This has been a monumental month for all of us with the uncertainties of COVID-19 sweeping into our personal lives and causing such rapid change all around. Over past weeks we had shown our support for colleagues in China, especially staff in our China office, who had been homebound for two months. They showed enormous resilience and comradery in living and working in very difficult conditions.
Three weeks ago, the UAE began to announce restrictions on public space and, at four days notice, the campus in Dubai was closed to our 4000 students, although it currently remains open for some staff access. In Dubai, we advanced the two-week spring break and then advised students we would continue offering learning support online at their places of residence, which is now happening! I was really heartened, in fact amazed, to see the ingenuity and collective action by staff teams to develop new ways of delivering support. This included working towards full online provisions for some courses.
As I write from here in Edinburgh, we started seeing signals of significant change two weeks ago when the government required us to move in step with their lead relating to keeping our campuses open. I convened an extraordinary meeting of the special Senate committee which addresses urgent business. The group considered options informed by Professor Sawkins, the Directors of Learning and Teaching and received valuable input from the Students Union. We had to make decisions to ensure all our students could progress without undue hurdles – and in particular, enable final year students to graduate with a quality assured degree.
It was a tough moment. The agreement to bring down examinations for year 1 and year 2 students was not taken lightly, but it was the only way to focus resource and staff endeavour on assuring the progression of students in years 3 and above. Scottish University Principals remained in constant contact with each other during the week and in dialogue with the government and unions. Other Universities have followed our academic response protocol and there remain a wide variety of approaches to forward assessment and examination, commensurate with the best academic judgement of the academic boards in each discipline.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, the similar pace has been experienced and the government there has required the closure of the buildings, leaving a sense of shock and indeed remorse as staff colleagues left the beauty of the lakeside campus this week.
In Orkney, the building has closed today with virtual connections between staff and students being in place and bespoke virtual research groups and learning activities starting on Monday. Likewise in Galashiels, the buildings closes today with staff and students working remotely.
In times of such urgent movement, it is hard to communicate fast enough but we have tried to do so. There are inevitably more questions of detail than can be answered in an instant. Like in many situations there have been rumours of virus cases being reported which have caused tensions and concerns, but these rumours were not aligned with the very detailed contact we maintain with the health authorities. There are currently no known confirmed cases on campus. The wellbeing of staff and students remains our top priority.
Amongst the numerous messages from students were poignant writings about their feelings of loss at the opportunity to say goodbye to fellow students, frustration at having missed lectures and contact as a result of industrial action, concern for other students, concern at not being able to get back to their families. In all our campus locations there are students stranded for various reasons of lack of finance, government regulation not enabling them to enter their country, fear of returning to their home location, frustration at not being able to display excellent performance in future (now cancelled) assessments. I am intending to lead a financial appeal to support these students and others suffering disadvantage from the consequences of the virus, more details on that later.
As we look into next week, across the UK and Malaysia especially, we see the likelihood of lockdown and lives changing drastically. Two Vice Chancellors from China wrote to me yesterday, thanking me for my message to them in January and describing their experiences since. It was not easy reading. Restriction of movement will require us all to be resilient, supportive of each other in every possible way and mindful of the values we have to inspire, collaborate, belong and to celebrate. We have a choice to be positive-minded and decisive in the days and weeks ahead and I hope we can continue to make the positive choice to encourage each other.
Our institution has a proud tradition of resilience for the past 200 years, and thanks to our ability to respond to changing circumstances in the past we can look ahead with determination. Now and in the future, society and our national economies will have an even more desperate need for Heriot-Watt graduates and research. This is the message I will be taking to government and alumni as we seek ways forward to recover.
May I thank you for your personal concern and support. I know that by acting together we will overcome the current challenges. In the current climate, there has never been a greater opportunity for each of us to make a positive difference to the future of our University.
Richard A. Williams
Principal and Vice-Chancellor