24 June 2020
This is the first regular update on the plans for academic year 2020-2021. On 11 June the GSA advised students there would be two-weekly updates to share the status of planning for the start of the new academic year and for how programmes of study will be delivered. Semester 1, academic year 2020-2021 will commence as planned on 14 September 2020 in Glasgow, Forres and remotely.
The GSA is developing its plans following the guidance from the Scottish Government and the UK Government where is it applicable, for example for international students arriving in September. All parts of the GSA are involved, from academic schools, to the Library, Technical Support Department, Student Support Service, Estates Department and the teams within GSA Halls.
We are also contributing to the conversations that are happening across Glasgow as the city works to ensure that students are welcome and are coming to a city that is safe and accessible. Developments within the city in response to the COVID-19 pandemic include the Spaces for People programme which is seeing wider pavements and new cycle routes being introduced across the city centre, city neighbourhoods and active travel routes. Living in and moving around the city is now easier than ever.
Glasgow was listed by National Geographic as one of its ‘Best of the World Destinations’, and as one of top cities that turns tourists into locals. Rough Guide readers voted Glasgow the ‘world’s friendliest city’ and, in a major report by the European Commission, it has been named the UK’s top cultural and creative city ranked as Europe’s leader for ‘openness, tolerance and trust’.
Updates on plans
Enrolment for continuing students
Enrolment is an important first step for continuing students. The GSA is planning to allow enrolment as soon as possible and information about how to do this will be emailed to students over the next few weeks.
Hybrid model for teaching and learning – how you will be working and learning
The GSA remains committed to small group teaching, and the relationship between tutors and students and studio-based learning so plans are being developed for a hybrid blend of studio, technical workshop, practical work and digital delivery for September 2020.
This means we the GSA is looking at all the activities it would normally engage students in (studio, fieldwork, practical exercises, theory and technical workshops, digital forms of interaction) and exploring how they can work together given the demands of its commitment to a safe campus. Key to the curriculum will be encouraging students to apply their capabilities to interrogate, explore, map, and shape this new context in which we find ourselves.
Specific information relating to programmes of study will be posted on programme pages on Canvas.
Prioritising a safe campus – living and working safely
GSA Estates team, together with academic colleagues, is working to make sure buildings and accommodation are reconfigured to ensure appropriate social distancing, whether in studios, library or workshops. How we do this will vary from building to building but always with health, safety and wellbeing as the priority. Frequently asked questions on the approach to a safe campus will be posted on the GSA Student Intranet and the GSA website soon.
The GSA realises that this has been a very unsettling time, full of unprecedented changes and that a degree of uncertainty remains. What the GSA can guarantee, in terms of the coming academic session, however, is that its task is to use creativity and knowledge to make paths through this uncertainty together.
Engaging with schools – the academic base
Across each of the GSA’s five academic schools, Digital Drop-In sessions are being held, where students can talk with academic staff and ask any questions that they might have.
Students can also access a host of the GSA’s resources digitally including the Library, Archives and Collections, GSA Engage on Canvas, the Graduate Showcase 2020 and professional practice guides on digital and physical exhibitions that are available on the GSA Student Intranet.