2 April 2020
A few weeks ago I was critical of how the University of St Andrews was handling this crisis. I still think mistakes were made. The decision to cease classes should have been taken before Spring Break, so that students could have left town then, rather than having to come back at some time in the indeterminate future to clear out rooms. The Student Union should have been closed much earlier. But that is in the past. This is a difficult time for everyone and it’s only natural that mistakes are made and regrets arise. But today’s letter from our principal is both compassionate and steely strong. It’s also very impressive how some of my former colleagues have immediately sprung into action, applying their expertise to this emergency. I wish you all well.
Dear Students and Colleagues
I’m writing to welcome you back, whether in person or online, to St Andrews’ Candelmas semester after Spring Break, although it is unlikely to have been much of a break for most of you.
As a University community, we are now dispersed as widely as it is possible to be and I know that our rapid and enforced transition to online teaching means this is manifestly an unusual experience for our staff and students.
I would however like to thank you all for the tremendous hard work, cooperation and collective endeavour which has made it possible for us to respond promptly to public health imperatives, and continue to offer teaching and assessment for the remainder of this academic year.
There is of course much to get to grips with in our new online world, and we will get better at this as we go on, but I must pay tribute to the great effort and creativity of our academic and professional services staff, and the support of our student community at this time of international emergency. I know that our Deans are talking regularly to School Presidents, and that our Coronavirus Helpdesk and dedicated web resources continue to be a useful source of advice and support.
I aim to write to you weekly on the way our University is responding to the Covid-19 crisis.
Our focus has been, and remains, the safety of staff, students and the local community. Most of our students are now at home, and we are all in your debt for the way you responded to our appeals not to return to St Andrews after the vacation, as difficult and painful as that was for you, and us. We estimate about 1000 who could not travel have stayed with us, in halls and private accommodation in town, and we are doing our best to look after you.
The crisis, and the closure of schools in Scotland, has had a substantial effect on our workforce and we have closed and locked down the majority of our 166 buildings, including some halls of residence, to lighten the burden on our essential residences and trades staff.
For those who have stayed in St Andrews, we are all relying on you to practise social distancing to protect each other, our staff and the wider population of the town, which is predominantly elderly and more vulnerable. It is so important to do this.
I know that for our staff, and some students, juggling work and study with caring commitments is a substantial issue and can be a source of considerable stress. Please, just do what you can. We are looking at measures we can take to provide additional support to you, and we will continually develop the Working from Home and Wellbeing sections of our website.
My team and I are engaged daily in discussions with governments at Holyrood and Westminster, research bodies, and colleagues across the sector about the profound funding challenges we now face, options for the start of the next academic year, student and staff support through this difficult period, and ensuring the future of our research activity.
As you know, we took the difficult decision to cancel our June Graduation ceremonies and are looking at when and how best to reschedule for the Class of 2020, including an option to stage ceremonies dedicated exclusively to this year’s graduands, to allow you to be in St Andrews and celebrate in the traditional way. In due course we will give you and your families a wonderful and unforgettable graduation. But for now we need to get through this crisis safely.
We are only a week into lockdown in this country, yet our University in its broadest sense is already responding to the Covid-19 crisis in crucial ways, far beyond our immediate duty to safeguard the health of students and staff.
A team of virologists led by Professor Rick Randall is developing a new test for the coronavirus; Pneumagen, a spin-out led by our former Deputy Principal Professor Garry Taylor is testing drug compounds it has developed to combat respiratory pathogens such as the influenza virus to see if these are effective against Covid-19; Professor Stephen Reicher is providing invaluable advice and briefings to the highest levels of the UK and Scottish governments on the behavioural science of the pandemic; Dr Christos Lynteris, a medical anthropologist, is bringing an important public perspective to the societal and cultural phenomena of the pandemic. Professor David Crossman, our Dean of Medicine and Chief Scientific Advisor for Health at the Scottish Government, is the vice-chair of a new expert group established to provide additional analysis on the impact of Covid-19 in Scotland. The Master, Professor Lorna Milne, is leading our work with the Local Fife Resilience Partnership. I am serving on the Ministerial Leadership Group on Covid-19 chaired by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science in the Scottish Government, Richard Lochhead.
We are responding directly to requests from the NHS and Fife Council for assistance, from medical physics expertise to repurpose ventilators to a need to provide nursery accommodation for the children of key workers.
Our global family of alumni has been generous and thoughtful, from traditional donations to practical assistance. As I write, 11,000 protective masks are on their way from China to St Andrews, a gift from our Chinese alumni to whom we had reached out when the epidemic first struck in Wuhan. It is an incredibly generous and humbling act, and a reminder that St Andrews is so much more than these three, strangely quiet streets.
Some of our staff and students have already helped found Community Action St Andrews, a group established to help the vulnerable in our local community, and our Communications Team here has been supporting CASA with practical help on web and database work.
In the days ahead we will be looking further at the ways in which the University can support our staff and students to volunteer, in this and other countries, and I will write to you all again about that in the near future.
From today, our buildings in St Andrews will be lit with blue LED light in the evenings as a tribute and show of support for our National Health Service.
We are told there are tougher times to come, and I have no reason to doubt that, but this is also a time when universities can demonstrate their true value to society. I believe St Andrews is ideally placed to do that.
Sally Mapstone
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
My My Corona 