Update to Fall Programs – A Message from AC Senior Vice President Academic

Posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2020

Dear Learners and Colleagues:

I would like to share more details about our academic plans for the Fall term.

First and foremost, I want to thank students and their families for their ongoing patience and understanding. In a time of many unknowns, we appreciate how challenging it has been to deal with added uncertainty around your studies. And I want to thank our Academic employees and other departmental teams whose tireless, dedicated work helped make our Fall plans possible.

We had to make some difficult, complex decisions. We wanted to ensure our approach adhered to the latest public health guidance, met the needs of the College community, and could be supported by our College resources and infrastructure.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Algonquin College has had to make changes to how we deliver our Fall programs in order to maintain a high-quality learning experience while ensuring the safety of our students and employees. These changes were shaped by the guiding principles in our Fall term framework, which was released in May.

I am happy to announce that the College is currently preparing to deliver 94 per cent of its planned programming for the Fall 2020 term. In keeping with COVID-19 safety requirements, the College is unable to offer 13 program intakes and 16 returning program levels (which will have an impact on 134 returning students). The status of all returning programs is available here. Students will be contacted by their program’s Academic team and provided with a detailed plan for their area of study — the approach will be tailored to the learning goals of each program.

Our plan minimizes face-to-face instruction and promotes the delivery of remote academic instruction whenever possible. Many programs will be offered remotely and the remaining programs will be a combination of remote learning and select on-campus academic activities.

You can find an overview of program delivery plans for new and returning students below, including details on whether programs are being taught remotely or will have some on-campus elements:

Program delivery plans – New Students

Program delivery plans – Returning Students

It is disappointing that we were not able to offer some program levels and intakes this fall – and the College wants to help those impacted in any way that we can. If you are affected by these temporary program suspensions, we will reach out to you to highlight alternatives, such as re-applying in an upcoming term, exploring alternate program options at Algonquin College, exploring similar programs available for applications at other Ontario Colleges, adding another program choice for the 2020-21 academic year at ontariocolleges.ca at no additional cost, or an application fee refund.

The due date for deposits for the Fall term is June 15th. If there are insufficient enrolments in a particular program after that date, the College may have to suspend that new intake for the Fall term. Should that become necessary, students will be notified and offered the options described above.

I want you to know that the changes the College is implementing for the Fall term were only made after comprehensive deliberation and analysis. Again, two key factors were at the forefront of all decisions: the health and safety of the College community, and ensuring the quality of the learner experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges to all post-secondary institutions. We sincerely apologize to those affected by these decisions; our team will continue to do its very best to assist them in their next steps.

The situation is constantly evolving and our Fall term plans will still need to be adaptable. Any changes to our approach will be based on the latest guidance from public health authorities, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and Colleges Ontario.

Finally, I want to ask the entire College community for continued patience. After receiving program-specific plans, I know some individuals will have additional questions. Please know that our Academic teams will do their best to answer all inquiries as quickly as possible.

I look forward to seeing our College community launch into the fall – whether learning, teaching, or supporting our learners. It will be a Fall term unlike any other in Algonquin’s history. I am confident in all we can accomplish working together while staying true to our values of Caring, Integrity, Learning and Respect.

Sincerely,

Christopher Janzen

Senior Vice President Academic

Algonquin College


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