'College by Zoom' coming to an end with 'significant' on-campus activities to return by next term

Students will soon return to campus with a 'significant' amount of activity planned by September. Pictured is an empty University of Limerick. Picture: Brian Arthur

All students will spend “significant” scheduled time on campus during the next academic term, signalling the end of “college by Zoom”.

Third-level institutions have also committed to increasing on-site teaching, learning, assessment, and research from this September. 

At a minimum, students can expect lab teaching and learning, tutorials, workshops, smaller lecturers and workspaces. At a maximum, large-scale lectures will also be allowed with modifications.

On-campus research activities will also now slowly start to ramp up, with “carefully managed” increases planned for the summer.

The details are included in an initial plan to return college students and staff to campuses safely following a year mainly spent learning and teaching online.

The plans published on Tuesday have been endorsed by public health officials and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan, according to Higher Education Minister Simon Harris.

'Overwhelmingly on-site'

“The college experience will return for everyone from September,” Mr  Harris said, adding it would be "overwhelmingly on-site" instead of online from the new academic year.

This is likely to include the return of large-scale lectures and other college campus activities. If bars, canteens, libraries, sports, and social clubs are operating in September, these activities will also resume for students on campus, according to Mr Harris. 

If it's safe to do them outside the walls of the college, it's safe to do them inside the walls." 

Further information around how or if large-scale lectures will operate will be made available in July, and will depend on current public health advice. 

However, it's really important to get students back to in-person learning, Mr Harris added. 

"Not only from an educational point of view, but it's also really important from a mental health and wellbeing point of view that we get students back to college campuses because as we all know, education is not just about the lectures." 

The days of 'College by Zoom' are coming to an end, education officials have confirmed.

An additional funding package to support the return will also be announced next month. 

The plans published on Tuesday have been endorsed by public health officials as an appropriate way to resume college activities.

Both the Irish Universities Association (IUA) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) welcomed the publication of 'A Safe Return'. 

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"Students have told us they have been feeling very isolated and struggling with the lack of social interaction," said Lorna Fitzpatrick, USI president. 

USI statement on third-level re-opening plan

🗣️ @Lornafitz3: "Students want to get back into classes, but they also want to have an holistic college experience and so the plan for an almost full re-opening was very important to us"

READ more ➡️ https://t.co/t7gUzlhpqW pic.twitter.com/Hhh6CyOE1T

— Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (@amle_ie) June 15, 2021

"They are extremely keen to get back on campus as soon as possible but know it must be in a safe manner." 

"They want to get back into classes, but they also want to have a holistic college experience and so the plan for an almost full re-opening, with public health safety measures, was very important to us." 

The IUA said universities can now plan with confidence for the return to campus, while still maintaining the need for contingency planning in case of an unexpected reversal of current improvements in the public health situation.