Upcoming Fall planning information session – May 3
To provide faculty and staff with more insight into what Fall 2021 may look like, a planning information session will take place virtually on Monday, May 3 from 11 a.m. to noon.
Advanced is required and questions can be submitted to events@ontariotechu.ca. During the session, you’ll hear answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve received thus far, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask additional questions, time permitting. After the event, all questions and answers will be posted on the Ready for You website.
Following the information session, on Tuesday, May 4, the anticipated course-delivery formats for the Fall 2021 term will be posted on MyCampus. The information will specify whether courses will be offered:
- Entirely online.
- Entirely in-person.
- Partially in-person.
- Entirely online or in-person (both options available).
This preliminary information will be posted to help students make decisions regarding their living arrangements for the fall. A more detailed schedule will be released at the beginning of June.
At this time, we continue to plan for the majority of our courses to have a component take place on campus. This includes small- to medium-sized classes (including tutorials and graduate seminars) as well as experiential-learning activities (e.g. labs). Larger lectures will likely still have to be held online.
Recognizing that some students may continue to face health or travel restrictions that prevent them from attending in-person classes, we will offer both online and in-class options for some courses. This approach will ensure:
- We meet the needs of as many members of our university community as much as possible.
- Flexibility if we experience a subsequent wave of COVID-19.
Decisions on the mode of delivery will be determined on a course-by-course basis and as public health guidelines allow.
As communicated in the March 25 update, this approach falls in line with an optimistic scenario that would allow us to return to campus this fall. However, we have a number of alternative plans in place for different approaches for the Fall 2021 term, and we will adjust our plans accordingly, based on measures put in place by the Province of Ontario and Durham Region Public Health guidelines. Any changes to the instructional method of a course component will be confirmed by August 2021.
We know this has been a challenging time for all of you. We remain optimistic of better days ahead, and we look forward to seeing you again this fall. Once the information is released, if you have any questions about the delivery of a specific course, contact connect@ontariotechu.ca. For general questions about Fall 2021 plans, contact lookingahead@ontariotechu.ca.
