In-person gatherings including labs and events to be cancelled and classes are to be held online until further notice, while university remains opened
By Shanleigh Brosseau and Lexey Burns
With a case of COVID-19 confirmed in Sudbury, Laurentian University has cancelled all classes on campus (including the School of Architecture) and multiple events until further notice as a “pre-caution”. The university plans to remain open, however, the Willet Green Miller Centre has been closed.
Public Health Sudbury & Districts have confirmed that the local case involved an individual who attended the Prospectors and Developers Conference (PDAC.) The individual was also part of the university’s campus.
At a press conference, the university addressed questions of student health and safety, the implementation of online classes, and possible protocols for exams.
President of the university, Dr. Robert Haché, confirmed that around 100 Laurentian University community members attended the Prospectors and Developers Conference, including 60 students.
“Laurentian University has a booth, an exhibit at the conference,” Haché said.
The university plans to monitor the COVID-19 situation while working with public health authorities, and plans to communicate changes to “daily campus activities.”
“We are limiting access from the community to our community facilities until we have further information and are able to make an informed decision,” Haché said. “The purpose is to minimize opportunities for large groups to come together and increase the risk of infection.”
According to Haché, “Laurentian University’s foremost concern is for the health and well-being of its students, faculty and staff, and to our wider community. We are further committed to ensuring that our students have an opportunity to finish their studies without any disruption.”
According to Dr. Serge Demers, interim Vice-President, Academic and Provost, the university remains focused on “short-term” plans.
“Classes this afternoon have been suspended, tomorrow we are moving to an online offering of the courses that would normally be offered face to face,” Demers said.
“That’s certainly for the short-term, at least until the end of Friday. We will keep the community informed of changes, or next steps as we go forward.”
Scheduled water shutdown and Food Services remain concerns for students living on-campus
A public protocol for students living in residence has not yet been released to determine what actions should be taken to prevent the potential spread of the virus through residence buildings.
According to Brad Parks, associate Vice-President of Facilities Services, students living on campus will remain in residence buildings.
“We do have some procedures in place,” he said. “But for right now, it is residence life as usual.”
“We have upped the cleaning of any touch services in the residence buildings and all of the buildings, we will be monitoring [the health of students] through residence staff.”
An emergency water shutdown is currently scheduled in the UC residence building for March 12th from 9 am to 5 pm. According to Parks, the water shutdown will remain as scheduled.
“We have to do that because of some other health reasons and failed infrastructure,” he said. Parks added that while the shutdown will temporarily affect water availability, all residence buildings are equipped with hand sanitizer.
Staff working at the Great Hall’s food services have moved food away from self-serve stations amid the local case and cancellation of classes. Food Services plan to serve students directly, rather than students making plates of food, says Simon LeHenaff, Head Chef at the Great Hall.
“The first thing that we’ve done is to remove anything that could be cross contaminated by touch,” said LeHenaff. “All the stations have now moved everything away and our associates will be serving students.”
Lyne Rivet, Manager of Health and Wellness Services says the on-campus health clinic does have procedures in place for handling possible COVID-19 cases.
“Students who have any concerns can contact the Health and Wellness Services, and they will be asked to wear a mask and they are isolated, they are triaged, and assessed,” Rivet said.
“We are in close contact with [Public Health Sudbury & Districts], we can make a call to see whether it is necessary for them to have the testing done if they have any symptoms.”
According to Rivet, Health and Wellness Services “may have to increase hours, if necessary.”
Students consider leaving campus amid cancelled lectures and labs
Janelle Utting, first year Sports Administration student says that the virus should not be a reason to cancel class.
“It’s scary, but I don’t want us to have our classes cancelled, because then it’s a free for all,” Utting said. “I’m also worried about [passing classes], like, how am I supposed to learn stats?”
“It’s hard when you have a professor, and now you don’t even have a professor, it’s on you to learn it yourself,” she added.
According to Allie Blake-Khaleel, a second-year Zoologie (French) student, says the decision to cancel classes was “early”.
“I only have the next week [for labs], and then they’re done, and then there are lab exams,” Blake-Khaleel said. “What I’m scared about mostly is being able to talk to my professors and lab techs, if I need to [discuss] a grade that I received, everything will be through D2L. I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk to them, or sit down and talk to them.”
It’s going to be hard to do exams if I decide to go home
– Henry Hughes, first year student
Henry Hughes, a first year Modern Languages student says he is concerned about his exams, and is possibly considering leaving campus while classes are cancelled.
“I am a little bit worried about exams,” Hughes said. “I have four and it’s going to be hard to do them if I decide to go home, which I am thinking of right now.”
“I’m assuming that there’s going to be some sort of compensation for that, for example today – classes were [cancelled], they have to give time for [professors] to set up online classes,” he said.
“I’m not too worried right now, but if it gets to the point where we haven’t heard anything – it could get a little more complicated.”
At the conference, Dr. Serge Demers added that the university will be looking into exam protocols, with some faculty requesting their exams be changed to take home exams, which Demers says is a “possibility”.
“We will be looking at how we can look at a solution for the entire campus, and not a one-off like that,” he said.
Demers also added that further discussions on exam procedures are planned to take place at the next senate meeting.
It is encouraged for students not to panic, but to remain cautious and keep up to date on updates issued by the university.
Students, staff and faculty can follow developments and read a FAQ (frequently asked questions), created by the university, here: https://laurentian.ca/coronavirus