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An important question
. Here's one (not the only) reason why they ignored sound public health advice: university senior managers & governing bodies are supposed to promote the interests of their university as a going concern, w/in the limits of the law, but... 1/ https://twitter.com/gailfdavies/status/1320269489020243968
. Here's one (not the only) reason why they ignored sound public health advice: university senior managers & governing bodies are supposed to promote the interests of their university as a going concern, w/in the limits of the law, but... 1/ https://twitter.com/gailfdavies/status/1320269489020243968
...the promotion of the medium-to-long-term interests of this institution comes into conflict with (a) the interests of the members of the surrounding community & beyond. Spread of infection beyond the university is a "negative externality". 2/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1316246341752950788
The goverment should have insisted that unis provide sufficient testing & greatly reduce numbers in halls of residence, while also providing the financial support to make this possible. 3/
The govt didn't do so. Instead, they issued lax guidance that fell short of sound public health advice. Universities were protected from liability if they followed this guidance rather than sound public health advice & would suffer a financial penalty if they didn't. 4/
So they largely followed the guidance. Perhaps they exceeded here or there. But by & large they fell far short of providing the testing or reducing numbers of students in hall & on campus that were called for on public health grounds. 5/
...the promotion of the medium-to-long-term interests of the university also comes into conflict with (b) the interests of the current cohort of students. 6/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1310155237467074561
6/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1310155237467074561
The current cohort of students are largely means to the end of the institution's objectives of promoting research & educating students in the longer term. 7/
The most important thing is to extract sufficient fees from students so that the university is able to get through the next couple years w/o too much financial damage. 8/
So long as the current cohort isn't so hard-done that they're able to demand a refund, or their misery puts off applications in future years, it is in the longer term interests of the university to sacrifice the interests of the current student cohort. 9/
...the promotion of the medium-to-long-term interests of the university also comes into conflict with (c) the interests of the current members of their teaching staff. 10/
We already have abundant evidence of
in the treatment of large numbers of precariously employed teaching staff. It's clear that instructors on low-paid, short term contracts are treated as mere means to the longer term interests of the institution. 11/
in the treatment of large numbers of precariously employed teaching staff. It's clear that instructors on low-paid, short term contracts are treated as mere means to the longer term interests of the institution. 11/
Now the teaching staff on permanent contracts are learning that they're also, ultimately, mere means to the longer term interests of the institution. Just as it makes financial sense for the university to keep people on fixed-term contracts... 12/
...it also makes financial sense for them to force those on permanent contracts to teach in person, even though they realise that a number of them will become ill as a consequence. Some will become seriously ill. Some will probably die. 13/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1314849385612800000
. Some will become seriously ill. Some will probably die. 13/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1314849385612800000
Forseeable serious illness or death of permanent members of their teaching staffis at least implicitly regarded as an acceptable cost of keeping the institution afloat in the longer term. 14/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1266699865167466497
is at least implicitly regarded as an acceptable cost of keeping the institution afloat in the longer term. 14/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1266699865167466497
Each current student & member of staff is ultimately expendable, as a means of keeping the institution afloat in the longer term. That's why we need the protection of unions. 15/15
