As cases start to rise in student populations remember:

They were promised “COVID secure” & safe campuses.

They were promised an “authentic” university experience.

They were promised F2F teaching & socialising. So they move across the country, between countries, pay thousands of pounds with expectations that can’t be safely meet.

And as soon as they arrive they find out they have a couple hours of contact with staff per week and F2F social events are often being cancelled.

This week our amazing staff are on campus helping students settle in & feel welcome in these uncertain times. Throughout the year we signpost students to support when needed, & represent their academic interests & wellbeing to the University. #LoveSUs @hertssu @UniofHerts @nusuk

https://twitter.com/HSUVPcommunity/status/1307973057118601216

SUs are invaluable.

Student loneliness is a national issue - 4/10 students feel lonely on a daily or weekly basis. Disabled and LGBT students are more likely to feel lonely. SUs help provide community and a sense of belonging. #LoveSUs @hertssu @UniofHerts @nusuk

I'm so glad that students have received the U-Turn they deserve, after such a stressful and upsetting time for many. I am, however, concerned at how Universities will manage this in practice. #ALevelsResults For example, if a Uni genuinely cannot give places to everyone who now will have the required grades (because of accommodation, number of teaching staff, need to social distance etc) will this be a breach of contract? Grounds for denied students to take legal action?

I’ve been going back and forth in my head for months about whether to address this publicly or not, and if so when. But after receiving so much unexpected kindness & support over the last few weeks I want to do so now. Around March this year I had to make the decision to withdraw my legal case against my former university for discrimination, a case which I took after reporting sexual misconduct from my former supervisor during my time at university.

I’ve been trying to make the perfect toad in the hole for months now. Today I decided that tonight was the night. I even measured out each ingredient into individual cups so they were perfect.

And then accidentally poured my wine glass into the batter rather than milk. Still going to cook it though, obviously. Who would waste a perfectly good glass of wine?

Stay tuned for updates.

Dug out my old camera to take some family portraits 🐔🐥💕 ! ! !

We found an injured mouse in our garden - can’t seem to walk very well/possibly injured back leg. Gave it a little home with straw, grain & sugar water - any other ideas? 🐭😢 It’s eating well but really struggling to move, & hasn’t drank yet

Lockdown got me like: Hoozle felt left out. 🐱

I can’t believe I’m so bad at this game that I couldn’t win against either of our cats.

I want to live in a society where everyone has access to food, water, electricity, housing, medical care and safety. Where lives are governed by community and not the state (which has harmed & continues to harm). Where there are no police or prisons but care and rehabilitation. I’m seeing protestors set up mutual aid, giving out medical supplies and water and food and resources, protecting each other from police who are violent and escalating, and it’s amazing. To see a glimpse of what’s possible.

I’ve been working with a number of UK uni depts over the last couple of years. Working in roles from advising on gender equality & Athena SWAN, acting as an advocate for individual students, advising on fieldwork specifically. & there’s one thing that never fails to confuse me. Not always, but often, there’s a lack of willingness to be proactive.

Usually a student, or a number of students, will raise a particular issue. This can be anything: bullying, racism, sexual harassment, etc.

Response: “we are very sorry, but this is a one-off”

Looking for advice from academics:

Is it possible for a student at the very end of their PhD to transfer to another uni to finish writing up? Asking for an extremely hardworking and intelligent friend who has been put in an impossible situation by their current institution. Looking particularly for advice from experienced academics on if this is possible and anyone who has done this themselves! & Thank you!

This is such an important cause, please donate if you can.

As someone who has been a childcare worker since they were 16 (stopped in January), I feel I can say:

https://twitter.com/Miranda__Lena/status/1260648353341177856

It‘s a gendered & racialized workforce (I.e. largely non-male & often non-white).

This is concerning given what we now know about how BME individuals are dying at disproportionate rates of COVID19.

Often minimum/low wage.

Often no/limited sick pay.

So level 5 — the “worst” level — is an overwhelming of the NHS. Not the highest no. of deaths in Europe (& 2nd in the world). No, it doesn’t matter how many deaths there are - as long as the NHS can deal with those deaths. So, go back to work tomorrow! Everything is fine here! How are they defining a ‘material risk of overwhelming the NHS’? Would an overwhelmed NHS perhaps look like the 2nd highest number of deaths in the world?

A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to learn how to cook meat dishes from scratch. I love meat, but knew nothing about cooking it beyond “put frozen ready meal in oven at 180 degrees for 30 mins” (I previously lived in a vegan/meat-free household). So far I have done: slow cooked bbq chicken, fried chicken, fried bacon (personally was too much for me), fried/battered sausage (amazing!). Tonight’s challenge: fried wild rabbit!

Fact: under 18s cannot get gender reassignment surgery in the U.K.

Fact: hormonal treatment, which is available, is fully reversible.

Fact: non-reversible treatment on trans children IS NOT PERFORMED IN THE U.K.

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1253447693847928834

Opinion: having an equalities minister who does not seem to understand the equality act OR medical practice in the U.K. is terrifying.

Just like to say, for anyone learning stats/coding at uni & hating it, I tried to drop my course bc I found it so difficult & frustrating and now, 3yrs later, I just got excited when I found out about an online event each week where you analyse data & share your code, for fun. 🤓 It’s called #TidyTuesday if anyone wants to join me!!! github.com/rfordatascienc…

As someone who routinely works from home I've got to say, if you don't have a cat you will need one. I bounce all my best ideas off my cats. I moan to them when there's an error in my code I can't fix. They scratch at my office door during conference calls. See, vital. Ok, some genuine advice: send regular update emails to your boss, outlining what you've done since you last spoke and what you're going to do next. Keeps you motivated, and keeps them informed. Really important when you won't be seeing them in person!

I was a young carer in my childhood after my mum became unwell and bed bound. A cruel Tory government cut her disability benefits that we were using to survive. Today #ImVotingLabour - for all the 12y/o girls that shouldn’t have to worry about how to pay the bills For the A&E nurse I met who treated the 2017 London Bridge terror attack victims, works gruelling overtime, hardly sees her family and still struggles to cover rent. #ImVotingLabour

Tonight I got off my flight from Seattle to London & went straight to an archaeology awards ceremony. I was excited - I’ve never been nominated for a research award before!

But the evening ended in lots of tears, and highlighted to me how far the discipline has to come.

1/7 As I was being introduced, they said “she’s been researching sexual harassment in archaeology”, to which a large group of older men laughed. Fully laughed - to the point that the presenter had to say “it isn’t funny”.

2/7

Something that was asked of me this week was, “how can we warn students of the potential danger of the academy without scaring them off?”

I have a few thoughts...

#AcademiaToo, A thread: If you think students are mature enough to enter an enviro statistically filled w/ racism, sexism, homophobia, sexual harassment (rates 2nd only to the military), then they are mature enough to know about these risks beforehand. #AcademiaToo

Opening remarks from Frazier Benya, speaking about moving beyond legal compliance to tackle culture/climate. Says that academic culture (e.g. policies) claims we do not tolerate harassment, but the climate (how people actually experience academia) says the opposite #AcademiaToo Dr Frazier Benya: "We need to treat sexual harassment as the public health crisis that it is" #AcademiaToo