How UNB Keeps Students And Surrounding Community Safe During The Pandemic
Many students will be arriving at UNB campuses in Fredericton and Saint John from around the world in the midst of a pandemic this winter. With experience from the first wave of COVID-19, UNB is prepared to receive them.
Dr. Kathy Wilson, the associate VP (academic) for the learning environment in Fredericton, is chair of UNB’s Bi-Campus COVID-19 Response Steering Committee.
She said UNB knows it can continue to operate in a manner that’s safe for students and the surrounding communities. The university is offering a mix of in-person and remote classes depending on the learning outcomes of the course.
“The thing about COVID is that it’s not convenient and it’s not predictable. We can prepare the best-laid plan and then there will be a change or new development, so we begin again,” Wilson said. “We’ve learned to be really nimble.”
Her team meets weekly with representatives from the Department of Post-Education, Training and Labour and New Brunswick Public Health.
“UNB takes supporting our students and the self-isolation planning process very, very seriously. I think it’s probably one of the most important things that we’re doing right now, second to delivering quality learning in a quality learning environment,” she said.
Wilson wants to make sure students studying at UNB are supported properly, whether they’re staying on-campus or off-campus.
The support starts from the moment a student decides to study at UNB.
Since the fall, a group that includes representatives from counseling services, international students advising office, residence services, student health and the broader academic community have helped incoming students prepare for their arrival and support them through self-isolation.
Before any student arrives from outside New Brunswick, they get information about what’s required for them to enter Canada and New Brunswick, including an approved self-isolation plan.
“UNB is a designated learning institution. That means that we’ve been identified by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada as having all of the plans and processes in place to adequately support and protect the health and safety of all students and the surrounding community during the pandemic,” she said.
UNB also assists students with travel arrangements to New Brunswick, airport pickup, as well as connections to campus, alumna, UNB student health services and after-hours support.
During the 14-day isolation period, staff members reach out to each student every day to assess their mental and physical wellness. Students will receive a phone call at least four times during the two-week period and have e-mail correspondence on the remaining days.
“There can’t be a day when students isolating aren’t connected with somebody,” said Wilson. “It can be very challenging to come to a new country, a new environment and then just be on your own.”
Virtual counselling services are also available for students on a one-on-one basis or group basis.
As mandated by the Government of New Brunswick, students arriving from outside of Canada will receive COVID testing between day 9 through to day 11 of their isolation period.
Although many UNB staff are working through the holidays to welcome students who will arrive early, UNB has delayed the start of classes from January 4 to January 11. The first week of classes will also be completely virtual to allow all students arriving from outside of New Brunswick to isolate safely for the full two-week isolation period.
Residence Services staff will also help each student to create a personalized plan if they have to self-isolate in residence. Students required to self-isolate in residence are asked to arrive at least 14 days before classes start.
Depending on the residence plan or the style of the suite chosen, UNB will provide initial basic supplies, as well as a combination of meal delivery and/or information packages containing contact information for ordering groceries. Student volunteers will help with grocery deliveries.
UNB also has an outbreak plan, approved by New Brunswick Public Health, should a positive case be detected among its students. This includes contact tracing mechanisms and self-contained units in residences.
“We have a university community that when the chips are down, everybody steps up,” Wilson said. “It’s been a huge collective effort of people who are putting the students’ health and safety and academic achievement first.”
This story is sponsored by the University of New Brunswick.