“Before you fling your righteousness across cyberspace, hoping for humble deference to your superior intellect, let us explore a crucial dimension to your online interaction,” writes Eric Dicaire a recent University of Ottawa graduate.
COVID-19
For the first time in its storied history, the University of Ottawa will offer the majority of its courses online this fall, meaning the presence of most students on campus is not necessary. Financially for most students, this is great news as they won’t have to rent an apartment or live in residence but if you’re an incoming student and still on the fence about whether or not you should come to campus and live in residence, here’s the case for staying home.
The University of Ottawa has released a new set of guidelines for students planning to live in residence this fall. The new guidelines aim to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in residence, however, the new guidelines are confusing incoming residents and have raised concerns among them.
Local restaurants have been forced to adapt to a number of stringent regulations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as they reopen in stage two of Ontario’s reopening plan. For some though, these regulations seem exaggerated and restrictive as restaurants aren’t allowed to open their inside dining area and are thus dependent on the weather and cannot guarantee shifts to a number of their employees notably servers.
The University of Ottawa Students’ Union has created the COVID-19 Hardship Fund (CHF) to help students who “demonstrate urgent financial need.” The fund aims to especially alleviate the financial strain on international students who are ineligible for either the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB).
“To encourage the use of masks, we must tear down any built-up social stigma against mask use in times of risk,” writes Rhyanna Melanson, a class of 2020 biology graduate.
The University of Ottawa is predicting significantly large deficits that will impact students and staff alike in its updated 2020-21 projected budget. The budget takes into account the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on enrolment and how it will lead to huge financial losses for the U of O in the 2020-21 academic year.
The Ontario University Athletics has announced that it has cancelled all OUA sanctioned programming for the rest of 2020 cancelling the seasons of a number of Gee-Gees varsity teams and competitive clubs in the process.
This pandemic has made the pre-existing and glaring inequities in our society crystal clear. If this is truly ‘the new normal,’ we ought to make it a good one for everyone.
University of Ottawa president Jacques Frémont responded today to a joint letter from 18 U of O recognized student governments calling to lower or waive tuition fees for the 2020 spring/summer term. The response states ‘‘the University will not be lowering or waiving tuition fees for the spring/summer 2020 semester.’’
The University of Ottawa has announced that it will offer courses online in the fall for international and Canadian students who are unable to make it to campus in the fall. There will be, however, some exceptions for courses that require students to be physically present in class to complete the course’s academic requirements.
A group of Ontario university students from Ottawa has created an initiative called Frontline First to help deliver personal protective equipment to frontline workers at multiple Ottawa hospitals. As of Sunday, Frontline First has raised $5,450, a little over halfway to its goal of $10,000, and is asking the U of O community’s help to reach its goal.
The University of Ottawa Students’ Union announced they will be collecting ancillary fees for the 2020 spring/summer semester. A portion of the fees will be used to create a hardship fund for students affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work on 10 maintenance projects at the University of Ottawa is set to resume next week. This follows Friday’s announcement from the Government of Ontario that essential construction and maintenance projects on the province’s post-secondary campuses will be permitted to resume their activities starting Monday
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $9 billion in financial support for post-secondary students and recent graduates on Wednesday after thousands across the country said gaps in existing COVID-19 emergency measures meant they were slipping through the cracks.
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute is among the 19 hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes across the city that are reporting outbreaks of COVID-19, according to Ottawa Public Health. As of Monday, two patients at the heart institute had tested positive for the virus and one patient had died.
Students taking classes at the U of O during the upcoming online spring/summer semesters will be met with a number of changes to fees and services due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The U-Pass is suspended for the term, while fees for Sports Services and the University Centre are waived.
University of Ottawa students who played in intramural leagues during the winter semester will be eligible for a 15 per cent refund on league fees following the cancellation of all campus sports and recreation on March 17 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eunioa curatorial text describes the show as capturing “the unbridled talent of a new generation of artists” and that it “will be remembered as the beginning of bright artistic futures.”
Campus unions at the University of Ottawa are calling on the administration to waive tuition fees for the upcoming spring and summer semesters after the global COVID-19 pandemic closed many of the school’s services indefinitely and shifted both semesters online, while also posing major financial challenges for students.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has temporarily expanded the Canada Summer Jobs Program to employ up to 70,000 more people, but some post-secondary students say that the measure doesn’t go far enough and are continuing to call on the federal government to better support them through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands across the country are calling on the federal government to expand eligibility for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit after many post-secondary students and recent graduates said the COVID-19 pandemic relief fund leaves them behind.
As hospitals brace for an expected surge of COVID-19 patients and concerns around a shortage of personal protective equipment grow, University of Ottawa engineers are pumping out plastic face shields for frontline health-care workers at the Richard L’Abbé Makerspace lab on campus.
The faculties of medicine, health sciences, engineering, and science at the University of Ottawa have shipped 252 boxes of donated supplies to local hospitals to help them treat COVID-19 patients. Over 110 small businesses and 70 organizations also pitched in.
For the U of O men’s hockey team, the 2019-20 season was about finishing what they started. The Gee-Gees fought through the playoffs, playing in a historic Queen’s Cup game before heading to Halifax for the USports national championship tournament. Unfortunately, the Gees were unable to hit the ice due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
