To our U of T Engineering community
As President Gertler shared in his latest message, to give everyone a bit more of a rest, the University is delaying the start of Winter Term classes by one week. The University will close on Dec. 23, 2020 and reopen on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, as planned. Residences, essential services and supports will be available as of Jan. 4, and research labs will be running. Most classes will begin a week later than originally planned, on Jan. 11, 2021.
For our U of T Engineering students, this means:
Undergraduate students
- The first day of classes for undergraduate courses will be Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.
- Reading Week will still be five days as planned, from Feb. 15-19, 2021 inclusive.
- The last day of undergraduate classes will now be Friday, April 16, 2021.
- Monday, April 19, 2021 will be a Winter Term Study Day.
- Our final summative assessment period will begin on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, and will include the weekends as needed. The last day of the final summative assessment period will be April 30, 2021.
- Other key administrative deadlines and sessional dates will be extended by five days in accordance with the shift. The academic calendar is being updated now to reflect these changes.
- The registration period for PEY Co-op and ESIP will also be extended, running from Jan. 6-20, 2021.
We’ve managed to make this adjustment without reducing any instructional days — so students will still be able to move through the course material as originally planned. Please keep checking our U of T Engineering Undergraduate FAQs for the latest updates.
Graduate students
- Research labs will also be running as of Jan. 4, 2021.
- Research-stream graduate students should speak to their supervisors for the plans in their individual groups.
- The first day of classes for graduate-level engineering courses will be Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.
- Key sessional dates for the School of Graduate Studies will remain unchanged.
Likewise, graduate students can refer to our Graduate Student FAQs for details and updates.
Managers across the Faculty will also be receiving a message about operations during the week of Jan. 4, 2021 and wellness days for staff members.
As President Gertler notes, this change recognizes the tremendous amount of stress that we have all been facing for many months during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective here is to take a longer period away from screens, assignments and deadlines, and spend that time restoring ourselves — whether for you that means time with your family, getting outdoors every day, trying a new video game, or catching up on your sleep.
I hope we will all return to the Winter Term feeling balanced and energized.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto