Brookes are not adopting the ‘no detriment’ policy in the face of coronavirus and here’s why

If Exeter can have it, why can’t we?

5 years ago

News

The ‘no detriment’ policy has been picked up by Exeter Uni and Edinburgh Uni in order to deal with the issues for students caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The question has been raised to Brookes as to why they have not yet picked up this policy, and in an email sent out today they have confirmed that they will be taking a different course of action.

President of the Student Union, Harry Bower, explained why the ‘no detriment’ policy won’t work for Brookes: “Brookes is predominantly professionally accredited courses,” such as nursing and real estate, “which a policy such as this can’t apply to.”

“Obviously people want to know why Exeter can do it, the simple answer is that Exeter has mostly courses which are not professionally accredited, so the policy applies to the majority of their students, whereas here it would be a minority of students that would benefit from it.”

He says that Brookes will be adopting more than just one policy in order to help students.

Brookes will be “providing an additional level of financial aid so students can purchase and hire laptops so they can access online libraries and complete coursework.” As well as changing the delivery of content and examinations to allow people to continue to engage with their course.

They will also be “using exceptional circumstances to support students who can not undertake their work” for reasons such as bad wifi connection and limited access to course texts. They will be granting two-week extensions to students who are self-isolating or living with individuals who are self-isolating, without the need to evidence to support their application. If students require a further extension, they will require evidence that indicates why they need longer.

The email sent out to all students today said: “We are looking to implement a bespoke assessment review process. Through this, any student who believes they have been impacted negatively by the COVID-19 situation and the changes we have had to make to learning and assessment will be able to ask us to review any marks obtained in assessments completed during this period of change.”

“Our aim is that these processes, together with effective online delivery, well-thought-through assessments, and a range of support on offer, should not compromise the experience and success of our students.”

In regards to the students who struggle to work from home, Bower has said: “We actively encourage people who feel they would struggle to work from home because of caring responsibilities, lack of appropriate workspace, specific support needs and other factors that make working off-site challenging, to make contact with exceptional circumstances as well as making use of the assessment review process once it has been developed. University staff are currently working at a non-stop pace to try and help as many students as possible, which they hope and the SU hope these many policy developments will do.”

The Student Union encourage any students feeing concerns for their wellbeing at these uncertain times to make use of university wellbeing using wellbeing-recpt@brookes.ac.uk

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