This academic year is extremely hard on students and university staff. The is a huge amount of interpersonal work going on to keep education and emotional support going. People are risking burnout, not helped by either grandstanding or dissembling. So a couple of thoughts...

Can we talk about what diffferent students need to be supported in their decisions to remain near colleges or return/stay home, rather treat them as a mass to be herded back and forth? Many are finding they have to beg permission to make what are smart decisions for themselves.

Can we talk about the consequences of assuming the primacy of f2f teaching in a global pandemic, and how much harder this is for staff making decisions based on pedagogy or their own health? We risk marginalising older & BAME staff, & those with health conditions from the academy

Can we talk about the complexities & uncertainties masked by languages of 'covid secure' campuses and 'covid age' risk assessments? We are 8 months into a new pandemic & there many unknowns. These are risk assessments with high error bars, which should be openly discussed in unis

Can we talk about what kind of leadership is going to be needed in highered in the near & longer future? It is insufficient to extol the virtues of unsustainable organisational agility, yet feign surprise at utterly predictable outcomes. Both denial & groupthink are serious risks

And we need to have conversations about how universities are funded in ways that recognise the diversity of what they do, supporting local economies, delivering research, skills training, cultural transmission and innovation, as well as student experience.

So a likely futile friday thread, but do have these complex conversations in classes, with colleagues, in families, in student unions, in local ucu branches, with your MP, on here. We all stand to lose if covid responses get framed around polarised discourses & simple solutions