Full campus experience, lost during pandemic, returning to Manitoba universities

Manitoba's biggest universities and post-secondary schools are planning a return to campus life that has been AWOL for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a campus-wide email on Thursday afternoon, Brandon University president David Docherty wrote the university is looking forward to a fall term with full classes, full residences "and a full on-campus experience for our students."

To prepare for fall 2022 term with as few restrictions as possible, BU will start easing into a re-opening plan after the winter term wraps up near the end of April. Several restrictions will then be lifted through the spring and summer.

"With extremely high levels of vaccination on campus and in our community, with improving outlooks in our health-care system, and with ongoing COVID protocols that will remain in place [enhanced ventilation, sanitization stations], we can look forward to a spring, summer and fall that safely welcomes more people to a more open campus," Docherty writes in his email.

As of April 28, the university will:

• Unlock doors to visitors and members of the public. Key fob or student ID card access will no longer be required.
• End the vaccine mandate, though full vaccination will remain strongly encouraged.
• Strongly encourage and support the wearing of mask indoors, but will no longer require them in all areas.
• No longer enforce physical distancing and capacity limits.

On March 1, Manitoba dropped the requirement for people to show proof of vaccination to enter public places. On March 15, it is eliminating the mask mandate and abolishing the requirement for people who test positive for COVID-19 to self-isolate.

Vaccination cards and the verifier app used to scan them will remain operational for any businesses that still want to require proof of vaccination.

"Over the past two years, we have all repeatedly adapted and readapted to the challenges of the pandemic. We have learned much about ways to stay safe while continuing to deliver the highest-quality education and research," Docherty's email says.

"However, we are missing many critical benefits of being together in person, including educational, social, and community connections."

Docherty said the university is still determining exactly what convocation will look like is confident about a return to an in-person celebration "although it will probably feature fewer hugs and handshakes this year." 

In an email, University of Manitoba spokesperson Sean Moore said that institution is making plans for "a full in-person return" to begin in the summer term.

More information on how that will look will be provided in the coming weeks.

Jennifer Cox, a spokesperson from the University of Winnipeg, said no decisions have yet been made there about continuing any vaccine or mask mandates past April 30, when the current ones are set to expire. 

"We are working closely with public health, monitoring developments and will continue to consult with students, staff, and faculty," she said in an email. "We expect to announce our plans soon."

As for Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg, it ended the vaccine mandate on March 1 for all campuses and is no longer offering a rapid antigen test program. More than 90 per cent of staff and students are fully vaccinated, spokesperson Conor Lloyd said.

The expectation for fall is a full on-campus program "with no public health restrictions in place," he said in an email.

The requirement for masks on campus will remain in place until the end of the winter term on April 29 but the rules will be loosened somewhat beginning March 15. They will no longer be required while seated in class or for meetings in offices and boardrooms, so long as physical distancing can be maintained. And they are not needed while exercising in the fitness facilities.

Enhanced cleaning and disinfection will remain in place and everyone will be required to self-screen and stay home when sick. As well, vaccine clinics for first, second, and third doses will continue to be offered at the health centre.

"Over the coming months, we may need to relearn ways to interact in person with one another. All of us will have varying levels of comfort with things like mask-wearing and gatherings," Brandon U's Docherty said in his email.

"The isolation of the pandemic and artificiality of online communications may have strained relationships but it will also be good to see friends again, and to reconnect.

"Please, remember that we reacted to the onset of the pandemic by supporting each other and by coming together — thank you for continuing that same thoughtful and compassionate approach as we return."