Coronavirus: Okanagan post-secondary students optimistic about returning to campus

After a year of mostly online learning, Okanagan post-secondary schools and their students are welcoming news they may be heading back to in-person classes in September.

This week, Dr. Bonnie Henry told colleges and universities to prepare for a full return to campus in the fall.

It’s been almost a year since the pandemic forced the university to move classes online.

First year UBC Okanagan student Tehya Morgan-Smith is among those happy to hear students may be headed back to campus. She said starting university online “has been really hard.”

“It is hard to stay on top of your classes now and have a good structure…so getting back to actually having to get out of your room and go somewhere to learn is going to be good,” said Morgan-Smith.

Graduate student Omkar Kulkarni sees pros and cons but overall thinks heading back to in-person learning will be good for students as they will have more access to resources.

“Most of the vaccination should be done by September,” noted Kulkarni. “It is going to be better. It will feel like a university more.”

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Schools say they will only be returning to class with appropriate COVID-19 precautions in place.

“Since the very beginning of this we have followed the provincial health guidelines and we will continue to do so. We are not looking to set our own stage here,” said Matthew Ramsey, UBC’s director of university affairs.

The university is cautiously optimistic about the province’s announcements that a full return to on-campus learning is planned for the fall.

“It’s not like flipping a switch. It is going to take a lot of planning and a lot of conversation,” Ramsey said.

It’s a similar story at Okanagan College, where almost two-thirds of the students are currently taking all their classes online.

“We’d been planning, and truthfully hoping, that by fall 2021 we would be back to largely face-to-face delivery of our programs,” said Allan Coyle Okanagan College’s associate vice-president external and strategic initiatives.

The college saw a drop-off in enrolment last fall and is looking forward to a more normal school year ahead.

“Hearing from Dr. Henry…that this was an expectation from the province was reassuring in a way because to hear it from the provincial health officer suggests that COVID is going to be dealt with and a way that will allow us to do what we do best which is teach, educate and train,” Coyle said.

Exactly what the in-person classes will look like is yet to be determined.

The province said it will be releasing guidelines to help post-secondary students get back to class.