University of Toronto Mississauga students push for hybrid semester
University of Toronto Mississauga students are calling on the university to take their COVID-19 concerns seriously and offer a hybrid winter semester.
As colleges and universities are set to resume in-person learning in February, many students are left in a lurch to find their own accommodations. At the University of Toronto Mississauga campus, students have been requesting accommodations for the Winter 2022 semester since November.
“For students like me, who have accessibility issues, we need more of a transition period, and we also need more certainty that it will be safe, especially when you’re immunocompromised,” Shen Fernando, co-founder of Transparent UTSMU, told Daily Hive.
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Transparent UTSMU is a group of volunteer students working to bring transparency and accountability to the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Fernando decided to take matters into his own hands instead of waiting on the university. He emailed the UTM principal outlining the concerns about returning to in-person classes, but he didn’t get the response he had hoped for.
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“We were given this kind of generic PR response,” he said.
A spokesperson for UTM told Daily Hive that in-person learning would be increased beginning on February 7. Some programs have already resumed in-person learning. The spokesperson added that pandemic-related updates have been posted here.
“We recognize that the pandemic, and the ways that we have all needed to adapt to it, have caused stress and anxiety for our community,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Fernando wasn’t satisfied with the response he received from the UTM administration, so he decided to take to the Transparent UTSMU platform used during the previous year. He hoped to raise some awareness and garner support from other students.
“One by one, students started bringing in more perspectives of what was going wrong,” he said. “We started seeing that these decisions did not just transpire right now; they’ve had this kind of domino effect since the start of 2020.”
Fernando said that they looked back at the university’s decisions from early in the pandemic when they were required to go to class without any additional protections prior to mask mandates in the province.
Students deserve a #SafeReturn to campus! š£š£š£ Let @Uoft @UTSC @UTM @fordnation @JillDunlop1 and other university and government representatives know what we need to protect our campus community for a safe and successful semester! Send an email today: https://t.co/zSt6FXwSZ1 pic.twitter.com/SkJC0mXZSm
ā UTMSU (@myUTMSU) January 20, 2022
When Fernando and his Transparent UTSMU students took their concerns about returning to in-person learning to the university, they were told to take it up with their individual professors. The university would not be providing sweeping accommodations.
According to a statement from UTM provided to Daily Hive, students who have a “temporary or permanent diagnosed disability” must go through the university’s Accessibility Services for accommodations.
The fate of immunocompromised students, or those who have chronic illnesses ā or even live with someone immunocompromised ā is left up to professors unless they manage to jump through the hoops of getting academic accommodations.
Tell @UofT and your MPP that you deserve a #SafeReturn to campus! Access to education for grad students and undergrads this year depends on meaningful health and safety measures, and adequate financial supports. Students can’t learn if campus isn’t safe. #UofT #onpoli #onpse https://t.co/TMNiQrxXoO
ā CUPE 3902 (@cupe3902) January 27, 2022
“It’s up to the professors, which is a very, very strange policy because you could just create one cohesive policy for the entire university and make it very simple for accessibility advisors, professors and students,” said Fernando.
Getting official accommodations can be tricky and a lot of work. In order to apply for official accommodations at UTM, students have to provide recent documentation from a licensed physician. The document should include thorough details of the student’s limitations and a list of prescription medication and their side effects. A full list of requirements can be found here.
Getting documentation can be made even more difficult with so many doctors practicing virtually.
“Students do not need to disclose their disability needs to their professor or instructor; we recognize that seeking accommodation can feel overwhelming. This specific student service provides support and guidance to ensure reasonable accommodations are in place,” the UTM spokesperson said.
Fernando said that it’s not just students who aren’t happy about the return to in-person learning. Some professors have reached out to Transparent UTSMU to raise their own concerns.
“For professors, a lot of them wanted to remain online, and a lot of them actually want students to have the accommodations that they need,” he said.
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Not to mention that some professors have autoimmune disorders, chronic illnesses and disabilities of their own. The professors are trying their best to make accommodations, but Fernando says the failure comes from the top.
“They’re definitely trying their best to, you know, help students by accommodating them. But once again, if the infrastructure isn’t in place right at the top, then things kind of start to fall apart.”
Like the rest of Ontario classrooms, university classes are being treated as though they are an exception to spreading COVID-19. Fernando said that some lectures have hundreds of students in them, sitting closely together.
A UTM spokesperson told Daily Hive that they are in close contact with Peel Region’s medical officer of health and that he has OK’d the university’s return to class.
“We’re especially grateful to Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s Medical Officer of Health, for his prudence, care and leadership throughout the pandemic and for his strong endorsement of our plan to increase in-person activity on campus on February 7,” the spokesperson said in an email.
University of Toronto campuses have a vaccine policy in place. All students must provide proof of vaccination and complete a self-screening before attending campus. Masks are to be worn indoors, and a recent update from UTM says they will be providing medical masks “as supplies allow and for a limited time.”
For Fernando and his fellow UTM students, these precautions don’t go far enough. They are still pushing for a hybrid semester to keep immunocompromised students, staff, professors and family members safe.
“We just want UTM administrators to address our concerns and to listen to our concerns, you know, to validate those concerns,” he said.
A UTM spokesperson told Daily Hive that they have not received an email request for a meeting with the group.
According to an Instagram post, a town hall was held for UTM students about the return to in-person learning in February. Students were told that it’s up to professors to provide online learning; however, they’re not required to offer online lessons.
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Unlike Ontario public school students, university students will not have access to rapid antigen tests. They also will not be provided with N95 masks.
Beginning February 7, all classes marked as “in-person” will be at the campus unless the professor provides online accommodations for students. Professors will be allowed to record their lectures, but it will, again, be left up to the professors to decide if they want to.
The University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union has started a petition for a safe return to school. It can be found here.
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