St. Clair College, U of W looking at online classes
The senior academic team at St. Clair College will present a plan for remote online learning to faculty on Friday as it prepares for the looming possibility that in-person classes will be cancelled because of COVID-19.
The University of Windsor says it is also looking at alternatives to face-to-face classes and more information will be available soon.
“We are working on that planning right now,” Waseem Habash, St. Clair’s vice-president of academic, said Thursday. “We’ll present it to faculty for their input tomorrow and Monday. It’s complicated but we should have the plan by Tuesday of next week.”
The college announced it was cancelling its March 21 open house and that as many as 25 other, smaller college-run events may be cancelled in the coming days.
The 12,817 full-time students on St. Clair campuses are ready to head into a week-long March break after Friday classes.
“With March Break, that gives us some time to prepare,” Habash said.
Laurentian University in Sudbury and numerous U.S. colleges and universities have suspended in-person classes.
Habash said a hard deadline for cancelling classes at the college had not been set as of Thursday. “We’re preparing for it,” he said. The college’s Student Representative Council announced on Facebook it is indefinitely postponing all its events as a means of adopting a social distancing stance.
“Public health authorities have determined that the best way to reduce the transmission of the disease, and eventually eradicate it, is to limit person-to-person contact in large-attendance settings,” the SAC Facebook post said. “Eliminating the gatherings associated with Src-staged events is one method of achieving that goal.”
The decision meant the postponement of a dance Thursday, a computer gaming tournament Saturday and Sunday and a planned trip to a professional sports game by St. Clair students in Toronto.
“Other events on the SRC “social calendar” may also be subject to postponement as the situation evolves,” the post said.
SRC president Kiara Clement said student council is supportive of school administration, which like other Canadian institutions is facing mounting pressure to cancel classes and move to online learning only.
“It’s our health at the end of the day,” Clement said.
Late Thursday, University of Windsor president Robert Gordon released a statement on the coronavirus situation. “I want everyone to know that the University of Windsor is actively monitoring issues and responding to concerns associated with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19),” Gordon wrote.
“At this time, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit continues to report that there are no confirmed cases of COVID -19 in Windsor and Essex County, and that the overall risk remains low for local residents and our campus community. But there is obviously increasing concern now that the World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, and the University must be in a position to respond if any cases of the virus are confirmed in Windsor-essex.
“We are following the advice of health-care professionals and are in constant contact with many Ontario universities to share information.”
Gordon said the university is actively planning for the remainder of the academic semester, including classes and examinations as well as on-campus events.
“Presently, we are working to find ways to support a range of delivery methods as alternatives to face-to-face classes that professors and instructors can adopt,” Gordon said.
The school has established a pandemic planning committee which is meeting regularly and coordinating efforts with other post-secondary institutions and the health unit.
The University also announced work-related travel restrictions on its website Thursday.
“The University of Windsor has decided to restrict work-related travel to China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain until further notice,” the online statement said.
“The university has also been in contact with our students who are currently in countries designated as risk areas to ensure their well-being. The university recognizes that restricting travel may affect students, faculty members and staff. Students should consult their supervisor or those responsible for their program to assess potential alternatives.”
The university just held its open house last Saturday where about 3,000 prospective students and families toured campuses.
The University of Windsor Students’ Alliance is in the midst of a general election until March 18 and it has a UWSA gala scheduled for April 3.
“Things are business as usual,” UWSA president Jeremiah Bowers said. “We’re following the university’s lead right now.”