Editor’s note: All opinions expressed in this article belong to their respective author(s). Check our section “Voices” dedicated to opinion pieces on AUI Chronicle. This piece has been co-authored with Karim Bahoum.
Classes started Monday at Al Akhawayn University after two hectic and unprecedently stressful spring and summer sessions. With the arrival of the new cohort and a few continuous students on campus, it seems like the AUI community has been divided into two. While one party being the center of attention, the other one is trying to keep afloat and to glimpse into the fog caused by last-minute decisions.
Both Juniors and Non-Graduating seniors were not granted the possibility to come back to campus. One can say that it is because of the high rate of newcomers on campus. Therefore, they are being confined home, paying common fees that they are not benefitting from, and settling up with tuition fees for an asynchronous and questionable online education. Nonetheless, what seems to exasperate our fellow AUIers is the lack of internal communication.
AUI like every university in Morocco and elsewhere is facing a real and tangible crisis, and as it is known the key to solving any crisis is communication. During the time of crisis, it is critically important to not only manage the inflow and outflow of pertinent details but to also make sure that the whole community is receiving the same amount of Information at the same time.
“The stressful communication I had with the university made me feel like I was responsible for all potential problems”
a Senior student
In fact, the university spent a drastic amount of time to allow and prepare for a smooth transition for Fall 2020’s newcomers. However, the administration somewhat neglected both Juniors and Seniors, expecting them to go through all those changes on their own. For instance, emails about the different strategies for online learning were only sent to them 24 hours prior to the beginning of classes. Furthermore, due to the overbooking of the different departments of AUI students’ emails were not read and responded rapidly wish led to many confusions and ambiguities.
“I wish that the university had given important information about how classes would be conducted, and gave to professors the freedom on how to lecture online classes. I also wish that they will answer on time to emails, we feel ghosted !”
a Junior student
One might argue that the “spotlight” was mainly given to freshmen and newcomers because of their lack of experience and their need for support. Nevertheless, not having juniors and non-graduating seniors on campus doesn’t mean that they are not facing other types of issues such as predicting how the capstones would work, the feasibility of certain classes that require group work and resources from the library, the cancellation/ change of Professors/sections without further notices and finally, the imminent cancellation of their Exchange opportunities.
Finally, it is important to remember that this pandemic changed and shifted all the dynamics at AUI. New regulations and priorities were established. Therefore, it is somewhat normal to witness major changes and issues since the situation is still novel to many in the administration.
