Coronavirus: University of Alberta moving to online classes starting Tuesday; MacEwan, NAIT suspend classes

The University of Alberta will be moving to online classes starting on Tuesday, March 17, in response to ongoing concerns around the spread of COVID-19, while MacEwan University and NAIT both announced temporary suspensions.

In an announcement Saturday, the U of A said that it would be transitioning from in-person classes to remote delivery.

All classes, including online ones, will be suspended on Monday to allow time for instructors to prepare.

Students will be using the U of A’s eClass website to access their courses and course content online from home for the remainder of the winter term.

Meanwhile, MacEwan University announced Saturday that it would be “temporarily suspending classes from March 16-18.” In a tweet, the organization had said the suspension would allow the faculty to prepare for a possible switch to online.

NAIT also said late Saturday night that it would be following the same procedure: suspending all in-person classes from March 16-18 to prepare to move classes online. The organization said “all classes” will resume March 19.

The U of A had previously said that its classes were suspended Friday, to allow for consultation with public health experts, government officials and other post-secondary institutions.

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Registration for fall 2020 and winter 2021 classes, scheduled for March 16, will go ahead as planned for U of A students.

Those students will also have their midterm exams, that were suspended Friday, rescheduled and accommodated in a remote delivery format.

The University of Calgary also announced on Friday that it would move to an online format. 

NAIT said this week that classes there will continue as normal Monday.

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Concerned about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Health officials say the risk is very low for Canadians.

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing – very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. And if you get sick, stay at home.

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