COVID-19 Update: June 9, 2020 | 2:00 pm
To our U of T Engineering community
I hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and healthy. I want to continue to update you on our Faculty’s planning for the Fall Term, and how we’re working to relaunch some of the research that has been paused since the campus closure in March.
As I’ve shared, our primary motivation as we plan for September is to protect the health and wellness of our community — this includes undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, researchers, industry partners, alumni and friends. That’s why we are focused on ensuring that we deliver an excellent semester through remote learning. All classes, lectures, and course events will be offered online.
We are also making a remote access guarantee, which will allow every one of our students to complete all academic requirements remotely, including final exams. The remote access guarantee means that for those who cannot be in Toronto, or choose to stay home, you will be able to continue your programs uninterrupted. Students will not be required to attend classes, labs or tutorials in person during the Fall 2020 Term.
We hope to be able to augment our remote learning with in-person experiences, including perhaps socially distant office hours, group projects, extra- or co-curricular opportunities. However, we continue to take guidance from public health authorities and governments, and cannot forecast when it may be safe to do so. If we are able to safely offer in-person experiences, we will likely not be able to confirm those details until much later in the summer or even early Fall.
Finally, we are taking steps to safely restart research projects that had been suspended in March. This involves evaluating lab and work spaces, installing safety equipment, and ensuring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is available and new safety protocols are clear. I know that faculty are working closely with all members of their research teams, focusing on scheduling and safety planning for the restart in their research spaces and labs. Principal investigators with questions about when they should be planning for the restart should first contact their Associate Chair, Research.
While the COVID-19 situation across Ontario remains uncertain, our Faculty’s focus is clear: to cautiously and thoughtfully adapt our spaces and workflows to prepare for a safe restart, and embrace the challenge of delivering a terrific Fall Term remotely. With creativity, cooperation and ambition, I know we can do both.
Chris
Christopher Yip
Dean
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
University of Toronto