University Closes
The University of Guelph announced today that they will be shutting down from March 16, 2020 to March 23, 2020 in response to COVID-19.
All face-to-face classes will be suspended for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester. Classes will resume on Monday, March 23, 2020 in modified format, according to a statement released by the University.
The winter 2020 semester will be extended for one week. The last day of class and the last day to drop a course is April 9. All final exams will be conducted in a modified format, yet the nature of that format is still unconfirmed.
University services including libraries, recreation centres, food services and health services will remain open.
On Mar. 26 the university announced that it will not host spring convocation ceremonies or Alumni Weekend in June 2020.
Read the full statement here.
Cancellations
UPDATE Mar. 26 — The university will not host spring convocation ceremonies or Alumni Weekend in June 2020.
President Franco Vaccarino released a list of event cancellations and postponements at the University of Guelph.
The list was published on the university’s website on Mar. 13, following a statement that explained the closure of the university. These decisions were made as a preventative measure in order to keep COVID-19 off of the U of G campuses.
According to the statement, there are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the University of Guelph.
The campus events that have been cancelled normally attract large numbers of people from outside the Guelph region. The list of cancellations is as follows:
- Spring convocation ceremonies and the Alumni Weekend are cancelled.
- College Royal, which was to be held Mar. 21 and 22, is cancelled.
- Campus Day open house scheduled for Mar. 29 is cancelled.
- March Break campus tours for secondary school students scheduled for this weekend and during March Break are cancelled.
- The Discover Vets School program scheduled for this weekend is postponed.
- All U of G sponsored travel outside of Canada is either postponed or cancelled until further notice. This applies to all staff, students, researchers, and faculty.
- As of Friday all study-abroad programs and student exchange programs in Europe and the United Kingdom for the spring/summer semester are cancelled. Students already in Europe and the U.K. are being asked to return to Canada.
Vaccarino states that these decisions were not taken likely and realizes that they will have direct impact on students and members of the public. Though he maintains that these cancellations and postponements were made with the health of students and community members in mind.
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