Fall Semester Plan Sees Campus Open with Majority of Classes in Person
I am pleased to announce that St. Thomas University will be open for the Fall Semester with more than 65% of our Bachelor of Arts courses delivered in-person, along with numerous remote options. In addition, we will be providing both in-person and remote student services to ensure that you have all the necessary supports to be successful, and our residences will be open with food services operating. Plans are underway to welcome you for the first day of classes on September 8, which is less than three months away.
The School of Education and School of Social Work programs will be in person, and those students will receive details from their program directors on course delivery and when to arrive on campus.
Fall Course Delivery Options
Working with faculty, we have developed in-person and remote course delivery models. The Semester 1 Course Offerings and WebAdvisor now indicate which model each course will be following:
- In-Person Courses list a building and room number in the location field.
- Remote Courses list “Web Online” as the course location.
Please Note
- In-person courses will have remote access accommodation available for students not able to return to campus in September due to extenuating circumstances such as travel restrictions or a medical condition. The nature of the remote access will depend on the course and could include livestreaming, streaming with interaction, and/or asynchronous elements. Professors will share details about remote access on a course-by-course basis to those students who have been granted an accommodation to participate remotely.
- All students should plan to be available for the time slot assigned to their course whether the course is following an in-person or remote model.
- Students who need to access an in-person class remotely will be required to apply for an accommodation to do so; details on the procedure for doing so will be forthcoming.
- To reduce confusion, full-year (6 credit-hour) courses that begin as remote courses in the fall will continue with remote delivery for the full year.
Students who are able should plan to return to Fredericton for September. Our hope is to return to fully in-person classes and operations by January.
Getting Vaccinated Can Bring Us Back Together, Faster
The Province of New Brunswick is implementing a gradual easing of restrictions until August when they target a lifting of remaining restrictions. They will be monitoring vaccination rates which are a key driver for reopening. The best thing that you can do to maintain this momentum towards recovery is to get vaccinated.
Any student who has not yet received their first vaccine is strongly encouraged to book an appointment through Vitalité or Horizon Health Clinics or a pharmacy. Students residing outside New Brunswick are encouraged to seek information on vaccination in their province of residence.
With the safety and health of our community as our primary goal, we will consult with Public Health as we move towards September, and we expect to keep protection measures in place (such as hand-sanitizing, masking).
After such a prolonged absence, we look forward to having students, faculty, and staff together again on our campus. We will continue to monitor the situation, and updates will be forthcoming over the summer. In the meantime, we have developed a series of FAQ on the Fall Semester.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to ask@stu.ca.
Dawn Russell
President and Vice-Chancellor