Is your school in-person and are they mandating vaccines?

[penguin]

I'm curious to know how each school is proceeding for September. It's interesting how UofT is going with a hybrid model while Osgoode is going fully online despite being in the same city. I believe Ottawa just announced that vaccines will be mandatory for everyone on campus in September but I haven't seen any other schools comment on it yet. 

[Garfield]

I thought Osgoode had dual delivery? I think Western is hybrid.

[AllRise]

Windsor has said they will deliver the fall semester fully online (with the option to attend one class per week in person if you elect to) and that classes will go back to being in person for the winter term. No official word on vaccinations being mandated as far as I know. 

[Whist]

UofA is all in person, although some of the one-off events are virtual. Based on newsletters they sent out, it seems they don't intend to mandate vaccines. 

[Goblin King]

Dal seems to be in person with the exception of two pass/fail courses and doesn't intend to mandate vaccines. Got an email from UO today (apparently I'm still on their email list) and they do intend to mandate vaccines "for all persons (students, faculty, staff, and visitors) who intend to access the uOttawa campus as of September 7th (first dose) and October 15th (complete vaccination)."

[Whisk3yjack]

18 hours ago, AllRise said:

Windsor has said they will deliver the fall semester fully online (with the option to attend one class per week in person if you elect to) and that classes will go back to being in person for the winter term. No official word on vaccinations being mandated as far as I know. 

If you read between the lines of the dean's message regarding winter semester being in person, it seems clear to me that they're going in person only because they feel they have to in order to satisfy the law society's accreditation requirements. I think that's an important caveat to any potential in person semester.

Given my experience with the administration I think it is likely that they will switch to online the second they feel they can justify doing so. Students got mad when they were told they would have to come to Windsor for the winter and the administration caves to students a lot. Especially if it can be framed as an equity issue. I personally am looking forward to going back to in person learning, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[Pecan Boy]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:23 PM, penguin said:

It's interesting how UofT is going with a hybrid model while Osgoode is going fully online despite being in the same city.

The Faculty of Law at UofT is actually pretty much entirely in person - it's not really hybrid

 

[cherrytree]

50 minutes ago, Pecan Boy said:

The Faculty of Law at UofT is actually pretty much entirely in person - it's not really hybrid

 

This. 

Also, email from the UofT President sent last night: "The University of Toronto will require that all those intending to be present on our campuses be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. This is a key part of the University’s carefully developed and extensive COVID-19 protocols, which include the mandatory wearing of masks indoors and other safety measures."

[BlockedQuebecois]

I need to find U of T’s Runnymede Society Facebook page. The dual impact of mandatory masks indoors plus mandatory vaccinations is going to make their heads explode. 

[goosie]

23 hours ago, Garfield said:

I think Western is hybrid.

Can confirm. Most classes are in person, I'd say about 25% are being offered online. Western also announced yesterday that they will be requiring proof of vaccination for everyone on campus.

[Electricity]

Queen's will be 100% in-person and they announced yesterday that vaccines are mandatory for all students returning to campus: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/queen-s-require-covid-19-vaccinations

[PlayALawyerOnTV]

Osgoode is online for the fall with the potential for some optional in-person teaching (up to the individual professors). They're planning on being 100% in-person for the winter semester. 

Also just announced that vaccines will be mandatory for any students or staff that are on campus. 

[penguin]

This is interesting. I just heard on the news that UofT and Western will offer a "testing program" for those who are not vaccinated. As long as they test negative within 72 hours, they can attend campus despite being unvaccinated. No schools outside of Ontario have mandated vaccines yet.

[ccq35]

McGill is mostly in person, with the exception of large-format classes (i.e. classes that are mandatory for the entire cohort and thus have about 180 students)… it seems like some profs are planning for online or hybrid for smaller classes as well. No vaccination mandate for now, but lots of pressure on McGill from students, profs, and alum to change that, so stay tuned. 

[MSK2021]

3 hours ago, ccq35 said:

No vaccination mandate for now, but lots of pressure on McGill from students, profs, and alum to change that, so stay tuned. 

I find it odd that those in alumni community would feel that they have a say in this matter.

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, MSK2021 said:

I find it odd that those in alumni community would feel that they have a say in this matter.

I’d be embarrassed to have my alma maters not have a vaccine (or mask) mandate if other schools of a similar calibre did. I’m sure anti-vax folks would have the opposite reaction. In fact, I’ve seen anti-vax colleagues* of mine post about being outraged that York/Osgoode will have a mandate. 

I don’t give enough (read: any) money to my schools, though, so rest assured that I don’t have any say. 

*As an aside, all of the publicly anti-vax folks I know work at one Toronto firm. I have no clue what you have to do to find and hire the only anti-vax, anti-mask Osgoode students, but god does it make me sure I’ll never work at that firm.  

Edited August 15, 2021 by BlockedQuebecois

[Psychometronic]

UBC seems to be going ahead with in-person classes and endorses mandatory vaccination.

[MSK2021]

1 hour ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

I’d be embarrassed to have my alma maters not have a vaccine (or mask) mandate if other schools of a similar calibre did. I’m sure anti-vax folks would have the opposite reaction. In fact, I’ve seen anti-vax colleagues* of mine post about being outraged that York/Osgoode will have a mandate. 

I don’t give enough (read: any) money to my schools, though, so rest assured that I don’t have any say. 

I certainly have thoughts about vaccine mandates but I just don't feel as if I'm a stakeholder in the matter.

I do give a little to the school each year but don't feel that entitles me to put pressure on the school to go in any particular direction. I figure I have as much say in this matter as I do in how my old firm decorates its offices or formats its business cards.

[BlockedQuebecois]

14 minutes ago, MSK2021 said:

I certainly have thoughts about vaccine mandates but I just don't feel as if I'm a stakeholder in the matter.

I do give a little to the school each year but don't feel that entitles me to put pressure on the school to go in any particular direction. I figure I have as much say in this matter as I do in how my old firm decorates its offices or formats its business cards.

I think everyone is a stakeholder in vaccination policies, especially the vaccination policies of public institutions. If alumni want to tell the school “if you choose not to have a mandatory vaccination policy, I won’t be donating to the school”, I don’t see how that’s any different than me saying the government should have a mandatory vaccination policy or me using my purchasing power to support businesses with strong vaccination and/or mask policies.

I don’t think you can really equate vaccination policies during a pandemic to how a former workplace decorates its office. 

[cherrytree]

More info on UofT https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-require-vaccination-high-risk-activities-self-declaration-vaccination-status
 

Quote

 

Members of the university community – including faculty, staff, librarians and students – will also be required to self-declare their vaccination status using the UCheck platform. The anonymous, aggregate data on vaccination status, by campus, will be used to inform health and safety measures at the university.

Those who indicate “yes” must have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days. Community members who respond “no” or “prefer not to say” will be provided with information about vaccination, booking appointments and other public health measures.

Additionally, those who don’t answer “yes” will be directed to a rapid screening program that will provide them with rapid screening kits. They will be expected to screen themselves at home twice a week and will be expected to have a negative result within 72 hours before coming to campus. Anyone who has a positive result is required to report it through the university’s occupational health nurse at ehs.occhealth@utoronto.ca, confirm the result with a PCR test and self-isolate as directed.

 

 

[Whist]

UofA just sent out some new info. They're now requiring masks in all spaces where social distancing isn't possible, and regular testing for unvaccinated people or those who won't disclose. A vaccine mandate without calling it that to placate 'Berta, I guess. 

[3rdPerson]

With Osgoode leaving it up to individual profs to decide whether to hold in-person classes in addition to the regular class time I am curious to see if any profs will actually bother. It's extra work and extra travel time from their POV. So far, based on the course outlines, I have only seen one prof say outright that they will hold 4 in-person classes for the term. We will see what happens in a few weeks I guess.

Also, looking at the language in the emails from the Dean, I wouldn't be surprised if Osgoode ends up pushing back the full return to campus from Winter 2022 to September 2022. They are looking for any reason to postpone the return as long as possible and have moved the goalposts a few times now.

[goosie]

On 8/13/2021 at 2:31 PM, penguin said:

This is interesting. I just heard on the news that UofT and Western will offer a "testing program" for those who are not vaccinated. As long as they test negative within 72 hours, they can attend campus despite being unvaccinated. No schools outside of Ontario have mandated vaccines yet.

Update: yesterday Western announced that they will no longer allow testing in lieu of vaccination for anyone who simply chooses not to be vaccinated. The testing program is now only available to those with a medical exemption or an exemption under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

[Pecan Boy]

49 minutes ago, goosie said:

Update: yesterday Western announced that they will no longer allow testing in lieu of vaccination for anyone who simply chooses not to be vaccinated. The testing program is now only available to those with a medical exemption or an exemption under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

This is my understanding of what UofT has pivoted to as well

[abogada]

Announcement from UVic: https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/notices/2021+notice-president-statement-covid-testing+notice

There are still many moving pieces and details to be finalized but we wanted to inform our community as soon as we could. This program will give students, staff and faculty who will be attending on-campus activities the choice to:

confidentially and securely declare their status as being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or

participate in periodic rapid testing until able to be fully vaccinated.