Sudbury post-secondary students adjust to a different kind of school year

Second-year Laurentian University student Jocelyne Way couldn't wait to get back to Sudbury for the start of a new school year.

She'll be taking all of her classes online this semester. Even so, she returned to campus to live in residence. 

"I just felt for me personally it would be easier to get my studies done and I'd be more focused here on res rather than at home," Way said.  

"I'm also a part of the varsity [soccer] team here so I'm going to have to potentially start training soon, so might as well stay up here"

Way is one of about 500 students living on campus at Laurentian this fall. And in a year where your classmate could be down the hall in residence, or on the other side of the world, she, like all students, is adjusting to a new reality for campus life and academics. 

Life in residence

Universities and colleges have been busy making many changes on campus in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frosh weeks were replaced with virtual orientation, masks are required on campuses, and security and visitor restrictions are the new norm. 

Seventeen-year-old Quinn Hagley moved to Sudbury from Milton, ON to start his first year at Laurentian, where he's living in residence.

"It was difficult to figure out if I was coming to residence or if I was staying at home. How I was going to move in and then what it was going to be like, life up here."

He's hopeful he'll be able to get to know people — even while adhering to physical distancing and other safety measures.

At Cambrian College, about 500 students are living on campus this year. While the number is down slightly compared with last year, general manager of residence Jamie Lafrance says it represents a greater percentage of the students who have to be on campus for class. More than a third of the college's programs are being delivered entirely online. 

We didn't know that we were planning proactively to deal with a pandemic— Bill Best, Cambrian College president

"A lot of students are opting to live in residence I believe rather than off campus, just knowing that it's like, we can control the measures here, that they are safe," Lafrance said.

"When you're living off-campus, there's no guarantee that your roommate follows these measures … if you're taking a bus into campus, all these other things, like it's not necessarily as regulated."

Enrolment numbers

As classes at Cambrian resume, enrolment at the college is down by about 20 per cent over last year, due largely to a significant drop in international student enrolment. Of those international students who are enrolled, some will be tuning into online classes from their home countries. 

Meanwhile at College Boreal, officials are still waiting to calculate final numbers — but hope to see an overall drop of no more than 10 per cent. At Laurentian, the incoming undergraduate class is smaller, but the university says the overall enrolment is similar to last year, thanks to demand for online degrees, and graduate programs. 

Despite the challenges the pandemic has presented, officials at all three institutions said they had positive outlooks.

"I think even what I would have expected us to have in April for this September, we're well past that at this point. I believe that you know, every semester we take it one semester at a time," said Cambrian College president Bill Best. 

He also says the college is in a good financial situation thanks to conservative budgeting in recent years, and not taking on new debt. 

"Really we didn't know that we were planning proactively to deal with a pandemic, because we didn't know that was coming, but it turns out they were all really important things we've put in place that are allowing us to, could I say, work through the pandemic," Best said. 

Adjusting to online learning

While colleges and universities work to ensure staff and student safety, and recruit and retain students — faculty and students are adjusting to a new way of teaching and learning.

At Laurentian University, just one per cent of courses will be taught in-person this semester, with the rest delivered remotely. 

Over the summer, Laurentian outfitted eight classrooms with technology to allow faculty to live-stream classes, or pre-record videos to post online. 

"Our faculty are well-trained, that they put students first, and they have been working hard all summer in order to make the transition to remote delivery," said Shelley Watson, associate vice-president of learning and teaching at Laurentian.

Student Jocelyne Way says she's "not the biggest fan" of online learning. But as she prepares for a semester where she won't set foot in a physical classroom, she's choosing to have a positive outlook.

"At the end of last year it still worked out pretty well and I think this year now that I know it's happening and I've been able to prepare for it, I'll be much better."