Fanshawe releases plans for summer and fall

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: EMILY STEWART
Fanshawe College announced its plans for the summer and fall semester, two months after initially closing its doors due to COVID-19.

Fanshawe College will not reopen until later in the summer, and only in a limited capacity.

The College announced its plans for the summer and fall terms today. All in-person classes scheduled for the summer semester are being deferred. The College then intends to offer a blended delivery of programs in the fall.

“Physical distancing measures and keeping our employees and students safe are at the core of our planning,” Fanshawe president Peter Devlin said in the announcement. “We are building scenarios that would allow us to bring students onto campus when it is required while continuing to provide course delivery online where possible.”

Navigator. Londons student lifestyles magazine.

The College said it will continue to deliver student services virtually and refine its service delivery models as time goes on.

The announcement also outlined the 2019/20 academic year.

Winter semester For the winter semester students who need to complete face-to-face work to finish their courses, Fanshawe intends to have them return to classrooms, labs and work placements starting July 20 for two weeks.

Summer semester Summer students who started May 5 will complete their courses online with classes and exams finishing August 21.

For summer students who had planned to start face-to-face classes at the end of June, these courses are being deferred to the fall.

Fall semester Fanshawe intends to offer a blended delivery of programs in the fall. Half of the full-time programs will be delivered fully online and the others will be delivered through a mix of face-to-face and online delivery. The fall semester will run from September 21 to December 19 with no exam week.

While the College community at last has a sense of direction for the first time in weeks, some students are saying they’re worried about how the delays will impact their academic success.

“I know that myself and a lot of people in my program have had a difficult time with online work and preparing for a jam packed hands-on course load when we return in July,” said a second-year respiratory therapy student who preferred not to be named. “My program also requires a placement to graduate, and there's the concern that we won't be able to start that, even once we finish the two weeks of class work in July.”

The student said that despite the academic stress, they were not as concerned about returning to the classroom environment.

“I know most of my peers and myself have been working at hospitals, long-term care facilities and screening centers while on this break, so heading back to school wouldn't bother me at all,” they said. “My program is fairly small anyway and I could see my professors putting us in smaller work groups or something to optimize physical distancing, or something similar.”