Many of you will know that we have been working through a consultative process with students and staff as to how (post-pandemic) teaching will operate in the new academic year 2021-22. In particular, we have been considering how Tuesday evening modular delivery might take place, and how that likewise relates to the wider feel of the evening in terms of worshipping and eating together. As such, therefore, this has particular relevance for those who might expect to be on-site for teaching on a Tuesday evening, namely (but not exclusively) the Queen’s Regional Course (QRC), Track 1 Part-Time and Worcester Reader groups. 

Feedback from student representatives on AQSG and SSCF suggests that there does seem to have been some loss for PT students because of their teaching not happening physically on-site.  Being online has limited both the capacity for group/cohort building and also the ability to relate (formally and informally) to the module leader. The absence of eating and worshipping together is also a perceived loss. At the same time, the convenience of studying online from home is welcomed, and there are practical cost savings in terms of time and travel, particularly for those who journey into Queen’s from some distance.  Indeed, we note that even pre-pandemic, a number of students struggled to avail themselves fully of all that Tuesday evenings offered, simply because of job / travel demands.

Hence, for 2021-22, we will be trialling a new, hybrid pattern of module delivery on Tuesday evenings. We will operate on the principle that the first session of a module (plus the mid-point sessions for 20-credit modules) is on-site, with those for subsequent weeks running online. 

Therefore, the ‘on-site’ weeks will be: 

• Term 1 Week 1 (28 Sep 2021)
• Term 1 Week 8 (23 Nov 2021)
• Term 2 Week 4 (1 Feb 2022)
• Term 3 Week 1 (26 Apr 2022)

This enables modules to be kicked off, the tutor to give the module its shaping/flavour, and the teaching group to be established in person, thereby better enabling the subsequent online participation. We are conscious that this will have implications for worship and meals, and are expecting that on those four Tuesdays at least, there will be a service in chapel and a meal for all. We have not yet made decisions about what will happen on other Tuesday evenings, and more information on that will follow in due course.

We realise that this option will not be every student’s first preference, but, in the light of the various discussions we’ve had, we believe it is the best one available for the groups as a whole. And we would stress that it will be accompanied by a return (public health guidance permitting) to a full programme of residential weekends and weeks in 2021-22.