Sault College will reopen its doors to some of its students and faculty in a handful of programs Monday, July 6 with a great deal of COVID-19 precautionary measures in place.
“You’ll see a lot of signs (on-campus). The signs will be very carefully arranged so that when you’re in a specific area you’ll know exactly what you need to know,” said Colin Kirkwood, Sault College vice president academic and research, addressing the college’s board of governors at its last regular meeting of the 2019-2020 academic year, held virtually late Thursday afternoon.
“Anyone who comes on campus and will be working there will be required to pass through a COVID awareness training course,” Kirkwood said.
Staff and students will face a passive screening process upon arrival at the college, be expected to practice physical distancing and use PPE (ranging from non-surgical masks to working behind plexiglass barriers).
“Access will still be controlled and at this point, we’re planning to have access through only one entrance and there will be screening protocols in place (the college hoping for more access points as restrictions ease),” Kirkwood said.
Along with the controlled entry point, there will be card access only for those individuals, information on the card to be used for contact tracing in case someone does catch the COVID-19 virus.
“We will know who’s on campus, when they leave and how many times they've come in and out during the day,” Kirkwood said.
Only those studying or delivering instruction in a limited number of programs will be allowed on campus during the period starting July 6.
Nine programs will start up in what is being called a pilot project, Kirkwood said.
Five of those programs will require access to campus, four of the programs involving students in clinical placements.
Kirkwood said approximately 178 students are eligible to participate beginning July 6, 69 eligible to study on campus.
No food services will be available, but Kirkwood said college residences will be available for some students who were in residence before the pandemic shut the college down in March.
As reported earlier, Sault MPP Ross Romano, Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities, announced “academically stranded students” would be able to complete their academic training and receive their diplomas or degrees beginning July 2.
The academically stranded are highly employable students who would have graduated and been in the workforce by now had it not been for COVID-19’s disruption of their education, and now permitted to complete lab, practicum or other in-person training necessary to meet the graduation requirements of their respective programs.
Romano pointed to students in such programs as nursing, PSW and skilled trades as examples.
It is anticipated such students will be able to complete their education by September.
Sault College will be launching a blend of online and in-person instruction for its students in all programs for the first term of the 2020-2021 academic year, beginning in September and lasting until at least December.
It is not known when the college will be fully reopened to a normal number of students, staff and faculty.
Kirkwood also told the board of the recent launch of the college’s Teaching Overseas Pilot Project.
That project is designed to deliver online instruction to international students who may not be able to arrive in Canada by September due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
17 Sault College programs will be available online in September for international students.
“We’re hoping it will offset the negative effect the travel ban has had on our fall enrolment,” Kirkwood said.
International students need student visas and post-graduate work permits even if studying online from abroad, but many of those student visa offices are currently closed.
“We’re hopeful that through the summer the visa offices will begin to process more of the student applications,” Kirkwood said.
The federal government has granted exemptions to international students in regard to online studies and post-graduate work permit eligibility, allowing more students to start studying in programs offered by institutions such as Sault College from their home countries this summer and into the fall.
