From
today, after a week of preparations, the University of Twente is officially back to the
normal operational mode, with the difference that no physical activities are
possible since all university buildings are closed and people are not even
supposed to be on the street.
How was
my first working day after a week of pause that was supposed to give us the
time to adjust to our new online university reality? The day started with an
online department meeting where almost every one of the department colleagues
took enthusiastically part; we were all very glad to see each other again and
share some of our experiences and stories.
The rest
of the day was less pleasant, considering that the Coronavirus crisis, next to
limiting our life and disrupting our daily routines, also forced the BMS Lab to
close and hit badly the hospitality sector. What two events have to do with me?
A lot I am afraid since both my classes in the 3rd quartile is
directly related to the BMS Lab and the tourist sector! My Master students
following the course, Advanced Topic in Digital Marketing is making use of the
BMS Lab equipment for their practical project (testing the usability of
Websites) and my students of the undergraduate course Digital
Marketing is partnering with real companies (and this year it happens to be
mainly companies from the hospitality sector in Twente) for their group
project: developing and executing a 3-week AdWords marketing campaign.
You can
imagine that my colleagues and I are hastily looking for alternatives since the
master students can’t use the lab equipment for their experiments and the hospitality business is closed so not really interested in online advertising
since no customer or potential customer can make use of their service. Finding
and implementing alternatives for student projects in the middle of the
quartile, when only 4 weeks are left, is not an easy business, I can tell you.
Today I spent most of the day answering emails of hospitality businesses who
have questions about the value of the project for them, trying to persuade them
to stay on board. Also, student groups email me the whole day with worries
about their projects. With two classes totaling 27 project groups and 17
external partners, you can imagine the volume of communication involved. Next
to this, the “normal” business must go on, only online which means a lot of
planning for doing things like lectures, meetings, project proposals, etc. in
untested waters. Anyway, having survived the first day I am afraid that tomorrow
will not be better. I know that I am not the only one facing such a situation,
so I wish to all in this position all the best and strength
