I hope you’re well during this pandemic and these unprecedented times.
Every email you’ve read and written has said this. But what are unprecedented times? Let’s discuss.
Unprecedented (adj.)
never done or known before.
Agreed, these have been unprecedented times. These were unprecedented times. But is it fair to still call them unprecedented? Corona was there yesterday, Corona will be there tomorrow. Realistically speaking corona will be there next year. Remember to wish it a happy birthday in December.
These are no longer unprecedented times I’m afraid. The panic, the nausea, the off days, the emergency academic meetings were valid in Spring 2020. They are no longer valid.
I write to you angry and disappointed. We’ve had an online semester in unprecedented times. We all know what a waste that was. We all know what we did, what we learned, what we didn’t. No need in denying anything. I didn’t blame IBA then. I didn’t write an angry article, which feels more like a word vomit at the moment. Now I blame the institute.
Old issues:
It’s not a new semester unless students have enrolment stress. Portals crashed, slots closed, the pre-requisite to a course was the course itself. You know, the usual.
But this time, the lines were longer than before, the wait was greater, week two is about to start somehow and still people have not received their courses. The Program Office could not increase the capacities for classes in order to maintain social distancing. Therefore, lesser and lesser students were being facilitated. For Accounting and Finance semester 5 we needed 2 more slots of each course at least.
Why are these students not compensated? Why do we have to sacrifice our time, our energy, our effort, to get the courses that all of us pay for? You can try all your tips and tricks for enrolment, at the end of the day it is what is: A Game of Chance. One where all of us lose. I can forgive the program office when I don’t get my desired instructor, my desired slot, or even my desired elective. However, I cannot excuse them when I do not get any course at all.
New issues:
Unprecedented times.
SOPs were there I’ll admit to an extent. There were staff members going all over campus asking students to maintain social distance, wear masks, etc. The classrooms had sanctioned seats that you had to skip in order to maintain a social distance. However, due to mismanagement and lack of capacity, the tape had to very understandably come off.
Two days is all it took.
Unprecedented times are back.
IBA had to have known. It needed to be aware. It couldn’t have thought that this wouldn’t have happened, right. Right?
In a world where you have to watch your step in case you don’t step into glass, the administration walked in blind. Where is your contingency plan? Your students learn it in their first years in your courses. Practice what thou preacheth.
Why were they not prepared?
This was a handful of cases. What would’ve happened when the cases were in dozens?
If the testing was done before the campus reopened in the first place IBA could have saved itself so much stress and PR issues.
Where one sees the effort, I see a lack of long term planning.
The hybrid model could have been very easily adopted from the beginning. Why force someone to come to campus when they don’t want to, when they have their reasons. When they have elders at home, when they have been affected, when they’re scared.
What now?
We need to be kind to one another. The students need to show some solidarity. Blaming each other, blaming other students, blaming COVID positive students is not the answer. Be kind to one another. Support each other, be there for your friends and families.
Most importantly stay safe. These are after all unprecedented times.
Cover picture courtesy Mr. Junaid Hassan.
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