SYDNEY — The upcoming spring term at Cape Breton University will see students and staff bustling in the halls again.
But it's not back to class as pre-pandemic usual.
Tanya Brann-Barrett, associate vice-president academic and research, said there will be four different delivery models of study for students in May: in-person; online at a scheduled time; online not at a scheduled time ;and both in-person and online. For the last option, students will streaming their classes online while other classmates will be attending in-person.
"Some students might not be back in the community and they could be online all the time," said Brann-Barrett, who is lead for the university's return team.
"We're still working out some of the little details moving forward."
The final decision to have in-person classes resume was made by CBU president David Dingwall based on the return team's plan and consultations from the university’s medical advisory team, which was created in December.
CBU, like other universities across the province, was forced to close in March 2020 when the provincial stay-at-home orders were issued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From then, Brann-Barrett said their goal was to return to in-person classes as soon as possible.
Last fall, the return team set its sights on a spring semester reopening for students to return to classroom studies, and over the past number of months CBU staff have begun working on campus.
A big factor in reopening the campus was ensuring students and staff would be kept safe.
All public health safety directives are being followed for the return on May 3, including social-distancing, mask-wearing and encouraging frequent hand washing.
"We are hearing a lot from our students that they want to come back to campus. And we're hearing that not just at CBU, it's a message that we're hearing from university campuses across the country," Brann-Barrett said.
"That experience of being on campus, making those connections (with staff and other students, using the library … for many students that experience is very important."
STUDENT RESPONSE
Current CBU students union president Amrinder Singh said he's pleased in-person classes are starting next semester.
"The last 12 months have been very tough on students physically, mentally and financially. Students spent most of their days in front of screens taking online classes, isolated in their rooms away from their friends, missing the valuable university experience with paying increased tuition," he said.
"We cannot wait to see the campus filled with students like it used to be and students making their university experience the most memorable time of their life. We are working very closely with the CBU administration to make the transition to campus and in-person is safe for everyone."
"Having been away from campus for the past year, students are very excited to return or set foot on campus for the first time. It represents a huge milestone towards returning to normalcy for everyone," said the political science student. Incoming students union president Madlyn O'Brien echoed those sentiments.
"When we do return, there will be two intakes of students who have yet to step foot on campus, so it will be a time for learning for everyone."
PANDEMIC POSITIVES
Although the COVID-19 pandemic did cause many challenges for CBU, Brann-Barrett said there were also many positives.
One was the development of CBU's remote learning. While the university had online classes before, the post-secondary institution had to expand on this and determine the best ways of delivery.
Another positive was seeing university staff in all departments, not just faculty, come together during the difficult and unexpected closure.
"We moved really quickly to remote learning this time last year to finish off the winter session. And then we developed an entirely online delivery model for the winter and fall. Now we're moving back and at every stage, it involved so many people, and people going above and beyond," she said.
"For me that's been very heartening to be able to work in that. I think when we all reflect on this on the other side, we learned a lot and there are positive outcomes we can take from this experience that will help CBU moving forward."
