Students at UBC Okanagan (UBCO) will have cost certainty as courses move online.
At a special July meeting the Student Senate Caucus passed a policy capping the costs of digital assessment tools (DAT) at $65 per course.
Those tools will also be capped at 15 per cent of a student’s grade.
The policy took on added importance as all Winter 2020 classes will be online as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was no formal consultation on this policy as it was crafted on an emergency basis to provide adequate time for faculty to make appropriate arrangements to comply with the policy for 2020 Winter term 1,” stated Senate Academic Policy Committee Chair, Dr. Jan Cioe.
BREAKING: The UBC Okanagan Student Senate Caucus passes the DAT Policy protecting students from financial hardship due to DATs in the Okanagan Senate! pic.twitter.com/zwEt0nhSx0
— UBC Okanagan Student Senate Caucus (@ubcosenate) July 24, 2020
The caps are planned to remain in place only for the first term of Winter 2020, with the senate planning on tweaking or extending the policy as needed.
“As we look towards 2020 Winter term being nearly exclusively online, we anticipate increased use of digital assessment tools across most programs and years of study as traditional forms of assessment become impractical or impossible,” said Cioe.
“The Committee is aware of the financial hardships students are likely to face as a result of online delivery and has crafted this policy to be proactive in their protection.”
The letter notes provincial governments in Alberta and Ontario have signed similar practices into law.
The $65 cap is for three credit-hour courses only, with tweaks to smaller or larger classes.
READ MORE: COVID-19: UBCO moving to online classes
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