Return to In-Person Classes Announcement – Winter Term 2022
November 5/2021
Dear DLSPH community,
After extensive research and careful consideration of multiple academic and social factors and public health guidance, we have decided to return to in-person courses for the Winter 2022 term.
Instructors will determine what in-person means for their Winter course(s) and communicate accordingly to students. For the majority of courses, we expect that this will include in-person lectures, but for some, it may be limited to in-person tutorials, small group meetings, or office hours.
Also beginning in January, student-facing services such as the PHS and IHPME graduate offices will be open for scheduled, in-person visits as well as continued, scheduled, virtual appointments.
As always, your safety and security are our primary concern and we will continue to monitor carefully public health guidance as we plan our return. We are working closely with both U of T leadership and our own occupational and environmental health experts to ensure that we are being appropriately careful about our return to more in-person work. Please remember that we do have guidance on safely using the Heath Sciences Building (155 College Street). This guidance remains in place.
Earlier this month, we released detailed protocols and a how-to video for safely navigating the Health Sciences Building (HSB). HSB will be a pilot site for air quality monitoring to identify potential areas of concern and mitigation strategies, in collaboration with U of T’s Facilities and Services, and its Planning and Re-entry Committee. We will provide our community with updates on the findings of this pilot.
Please refer to our current plans for space usage. We will keep you updated on further reopening plans as they develop and please check our website for live updates.
Please note that to visit campus, you must be fully vaccinated and have uploaded proof of vaccination by Oct. 29 in the UCheck system. Each time (daily) you come to campus, you must complete a short self-assessment in UCheck. Masks must be worn at all times, except in designated eating and drinking areas and everyone is required to carefully follow all posted signs on occupancy limits in elevators, offices and other spaces.
Thank you to all of our students, faculty, staff and post-doctoral fellows for your patience during this transition, as we work to balance our School’s educational and research responsibilities with the need for a flexible, equitable and safe return for our entire community. Faculty members, you will receive a follow-up email with further details shortly. Students, please watch for an email inviting you to join me for a Q&A on our plans next week.
Sincerely,
Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown
Dean
DLSPH’s Building Use Protocols:
COVID- 19- General- Assessment- ToolFloor Plans Showing Occupancy Limits:
Health Sciences Building
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Gage Building
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