Five years after the university’s lockdown: ‘I missed the interaction and spontaneous conversations’

Studying and working from home. Five years ago, it was almost unthinkable, but suddenly it became the harsh reality. The university went into lockdown to cope with the advancing corona pandemic. Four employees look back on what this meant to them.

In mid-March 2020, we were suddenly all at home, because the doors of the university were closing. The number of corona infections rose sharply. As a precaution, Tilburg University canceled lectures and exams. People were only allowed to enter the library to pick up books and the cafeteria became a place to pick up meals.

The campus was deserted, working, and studying had to be done from home. How do staff and students look back on this sudden switch? And what did they learn from it? Univers asked four employees, one of whom was a former student, about their views on the university’s lockdown.

‘Because of corona, we had to record lectures’

Who: Loes Janssen
Was then: Assistant Professor TSHD
Is now: Assistant Professor TSHD

‘When the corona crisis started, we were in the middle of a semester. As a result, we had to switch sections halfway through, which was a bit strange at first. Later, when the courses were completely online, I got used to it very quickly.

‘I did not expect to be so flexible, because normally I am quite a perfectionist and I prepare well. That was not possible at the time. I have learned about myself that I can switch easily.

‘The university gave us the space to figure it all out and take our time for it, where possible. And we also worked well together as colleagues. Although we were not physically together, there was still solidarity in the digital workplace. That was nice.

‘I was a member of the program committee, where video lectures had been a topic of discussion for some time. Students were enthusiastic, but teachers were not. Because of corona we had to. Corona has challenged us to offer online education with the quality we were used to in face-to-face lectures.

‘The only downside is that my colleagues and I have been getting considerably fewer students to lectures since corona. While I do not share anything online anymore, my courses are too time-bound for that.’

‘Fifty people were continuously engaged in crisis management’

Who: Paul Hoeijmans
Was then: Director of Facility Services
Is now: Manager TiU Sports Center

‘From one day to the next, we could no longer do our normal work, so we could fully focus on crisis management. There were about fifty people working continuously. The work for teachers also suddenly stopped. It was only after a few weeks that we were able to resume the first lessons via Zoom.

‘At one point, the first people were allowed to come back to work. Everywhere we put up columns with disinfectant liquid and we stuck footsteps on the floor to indicate the walking direction. I think we asked about forty secretaries to come and help with the pasting of those things. That was a very pleasant afternoon. When I walk through a lecture hall now, I sometimes see a stray sticker somewhere.

‘We became very resourceful. We organized online drinks and went for a walk in the woods so that you could still see each other for a while. And for the exams we built a very large exam tent and even organized exams in the ice rink.

‘You can still see the picnic tables that were placed to work outside. And there is cleaning material in the sports building. But the most important consequence is of course that we have started working really well digitally. The possibility of working from home has been accelerated by corona.’

‘I missed the spontaneous conversations during lectures’

Who: Lesley Haerkens
Was then: Bachelor’s student of Economics & Business Economics
Is now: PhD candidate Quantitative Marketing

‘The transition from physical to online education took some time getting used to, but it soon became clear that it works well. My lectures were often attended via Zoom and usually recorded, so that we could continue to follow the study material despite the distance.

‘I missed the interaction and spontaneous conversations. In a physical setting, they arise automatically. It was helpful that I had a nice place to follow lectures at home. This is very important. Over time, it sometimes became difficult to separate studying and relaxing, because everything took place in the same room.

‘After corona, I noticed that some courses were still applying the benefits of online education. During my master’s, I received online knowledge clips that explained the basics, while physical lectures focused on deepening and discussion. This worked very well for me: I could prepare myself in advance and watch the videos again later if something was not immediately clear.

‘This helped especially in subjects such as statistics and machine learning, where structure and repetition are important. In language courses, which I took online during corona, I noticed that it is not ideal. After all, the best way to learn a language is to practice mainly face-to-face.’

‘The hectic pace of everyday life was suddenly gone’

Who: Frank van Oirschot
Was then: Front office employee library
Is now: Front office employee library

‘After the announcement of the lockdown, we have not been at home for a week. Everyone had to stay at home, but as front office employees of the library, we were back on campus afterwards. We got together and immediately came up with a system that allowed people to reserve books.

‘Students and staff could submit their requests and then we would start order picking with special bags. They could pick up those bags between 11:00 and 13:00 at the special pick-up point in the Koopmans building.

‘For me, the lockdown did not have much of an impact, although it was a crazy time in retrospect. All buildings closed, including the library. All kinds of things came to a standstill. There was also a certain peace of mind, the hectic pace of everyday life was suddenly gone.

‘I also thought it was an adventure, it was looking for the possibilities, how can you cope with challenges? But apart from that, I still came here every morning, and I could just pick out books, hand them out and take them in.

‘Corona has not changed much about my work. This did not apply to the library itself. We had a small renovation during that period. The carpet needed to be replaced. There was a rearrangement of furniture and books. We made the most of the quieter period, we had to close for a few weeks in the summer.’

_Advertentie.