UVic students and staff express concern about return to campus
The University of Victoria (UVic) campus was quiet on Friday, but come Monday, students will be back as in-person learning resumes.
"I’m excited but also a bit nervous, probably like most people," said Victoria Jackson, a recreation and health education student at UVic.
"Of course there’s hesitations because of COVID, but if we’re being safe, I think we should be OK," said Daniella Snyders-Blok, a theatre student.
Snyders-Blok is happy to get back into the classroom because studying theatre from home is challenging.
"It’s very difficult and there’s a lot of hands-on set design that you can’t learn about online," she said.
HYBRID LEARNING
Access4All is a student-led group that represents students with disabilities, compromised immune systems and chronic pain. Access4All co-chair Jonathan Granirer says now is not the time to be going back to full in-person classes.
"Well, obviously a lot of students are really concerned but a lot of students are really excited to get into the classroom," he said.
Granirer wants to see the university offer an option or a hybrid education, "which would give students the option of attending in-person or online."
University of Victoria Faculty Association says that's not an option.
"That is something that the Faculty Association has opposed from the start," said Lynne Marks, president of the UVic Faculty Association.
Marks says the university has also been against asking its faculty members to teach a class both online and in-person.
FACULTY OPINION
The association polled its members about the return to the classroom and the results speak for themselves.
"About three-quarters are very concerned about returning at this point," said Marks.
She added that faculty would have liked to see the university hold off in its return to in-person learning for a few weeks.
"So that we could wait and see hospitalizations going down, case numbers going down," said Marks.
The University of British Columbia has just pushed back its return to in-person learning until Feb. 7.
Meanwhile, on the island, North Island College, Vancouver Island University and Camosun College all went back on Jan. 10.
"It’s been going well," said Alli Petheriotis, a psychology student at Camosun College.
Petheriotis says she was apprehensive about coming back at the start of the month, but says in-person learning works better for her.
"For hands-on learning, it’s a lot better," she said.
UVic says it is following the advice of the Provincial Health Office. That advice says the most up-to-date health investigations show that when a post-secondary student contracts COVID-19, it is often associated with a transmission at home or in a social setting, rather than classroom.
UVic is telling its students to stay home if they are sick and expects to see a higher level of absenteeism this semester.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.