On Tuesday, Carleton University announced all first-year classes will be online and upper-year students “can also expect that their courses will be online” for the upcoming fall term. The stress of this transition is being felt by students in a number of ways.
Sydney Weaver, a third-year communications and media studies student, said she is worried about the accessibility of online classes.
“I do identify as having a physical disability,” Weaver said. “I have a note-taker for lectures. I’m not sure what happens in regards to that. The uncertainty on the accessibility and disability front is what’s kind of making me nervous.”
When classes moved online partway through the winter semester, Weaver’s accommodations were already in place. She had met with her professors at the start of the semester, and her coordinator at the Paul Menton Centre reached out to make sure the transition to online learning went smoothly.
Weaver worries that the process may not work as well in September.
“Being able to identify yourself [to a professor] makes it a lot easier through the semester when you do have that problem [with accessibility],” Weaver said. “With the amount of students [the transition to online] needs to happen with, I’m worried how long that’s going to take [to accommodate everyone].”
Another complicating factor for Weaver is that at home, her parents are her primary care-givers. Her lecture times determine what time her parents have to get up in the morning to get Weaver ready for class, impacting their work schedules.
“How can you plan for something that nobody knows how to handle?” she added.
Weaver isn’t the only student worried about being accommodated online. Jade Bruins, a first-year industrial design student, has spent her life in Hong Kong but has Canadian parents. With classes officially moving online for all first-year students, Bruins is concerned about the 12-hour time difference with Ottawa. She’s also worried that her program, which has studio classes, could suffer.
“On the one hand, I’m really excited to go to Carleton,” Bruins said. “On the other hand, it’s so unknown and I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Connie Lee, a second-year public affairs and policy management student, said that she had no second thoughts about taking courses in September, even if they are online. She’s worried that as the program undergoes changes, she could fall behind.
“I didn’t really seriously consider deferring,” Lee said. “If I did defer for a year, I would be even more behind than if it were any other case.”
The uncertainty of the fall term is also an issue for those involved in residence.
The university is still planning for fall orientation but is exploring alternatives to face-to-face events.
“[Campus organizations] have met several times over the last several weeks looking to refine our approach and how we intend to proceed forward,” Carleton media relations officer Steven Reid wrote in an email. “There have been some fresh, exciting and new approaches discussed.”
However, Tyson Scott, a second-year cognitive science student who volunteered as a facilitator for fall orientation, is worried that the festivities will be cancelled.
“I’m saddened that this is gonna take away something from the students coming in,” Scott said.
The university will provide an update on fall orientation in June, Reid said.
“I’m not really looking forward to doing online classes again.”
Even for those moving on from undergraduate studies, the stress of an online term is presenting logistical problems.
Victoria King, a fourth-year psychology student, is applying to graduate school.
Some standardized testing for grad school isn’t currently being offered, and King is unsure whether all of the courses she needs to take will be offered in the fall.
“It’s hard to apply for grad school without knowing what’s going on,” King said.
Many students are still hopeful that the university will hold face-to-face classes in September, even if it is unlikely.
“The fact that they’re willing to keep options open is a good thing,” Scott said.
For Lee, however, the uncertainty is taxing, and she would prefer if the university could give students some certainty so they can prepare for the fall.
“If they keep pushing it off, it puts me in a really uncomfortable position of trying to guess what they’re going to do,” she said.
Featured image provided by Carleton University OnLine (CUOL).
