An update on next term from President Hall

Dear students, staff and faculty,

As we end the current term, we want to provide certainty to our university community about the start of the spring term. UVic is responding to the changing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and Omicron variant by moving classes temporarily online from Jan. 10 to 24, 2022.

The safety of our university community is a top priority including the mental health and wellness of our students, staff and faculty. Deciding to start the term online provides some certainty and advance notice for students and instructors, while also providing the university additional time to affirm and enhance our safety planning.

Classes will begin as scheduled Jan. 10 with the majority of instruction provided online until Jan. 24. During this period, some courses, including those with clinical or other experiential, performance or studio components, may continue in person with appropriate safety protocols in place. Instructors will contact students directly if their courses will include a face-to-face component.

Campus and all off-campus facilities operated by the university will remain open with current safety plans in place, including student housing, student services, research facilities and libraries.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has written to post-secondary presidents recommending the continuation of in-person instruction and activities in January 2022. In the letter, Dr. Henry indicated that based on our experience in BC and internationally, educational settings are low-risk for COVID-19 transmission. Dr. Henry indicated that transmission in educational settings on campus continues to be uncommon.

As Dr. Henry said in her letter, the prevention measures detailed in the Return-to-Campus Guidelines and the respective institutional safety plans have been very effective at preventing COVID-19 in a wide variety of post-secondary settings across BC and are expected to support a successful return to campus in January.

UVic plans to resume in-person instruction on Jan. 24.

More information and any other updates will be available on uvic.ca.

As we come to the end of 2021, I want to express my gratitude for your commitment and all your extra efforts over the last year and wish you all a safe and healthy winter break.

Sincerely,

Kevin

Kevin Hall, PhD

President and Vice-Chancellor