getting into a negative spiral and not being able to catch up with the material in the end. To do this, we need personal contact between lecturers and students as soon as possible.
So, Ms. Huber, you agree with the students' demands?
Huber: Yes, students and University Management are 100% on the same page on this issue. We want to get back to campus. The students have a right to that.
The gaps in knowledge are only part of the problem. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it's that education is more than cramming. Social skills, the ability to work in a team, communication skills - all of these are not add-ons, but are among the most important goals of university education. However, such key competencies are very difficult to practice in digital formats.
Minister Bauer is also in favor of a return to more face-to-face teaching in the winter semester...
Huber: Yes, but at the same time the special teaching situations of the universities are not adequately taken into consideration. I can therefore only treat such statements as politicians paying lip service to the problem.
The students have already mentioned the most important sticking points: If the initial vaccinations for students do not start in the next few weeks on a large scale, then it will be difficult to carry out face-to-face teaching in the fall. The number of tests for non-vaccinated students must be brought down to a manageable level.
And if we don't know if we will be able to fill our lecture halls to capacity or continue to have to leave 80% of the seats empty due to the minimum distance rule, it makes planning very difficult. Presence on a sufficient scale can only happen without minimum distance rules.
We were able to switch to digital teaching relatively quickly, to be sure. However, the reverse is much more difficult. A staged solution, for example, would present us with significant challenges. A little bit of face-to-face teaching here and there means double and triple the effort for us - and unfortunately, it doesn't solve the students' problems either.
In the meantime, the schools have also resumed their face-to-face teaching. What is so different about universities?
Huber: Universities and schools function in fundamentally different ways. Unfortunately, this is something that is repeatedly ignored in current political debates.
The most important difference is that we don't have class groups at universities. So we can't just switch flexibly to alternating classes. And it's not enough for us to check once a day whether students have been tested, vaccinated, or have recovered. Under current regulations, we would have to do that for every lecture hall and every lecture: For thousands of students - multiple times a day. We simply can't do that with current resources.
Unlike schoolchildren, most prospective students don't live just around the corner. We're already getting inquiries about whether it's worth looking for an apartment in Stuttgart. It is impossible for most students to come at short notice to attend a few isolated courses. As long as the politicians keep us in the dark, we cannot make any reliable statements about how the winter semester will proceed.
It is not only the students who want clarity, but also the lecturers. A year ago, they put a lot of effort into preparing a hybrid semester, which was then canceled by politicians at the last minute...
Huber: Yes, even though our hygiene concept is excellent. So I fully understand everyone's frustration at this point.
If we now had to make a binding decision for the University of Hohenheim based on the current situation, we would have no choice but to decide on another digital semester. But we want to avoid that at all costs. We simply owe that to our students.
In the meantime, I have no choice but to appeal to lecturers to prepare for the winter semester as if we were returning to presence. After all, it is easier to switch to hybrid or online teaching in the short term than vice versa.
Together, the universities and their students continue to work at all levels to create the necessary conditions for face-to-face teaching. Of course, the university directors will keep lecturers and students constantly up to date and seek exchange in various formats.
Mr. Delfs, Ms. Dralle, do you also have a final appeal?
Delfs: We would like to say to the students: Don't bury your head in the sand! If you have problems, don't be afraid to take advantage of the help available, such as the psychological counselling offered by the Student Services or the Student Counselling Center. Also, the student representatives always have an open ear for you!
Dralle: We would like to thank the university itself: Most lecturers are highly committed to making the best of the situation. The University Management is fighting on our side for a quick return to face-to-face teaching. As student representatives we are always informed immediately about everything and our voice is also heard. We know from other universities that this is by no means a matter of course.
Thank you very much for the interview.
