Constant changes in delivery format disadvantages out-of-province and international students
It’s funny how words mean different things to different people. For example, an email from Assistant Dean (Academic) Sara Faherty that “students should plan to be in Toronto to attend in person classes” means different things to students who live in Toronto than it would to out-of-province students. For the former, that email might mean “I should figure out how to commute.” For students coming from outside of Ontario—provinces outside Ontario do exist—that email means “I have to sign a lease.”
The same can be said for an email from the Dean’s Office that “the University will largely shift from in-person to remote operations until January 31.” For students living in Toronto, that email might mean “I’m keeping my camera off in admin law.” For students outside of Ontario, that email means “I’m paying Toronto rent for an education I could get from home.”
In an all-too-predictable twist of fate, out-of-province students were locked into sunk-cost rental agreements for January. I won’t be the first to say that the Faculty should’ve seen this coming. No one was particularly surprised that Ontario went into another lockdown. In fact, public health experts had been predicting a winter lockdown since late summer. Everyone knew that summer 2021 was the eye of the storm. Whether it was blind optimism or laziness, the Faculty didn’t seem to consider the possibility of a return to remote learning in their 2021–2022 COVID planning. Many out-of-province students were left with no option but to sign year-long leases for what we correctly anticipated to be a truncated semester.
Over the last year and a half, the Faculty has demonstrated a complete lack of preparedness for and willingness to communicate with students about lockdown protocols. The abrupt switch from in-person to remote classes and back is disorienting for all students, including those living in Toronto. We’ve all been screwed over. That said, out-of-province students have arguably been screwed over the worst. We’ve had to book plane tickets at the drop of a hat, and shuttled ourselves across provincial borders while locked into year-long leases for empty rooms.
Given this pandemic-planning gongshow, I went into second semester pessimistic. I expected February would be another month of Zoom University and that the administration would wait until February’s rent was due to tell us. Happily, I was proven wrong.
I’m sure we all know by now we’re returning to in-person classes on February 7. While it’s surprising to finally hear some good news after two years of doom and gloom, what really surprised me was that we received it before January 31. In a shocking departure from precedent, the administration has informed students of their COVID-19 planning updates before the eleventh hour. We were given notice and ample time to plan for the latest switch in the remote learning/in-person class see-saw.
If we’ve learned one thing from the chaotic semester, it’s to expect the unexpected. So, maybe, I should’ve expected a bare minimum of notice rather than sprinting across provincial borders on 48 hours’ notice. As much as I’d like to complain about our return to in person class, I find myself in the unfamiliar position of not having anything to really complain about. I guess I couldn’t even rely on the Faculty to be unreliable—how perverse.
