Brock University continues to provide updates to the community regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 13, Brock University:
- Suspended all face-to-face classes, lectures, seminars, tests and exams for the rest of this academic term
- There will be no in-person exams this academic term
- The University is working on plans for creating virtual environments for courses as the term moves forward with the goal of resuming online/virtual or alternative format courses March 23
- Students will be receiving updates from their instructors over the course of this week
- The period for final exams will remain in place, but none of those exams will be in person, all will move to a virtual, take home or other format
- All events and activities are cancelled through June 1.
Please note that classes, lectures, rehearsals, performances and all other events have been cancelled, so there is no need to remain at campus for future in-person functions or exams. This includes rehearsals and performances for music, drama and visual arts.
All optional experiential education opportunities that are not part of a professional practicum are suspended as we have suspended all classes. Practicums and clinicals for Nursing students have also been suspended and the remainder of the term will be run online.
Some other experiential learning arrangements and co-op placements remain operational. However, all students should consult with their workplace supervisors for direction on how to proceed.
No face-to-face exams
Exams for the Winter Term will still take place in the scheduled period, which begins April 8.
However, all exams will be conducted through online, take-home or some other virtual method.
There will be no face-to-face or in-person exams taking place on the campus, so there is no need for students to physically remain at the University.
Faculty members are being encouraged to consider re-distributing the assessment for a course based on the material and work already completed.
Leaving residence
As Public Health experts urge Canadians to avoid crowds or public gatherings, the University is strongly advising residence students return to their permanent or family homes as soon as possible, where this is feasible and if public health conditions are safe to do so.
Residences remain open so that students with extenuating circumstances who cannot make immediate arrangements to travel home, including international or out-of-province students, still have accommodations.
As hundreds of students have been leaving over the past several days, the University is extremely grateful to numerous Brock staff members who have given up their own weekends and volunteered to help students prepare to move out.
With students and families loading up vehicles to move out, there could be delays coming onto campus. Please be patient to allow residence students returning to their permanent or family homes to leave campus in an orderly fashion.
Residence students who have questions can email the residence service desks:
- North Service Desk (northdesk@brocku.ca) – DeCew, Vallee, Earp, Quarry View and Lofts 9 Residences
- South Service Desk (southdesk@brocku.ca) – Lowenberger and Village Residence
Travellers and studying abroad
The University is in contact with Brock students who are on exchanges at foreign universities, to check on their wellbeing and to provide advice and updated information.
The Government of Canada this weekend upgraded its travel advisory, and says all Canadians who are abroad should consider coming home sooner than planned, while they can still get flights. See all advisories here.
Until further notice, Canadians should avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada, and people already out of the country should determine what airline options are still available, and consider coming back as those options are becoming more limited.
The Government is advising a self-isolation period of 14 days for anyone returning to Canada from outside the country.
Canadians abroad may be forced to remain outside of Canada longer than planned, as airlines are cancelling scheduled flights and more countries enact announce new restrictions with very little warning.
Library hours
The Library will remain open during this period but will have new hours of operation.
The first floor of the Library will be open and staff will monitor the need should other floors need to be opened based on demand.
Click here for full details about the Library’s adjusted hours.
Food Service
With classes suspended and many students not on campus, food service outlets and hours will be changing. Updated hours will be posted at each outlet.
Faculty and Staff questions
We’ve received questions from staff and faculty about working from home and telecommuting options. The University remains open and operational and there is an expectation that regular services will continue to be operated, albeit with some modifications where necessary. Human Resource Services is preparing more information about these options for supervisors and managers to consider and this information will be available to them soon.
Public health links
Stay aware of latest COVID-19 updates from our public health agencies:
