the model of university that assumes students are all full-time teenagers with no paid work in term time and no dependents full stop was surely proven obsolete during the pandemic. and yet we are all still completely in thrall to this idea.

The number of students I saw when I was dealing with absences who had come a cropper with competing work and uni schedules. Also, they often ended up being promoted at work because they were serious, reliable people, and needed £ and that inevitably made things worse.

Our commuter school long assumed students work 9-5 days and need night classes but so many of them work in restaurants at night or even work night shifts. It really makes me go back and forth in due dates. I feel like a late night or early morning deadline is toxic, but am I penalizing night owls?

Early morning is the worst period for many health conditions & disabilities as well. And that’s before factoring in, e.g. the busy bus in rush hour may be less able to take a wheelchair

We've rebuilt our program around the acceptance that most of our students have jobs and other obligations. In the end it also makes my job so much easier and reduces student complaints. But folks don't want to let go of the fantasy of the "fulltime student" for some reason. Nostalgia?

an administrator at mine referred to working students as "nontraditional" and we were like...ok sure, but 90% of our students have jobs now

timetabling based on student module preference -- which means moving everything around to allow every student to take every course they choose -- assumes that students are all available 9-6, Monday-Friday, with no constraints. but they aren't! and timetabling before choices would allow for that!

Absolutely correct take. What's more, academe has an assumption of childlessness and the absence of care duties for everyone. It's another gatekeeping device that prevents equal access to higher education and employment opportunities.

Not to mention, that model also assumes faculty are men who have a whole-ass coterie of invisible women taking care of all their domestic and child care needs 😒

But note that all public discourse during the pandemic was on the assumption that the only people present in universities are students, who are all (a) resident; (b) able-bodied, and (c) under 22. This is the memory that MPs and journalists have of their uni experience.

tbh i notice it most from senior figures (academic or otherwise) who also believe that lecturers and PHD students can still find "cheap accommodation near the uni" in London. Basically their world-view hasn't changed since they bought their little place in Greenwich for 70k forty years ago.