While the majority of North Island College’s fall programming will be offered online via digital delivery methods in 2020, students enrolled in blended delivery programs will be attending campus for some hands-on components.
“Our first priority is always the health and well-being of our students,” said Colin Fowler, NIC vice president of finance and facilities. “Our faculty, staff and administrators have been hard at work examining all program spaces and determining what safety measures needed to be put in place before students returned to campus.”
The college has been working with public health and WorkSafeBC to develop plans to protect students and employees, reduce potential transmission and develop site-specific guidelines at campuses across the region.
The new safety measures include signage, hand sanitization stations, floor tape to indicate appropriate physical distancing requirements and physical barriers to separate student workspaces.
Students are also asked to bring and wear non-medical masks around campus when physical distancing is not possible.
In order to help prepare students for the return to campus, NIC has produced a short video with guidelines so students know what is expected of them on campus. Each program has its own individual safety plan and a required orientation that students must take. Details of those orientations will be sent to students via their NIC email.
“We want to ensure that when students do come to campus, they know exactly what to expect, what to look for in terms of safety signage and what is expected of each member of the NIC community so we can keep each other safe,” said Fowler.
Along with enhanced safety measures, NIC is also ensuring all student services and supports are available to current and prospective students through alternative delivery methods such as phone and email.
A full list of all NIC spaces and services has been posted on the Safe Start to Fall page, so students can see how and where to access the services they’re looking for, including academic advising, bookstores and how to get their student ID. The page can be found at www.nic.bc.ca/safe-start-fall.
