Why are some University of Ontario students returning to class while others are still stuck online?

Students from Western and Queen’s colleges have attended most of their classes in person this fall. But at McMaster and Wilfrid Laurier Universities, learning is mostly done online.

Depending on which Ontario post-secondary institution students attend, they may be on campus a lot or just a little, and the difference is causing confusion and frustration.

“It’s pretty ridiculous; I can go to a bar on a Friday or Saturday night with 300 kids, but on Monday I can’t go to a conference with 50 people,” said Matthew Doane, a third-year Laurier arts student who opted for out of class this semester when she found out everyone would be online, she chose instead to work at a restaurant in the Waterloo area.

“There is no rhyme or reason for what Laurier is doing.”

Laurier says his decision to keep many classes online this fall was “driven by the university’s commitment to providing a safe environment for everyone on our campuses, consistent with public health guidelines,” and that his combination of face-to-face courses , remote and online “Aims to help pave the way for a full return to campus in the winter of 2022.”

Similarly, McMaster says that “almost all classes will be held in person” in the winter term, but says he has been left with the decision to do many courses online, only in the fall term, due to “the need for students to plan properly.”

That stands in stark contrast to Western, which returned to full in-person learning in September after the Ontario government gave the green light for a near-normal return, and Queen’s, which says it worked with its local public health unit and is offering more than 90 percent of fall quarter classes face-to-face, increasing to 97 percent in the winter.

So how did Ontario universities end up with such divergent policies?

Some critics blame the provincial government for waiting until mid-July to decide that face-to-face classes could safely resume, leaving university administrations with little time to pivot from the online learning model of the previous school year.

Others, including parents and a senior university administrator who spoke to Star on condition of anonymity, blame continued online learning on weak leadership, reluctant teachers, or an inability or unwillingness of schools to change the plans they established in the spring. pass.

Meanwhile, the complaints keep piling up.

“The university has been in for four years and three have been affected,” said Tammy Doane, who says she wrote several letters to Laurier about her son’s situation but never received a response.

“I don’t understand why these children are still being held, when everything else is open.”

With high vaccination rates on campus, close to 100 percent among staff and students at some schools, “we don’t know why they weren’t leading the way in helping these kids when other schools were,” Doane added.

“It has changed the course of the lives of many children.”

Steve Orsini, president of the Ontario Council of Universities, said schools welcomed students to campus “in ways that were appropriate to the unique situation of their institution,” and are working with local public health units “to ensure the health and safety of our campus communities, enabling more in-person learning and activity on campus. “

But students and parents are not convinced of that.

Laura Fitzsimmons says she reached out to Wilfrid Laurier numerous times last spring to ask why the school was making decisions so early, before vaccination rates were known and as the number of new COVID-19 cases decreased during summer.

His son, who is in the third year of a business cooperative program, said that neither he nor his housemates have face-to-face classes this quarter, at a time when society in general is opening up and vaccination levels are high.

Fitzsimmons blames the professors, whom he said must realize that “it’s about the students and their learning, their health and well-being, and the money we pay to get them to go to college. That really bothers me. “

Online learning remains unpopular with students, and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance said students at schools like Western are enjoying their return to normalcy.

Sue Wurtele, president of the Ontario Confederation of University Teachers Associations, said the vast majority of the professors she has spoken to “want to come back in person, but they want to make sure it’s safe to do so before taking that step.”

When asked about the teachers’ rejection, he said the concern he has heard the most is the lack of consultation with the joint health and safety committees on return plans, not that the teachers do not want to return.

Bethany Osborne, spokesperson for Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop, said that “post-secondary institutions are self-contained entities and continue to have the flexibility to offer both face-to-face and virtual options for teaching and learning that are best suited to the needs of students. and institutions “.

The University of Guelph plans for most classes to be face-to-face in January, and 60 percent now have a “face-to-face component.”

The University of Toronto reports that 55 percent of its classes are face-to-face this fall, with that number expected to rise to 84 percent in the winter quarter.

Ryerson currently offers about 20 percent of the classes in person, but intends to increase that to most classes for second period.

At York University, a third of current classes are face-to-face, rising to 85 percent in January.