Fleming Safe and the college’s response to yesterday’s provincial announcement
Peterborough ON – (June 11, 2020)
This message is sent on behalf of Linda Poirier, Vice President, Academic Experience
We were very pleased to hear yesterday’s news from Minister Ross Romano that Ontario’s colleges and universities can begin to re-open their campuses for a small number of in-person programs this summer. These selected programs are specifically for those students who were “stranded”, meaning that due to the COVID-19 interruption, they were unable to complete outstanding practical requirements that would have been regularly scheduled at the college and therefore, prevented them from graduating.
At Fleming, we are currently determining when we can schedule selected short-term boot camps to enable stranded students to complete their studies from the Winter and Spring semesters. We are developing plans to run a small number of programs related to essential services during the summer. In the coming weeks, impacted students will receive further communication directly from their schools regarding start dates and timetables.
As per the Minister’s announcement, the focus of this limited selection of pilot programs is directed toward students in essential front-line health service areas and high labour market demand training programs in engineering, trades and other critical professions. While this announcement is good news and a small step toward re-opening our campuses, it is important to note that it does not mean a full-scale return to campus on July 2 for students or employees. Employees will continue to work remotely until further notice.
This gradual approach to re-opening re-affirms our Fleming Safe plan to have all Fall semester programs begin in alternate or online delivery with a transition to on-campus classes when public health authorities deem it to be safe to do so. The summer boot camps will also allow us to test several of the new safety measures and protocols we will be implementing upon the return to campus.
Our top priority remains the health and safety of the Fleming community. I would like to thank everyone for your patience and support. We will continue to share more information as it comes available.
Thank you.