A year after the COVID-19 pandemic sent university classes online, several Canadian post-secondary institutions are announcing plans to hold in-person classes during the upcoming fall semester.
Leading the charge to bring students back to campus is the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and McGill University, which both released statements in February on their fall semester plans.
The University of Victoria, Acadia University, Western University, Queen’s University, and the University of British Columbia are some schools that have also announced their optimism for in-person classes resuming in September.
McGill was among the first to make the announcement, with a Feb. 23 statement announcing its plan to return to in-person teaching in the fall, with the health and well-being of its campus community as a top priority.
Montreal is currently one of five Quebec regions at the Maximum Alert level, enforcing a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am and restricting public gatherings of more than 25 people.
“…[W]e are confident in our collective capacity to deliver academic programs and university services in a way that meets the standards of excellence expected of McGill University while continuing to ensure the safety of our community,” said McGill administration in the statement.
As part of the move back to in-person classes, McGill plans to make campus residences available to all first-year students in the fall.
UPEI’s announcement came the next day with a statement on Feb.28 saying it is “excited for our campus to be an active learning environment once more, and are working to make this possible with guidance from the PEI Chief Public Health Office.”
The schools both emphasized prioritizing the health and well-being of students and faculty who will participate in in-person learning.
Nicole Phillips, UPEI director of communications and university relations, said in an email to the Charlatan that whether the school proceeds with its plan to offer in-person classes in September depends on public health guidelines at the end of the summer.
At the time of Phillips’s email on March 1, PEI had entered a three-day lockdown which lasted until March 3.
According to Tolulope Oginni, president of UPEI’s student union, some facilities on UPEI’s campus have remained open for in-person learning.
Oginni said she believes the lack of in-person interaction affects the school’s community as a whole.
“In general, I would just say in-person class is not just an advantage to students alone,” Oginni said. “It’s also an advantage [to] faculty members and other staff members of the school.”
Despite excitement for a normal academic year, students said they are also skeptical about returning to campus in the fall.
One of Oginni’s concerns for an in-person fall semester at UPEI is whether international students will be able to return for in person classes, and if not, how they will benefit from classes offered on campus to the same extent as domestic students.
“The university has continually worked with the provincial government and I hope they continue to work with them in getting international students here to come in the fall of 2021,” she said.
Jemark Earle, president of McGill’s students’ society, said he is skeptical that the school will be ready for students to return to campus by September.
“We’re really in a strange gray area but I think it shows resilience,” Earle said. “We’re going to get through it.”
Earle said he is glad McGill is giving itself six months to plan for the fall semester and is curious to “see whether universities follow McGill or if they’re doing their own approach and how they communicate with each other.”
Featured image by Leanne Young.
