Tales from the Town Hall: Q&A with Dr. Adnan Zahid

Authors: Aiman Rahman, Areej Akhtar, Maha Uzair

As soon as the clock struck four today, LUMS students frantically began rummaging back and forth through emails to find the Zoom link for the Town Hall with the Dean of OSA. With the atmosphere reeking of premonition, tensions seemed to be running high as Dr. Adnan Zahid occupied center stage and was barraged with a tsunami of student questions. Some prominent concerns were brought to light such as hostel accommodation, campus facilities, and measures to combat Covid-19.

Traversing Through the Toils of Triple Occupancy: When a residence survey circulated by the Student Council revealed that accommodation options boiled down to either triple occupancy rooms with no tables and chairs to study or off-campus accommodation at Askari apartments with stringent curfews, many students felt as if they had to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Despite being agitated about the inconvenience of inhabiting triple occupancy rooms, students were more inclined towards LUMS hostels. Out of 1100 respondents, 70% opted for triple accommodation as opposed to 30% opting for Askari, allowing the Student Council and the administration to finalize the decision based on the results. During the Town Hall, Dr. Zahid further clarified that not only has the batch size increased this year, but the increase from last year has also aggravated the situation, when the campus was not fully functional and the entire student body could not be absorbed on campus premises. “There’s a two-year increase in the student body now,” he commented. Furthermore, he stressed that while triple occupancy may not be the ideal solution, it is one of the only two that are available right now, “Having double occupancy on campus across the board is a solution we do not have. Having triple occupancy or moving students out of the campus were the only solutions we had. It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.” When asked about the health hazard posed by triple occupancy rooms since they would result in the violation of SOPs, Dr. Zahid stated, “On-campus engagement is happening because we are vaccinated. You cannot argue that triple occupancy alone is a health risk.” He further clarified that a system of random rigorous testing in hostels will be implemented to keep the virus infection at bay.

In regards to triple occupancy, an important concern raised by the student body was the rent of the hostel rooms. Many felt that they should not have to pay a staggering amount above PKR 30,000 for rooms meant for two people being inhabited by three instead. In response, Dr. Zahid stated that the rent of the hostel rooms was set by the finance department, and it was determined after multiplying the rent of double occupancy rooms by two, and dividing it by three. It was also communicated that accommodation applications will go live on Wednesday and there is a possibility that students will be allowed to mention their roommate preferences.

Salient Sorrows about Study Spaces: While double occupancy rooms provide adequate space for studying and taking classes inside the room, triple occupancy rooms certainly do not. With no desks or chairs for studying and working, students allotted triple occupancy rooms will not be able to take classes, writing assignments, or prepare for quizzes and exams conveniently inside their rooms. When this concern was raised, Dr. Zahid responded that within each hostel, two to three rooms will be converted into “study rooms” with sufficient furniture that students can utilize for studying. Moreover, he also assured students that other areas of campus were being converted into communal working spaces with chairs and desks to ensure that students can study undisturbed in a peaceful environment.

Spring Prophecies: Will the Next Semester Bode Well for Students?

As things already look hazy for Fall’ 21, students found themselves posing the ultimate question, “Would Spring’ 22 bode well for the students or would it only usher in another semester of fall blues?”. Dr. Zahid declared that the construction of a new building is underway and that students will no longer have to be crammed up in triple occupancy since upon completion of the said hostel building, LUMS will revert back to double occupancy. This appears to be a promising possibility for the students honeycombed into limited spaces this semester.

Money Woes: Fees, Inflation, and TAship Salaries

An interesting thing that LUMS students have noticed is how the university attributes yearly increases in fees to inflation. When Dr. Zahid was asked about why TAship salaries are never increased for the same reason, he replied that he will look into it. Hopefully, this point will be taken into consideration and TAs will be paid more, which is just what they deserve.

Additionally, another important point raised in the Town Hall was the matter of fees in an online system, “How is it that we are paying hundreds of thousands of rupees, which are increasing each year, to just essentially sit behind a screen and attend Zoom calls?”  Dr. Zahid emphasized that while it is true that in virtual classes students are not availing any campus facilities, the academic quality of the courses has not changed, and therefore the classes being offline or online should not affect the amount students are paying. He also quoted his own experience, saying that in the classes he had taught online, he had felt that the students had learned just as much as they had learned from him on-campus.

The Silent Bell of the Curfew

Among other things, changes in curfew timings have brought a halt to the exciting buzz of campus life since the beginning of the pandemic. The last communicated curfew timings were from 8 AM to 10 PM, and no student is allowed to leave or enter the premises outside this timeframe. When the Dean of OSA was asked about where the administration stands on removing the curfew, he responded by saying that they plan to impose a generous curfew, something like ‘till midnight’. He added that possibly in a month or so, they might reevaluate these timings and relax them further, reasoning that the curfew is in place just to exercise caution.

The Constant Crusade for Campus Facilities

When asked about the degree to which campus facilities will be accessible, it was established that all facilities will see a “phased” opening, not a full-fledged one. Therefore, complete access will not be offered to the student body. It was clarified that students should instead anticipate a phased reopening of these facilities so that a return to normalcy can be ensured for all in the next few months.

Quarantine Quabble

When asked about the quarantine guidelines that will be implementable in Fall, it was revealed that students will be allowed to visit their homes for a few days each month, and upon returning they might have to submit a negative PCR test in order to not be quarantined. If this policy is implemented, the expenses will be borne by the students themselves. This raises a question: do the same rules apply to instructors? The short answer is no.

Dr. Zahid proclaimed that the same quarantine rules cannot be applied to faculty members since “we are not responsible for them, we are responsible for the students.” Interestingly, faculty members are allowed to leave the campus as they wish, with no PCR tests required from them or and strict quarantine rules and regulations.

Shifting Online Classes Offline: A Tale as Old as Time

Several students expressed a sense of being wronged as a couple of their courses were converted from physical classes to remote ones. The decrease from the promised 60% to 51% in-person classes came across as an unpleasant surprise to the students who were already packing their suitcases and planning an on-campus semester. Dr. Zahid reasoned that this was because a lot of instructors have old parents and are petrified by the possibility of being carriers of the Delta Variant, and this has led to them reevaluating their decision about holding physical classes. He claimed that exercising caution fell under the domain of an instructor’s rights, especially since such a vicious variant of Covid-19 has cropped up.