An open house was scheduled for today, which was moderated by the Student Council General Secretary Abdullah Haroon, which lasted for almost 3 hours and 30 minutes. This lengthy and heated meeting consisted of many interesting discussions from both the administration and student body’s side. The open house started with Dr. Ali Khan introducing the agenda and further discussing how the students’ reactions have been somewhat disrespectful overall. He pointed out and showed his distaste at how the speculation of faculty’s pictures from the campus were being circulated and being tagged as hypocrites. He then went on to talk about how the implementation of SOPs is not completely doable and will put everyone at risk eventually while also stating how the administration prioritizes the needs of students who have unconducive environments and connectivity issues. Later on, the chat was disabled due to the overwhelming amount of comments by students in the chatbox.
Then, Dr. Samia took charge and explained to the attendees how a low rate of cases being reported is not a reflection of low infection rate, since maybe the numbers released by the government might not be accurate. She also mentioned how the low death rate in Pakistan was primarily caused by our demographic, which has a very low percentage of the elderly population that is the most at risk. She then went on to compare the situation in Pakistan with various other countries and then concluded that countries who did claim to be coronavirus free have started seeing a resurgence of the virus, especially amongst their youth.
While all this discussion took place, the Dean of SAHSOL, Jeff Redding got involved in the discussion over chat and replied to students’ comments. Mr. Redding targeted the feminists at LUMS for being involved in ‘unethical’ activities and attacked the entire ideology of feminism altogether. He went on to call students ‘hyperbolic’ and kept on making triggering statements that angered the students.
Ammar Shahid, the student representative in this meeting, condensed the demands and concerns of students in a very appropriate manner; he tried to help the administration see the students’ perspective during these uncertain times and that too amidst dubious policies being put forth by LUMS. The international criteria for schools and universities reopening were discussed and put forward by the students; however, Dr. Samia was of the opinion these criteria are not being met in Pakistan. She went as far as to challenge the students to mention a hospital, except Agha Khan, that would fulfill the given criterion. She mentioned that the responsibility of having to take care of a sick student would fall entirely on LUMS and that the university is not ready for something like that right now. Dr. Samia also talked about how we should look at this entire situation with a positive outlook: “You have the opportunity to learn from this very special thing” and showed her confidence in students by saying that they are smart enough to survive this mode of education.
Dr. Farhat then talked about how the admin is thinking about careful phased opening and then moving along as the data dictates. She reassured the students that they are being heard and plans are being devised for the future. She also mentioned how she wished students were walking in their shoes so they would know how difficult this situation is. She claimed that other universities are reopening for financial means and to earn revenue that they would not earn otherwise via online learning and that LUMS is not making any savings in this entire situation.
After this, Ammar Shahid asked about the specifics regarding when will the partial reopening begins and who will be allowed back on campus? The Vice Chancellor took this question and responded that the details would be announced very soon and went on to mention how they have been working on improving the quality of online education, discussed the issue of SSE fees by stating that SSE is the most expensive school and that the fees consist of all the maintenance and other relevant costs that have also been cut to 30%. He also mentioned how the entire decision-making process is decentralized and more power is being given to the Deans. The VC also mentioned that the average student satisfaction for the online semester was almost the same as an on-campus semester, making it a ‘success,’ not acknowledging that instructor approval for Spring 2020 may have been based upon pre-COVID teaching. The university will start off by taking a few hundred students in first and make decisions after they see this stage’s results. He also mentioned how he will not break under pressure and threatening or blackmailing him will not work yet somehow conceding that protesting is everyone’s right.
Ayman Moazzam, a member of the student body, spoke up to side with the admin on how reopening the campus would be a catastrophic idea by citing various concerns, and instead pushed for a reduction in the fee. Aymen mentioned a few studies from Israel and other countries as a comparison to help make decisions but was refuted harshly by other students.
The Student Council’s General Secretary then asked about the tentative date when the students should expect an official correspondence from LUMS about the accommodations, which was replied with ‘very soon’ by the admin representatives. Following this, Rojah Sheikh raised some points about the quality of online education and the need for the NC/Pass policy to which Dr. Farhat responded by mentioning how they are still debating on whether or not to keep the NC/Pass policy intact for Fall 2020. The VC further added that the faculty has been trained in the summers and effectively equipped for the online semester. He stated that the instructors would be making the course outlines more friendly for online semesters and would be more sensitive to the students’ environments and problems, while also introducing some feedback mechanisms to keep a check on the quality of the online semester.
To this Ammar Shahid responded with the concern that instructor evaluation forms are not a good tool of measuring the students’ satisfaction due to various reasons. However, this concern was not addressed properly by the administration. Safa Imran suggested well thought out ideas on how SOPs can be implemented in case of campus reopening while also presenting a clear image about what students want and think. Lastly, she also pointed out how making feminists or FemSoc at LUMS the scapegoat in this conversation – the way Professor Redding did – was completely outrageous.
The General Secretary raised the concern about students wanting a fee reduction in the online semester to which Dr. Farhat responded by saying that LUMS has a plethora of other expenses and extra costs incurred due to the pandemic. Dean OSAAdnan Khan then reprimanded the students as to how they are not being decent in the chat box and are displaying a spoilt behavior that shows entitlement: “Your entitlement and attitude should be in check. The tuition does not pay for all of our expenses, only 65-75% expenses. The university is in a financial bind since other sources of income have dried out; the donors are not donating as much. We have not cut Financial Assisstance, instead we have increased it.” A student sent a comment in the chatbox, “We pay 4.5 lac and we are entitled to our opinions”. To this Adnan Khan replied, “Take your money and go someplace else.”
Dr. Farhat also pointed out how it is the university’s right to tone police its students. Moving forward, Adnan Khan mentioned how we should keep an eye out for opportunities like pedagogical partnerships to give us some financial assistance.
Jibran Khalil raised the concern about the new SSE fee, “We should not be paying for maintenance; we should not be paying for any maintenance. We want complete transparency on what is it that we are paying for and how will it benefit us? Are SSE students only going to be using it [software]? If non-SSE students are also going to use it then it should be divided across the entire student body.” To this Dr. Farhat responded with, “SSE is the most expensive school and it is somewhat subsidized as well.”
Moving forward, a student pointed out the rude responses from the Dean of OSA, Adnan Khan, and asked when the FA decisions will be announced since the applications ended in February. Dr. Farhat responded inadequately by not covering the highlighted concerns.
Lastly, the VC stated that if LUMS does not open completely in Spring 2020-21 then we will shift to a hybrid model and that the hybrid system is here to stay for a while. The open house ended on the note that there would be more open communication from both the ends now onwards.
Reportedly, a protest may be organized at Lahore Press Club tomorrow to further press the LUMS administration to consider reopening LUMS.