COVID-19 - College Closure Communication Project
Preliminary Findings

Dr Ciarán Kenny (ciaran.kenny@tcd.ie)
Dr Irene P Walsh (ipwalsh@tcd.ie)

School of Linguistic, Speech & Communication Sciences
Department of Clinical Speech & Language Studies

Just prior to the start of the teaching term (September 2020), we were delighted to share with the wider College Community at TCD, the preliminary findings of a project we are working on within the School.

The project sought to explore the communication experiences of the College Community at TCD due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, which were instigated in March 2020 this year. An online survey, specially developed for the project, was distributed in late May 2020 and closed six weeks later on July 1st, 2020.

We were inspired to explore the changes to the usual communication practices necessitated by the move to predominantly non in-person, face-to-face interactions. We were keen to reach out to all staff and students that make up the College Community - a strong community that Trinity is known for, yet one which we were forced to interact with in a very different way due to the restrictions.

We greatly appreciate the almost 2,000 responses we received. We felt privileged that people were willing to share their worries, fears and anxieties on our survey, along with their more hopeful responses and the personal and professional resources they were drawing upon to help themselves cope.

You will find a short summary of our preliminary findings here. We are currently working on a more detailed report for distribution to the College Community.

Little did we know when we started out on this project, that significant Covid-19 restrictions would be still with us six months later, as we begin this new academic year. However, we too remain hopeful and are buoyed up by the College Community’s support, as we record and explore such communication experiences during these strange times.

C. Kenny & I.P. Walsh
September 29, 2020