Last month (September 2022), several concerned students, staff, networks and platforms signed an open letter to the Executive Boards of the UvA and of its Faculties concerning online and hybrid teaching “for students with disabilities, students in housing crisis, or those who cannot attend classes in person due to the pandemic”.

Dispute between UvA’s Executive Board and the petitioners is whether we should extend the online facilities introduced during the pandemic also in the current situation in which the pandemic seems to be paused. The Executive Board replied to the petition that the lockdown period demonstrated the importance of in person interaction for interaction, knowledge transfer and collaboration. In addition, they mentioned that the return to pre-pandemic situation still implies that the regulations for students with disabilities, chronic disorders and illness apply and that teachers can individually decide to use online facilities. Yet online facilities remain exceptional, rather than the rule.

As a contribution to this open letter, I’d like to refer to ‘The 8 Lessons Learned from the Pandemic’ that the Faculty of Science’s Working Group Disabilities and Chronic Disorders and I published in December 2021 when I was still Faculty of Science Diversity Officer. Our discussions taught us that many people, not just those with physical vulnerabilities, benefitted in many ways from the opportunities that hybrid teaching, learning and working offered. However, the participants in our discussions also experienced the many limitations of online presence and interactions. For example, many students and staff experienced difficulties in keeping connected with their peers or remain motivated when participating online. Given these mixed experiences, perhaps the lesson most relevant in the present context is our lesson # 5: “It should be a standard procedure to openly discuss the diverse needs and preferences at work when organizing meetings, seminars etc., realising that there can be challenges to accommodate everyone.”

Although it is important to acknowledge that it might be difficult to indeed accommodate everyone’s wishes equally, we believe that we should as an institution build upon our positive experiences during the pandemic. Discussing the concerns raised by the petitioners with the Faculty Diversity Officers and other relevant parties, we will explore what options could be available beyond those that were in place in the pre-pandemic situation and advise the Executive Board accordingly.

Machiel Keestra
Central Diversity Officer UvA