LJMU Moving Forward Together

Along with organisations up and down the country, we are adapting to challenges presented by the coronavirus crisis. We have been updating our students and staff on our plans for the next academic year (2020/21) and offering support and help to anyone who may feel particularly vulnerable or concerned. We are working to reassure everyone at LJMU about the measures we are putting in place to protect and support all of our staff and students.

It is our intention to start the next academic year on time – with week one of teaching on standard undergraduate programmes beginning on 28 September 2020. 

Our campus will be adapted to ensure that it is safe, we control the flow of people around our buildings and we are putting in place measures to deal with the large numbers of students and staff that make our university so friendly and lively.  

LJMU currently has a set of formal, written values but we will be refreshing these values over the coming months to better reflect how we want everyone in our community to feel in this new environment. I want everyone to feel comfortable and supported - and to know that we are in spaces of respect and safety. Alongside this, we will have LJMU face coverings available for all staff and students who wish to use them and we will ensure that our buildings are cleaned to the highest standards at all times.

We will take an active blended approach to our academic delivery, with a mixture of online and face-to-face teaching to adapt to the restrictions of social distancing. Each course programme team is working through the details of the safest way of applying the government guidelines and to ensure the best possible overall experience for all students. Whether delivered online or face-to-face, our approach will recognise the importance of connecting students and staff and creating a learning environment that is engaging, participative and interactive.

Some courses naturally lend themselves more easily to greater online delivery, whereas others, such as practical, laboratory or studio-based courses, will need more adjustments and planning. Over the next few weeks, we will be providing further details on how we are taking this work forward and will be building a full set of guidance notes, films and FAQs on our website.

In the meantime, we know that lots of students have questions about how open the university and the city will be by the autumn and what they should do about their accommodation and plans for the year ahead. We are committed to providing the best possible experience for our students – including outside the classroom – and are in discussion with our students union as well as the major players in the city. We are working hard to provide students with the rich cultural, social and economic opportunities that Liverpool is famous for. 

In short, everyone is working together to get the city as open and ready as we can, to help our students have the fullest experience of our great city and to make a success of the new realities we face by providing everyone with a positive, supportive and enjoyable experience at LJMU.

We all look forward to welcoming you to LJMU.

Professor Ian G Campbell