St.FX faculty union pushes online exams amid COVID-19 outbreak on campus
CBC
The faculty union at St. Francis Xavier University is asking professors to move their upcoming exams online as the Antigonish, N.S., school deals with a COVID-19 outbreak on campus.
Public Health confirmed 12 positive cases of the virus at the university on Tuesday. The school is expecting more cases in the coming days, and in-person exams are set to begin Thursday.
University president Andy Hakin has said there are no plans to reschedule in-person exams slated to begin this week, since exam settings are considered a lower risk environment because of physical spacing, limited interactions and students being masked.
But after an emergency meeting Wednesday, the StFX Association of University Teachers said in a release its members can choose to offer online exams without violating their collective agreement or academic regulations.
"Given the current environment, we would suggest individuals move their examinations online where feasible," the release from union president Martin van Bommel said.
The union did not outline how professors should conduct online exams. It is also pushing the administration for "appropriate messaging and planning" for the return to classes in January.
Hakin's Tuesday statement did not speculate on the origin of the infections. But Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, has said he is expecting a cluster of cases related to a recent X-Ring ceremony, where students in their final year receive the highly recognizable school ring, and a number of sanctioned and unsanctioned events held over the past weekend.
Chris Frazer, a history professor and a member of faculty union executive, agrees that in-person exams don't feel safe.
"There is a combination of anxiety, worry, and I think probably now some anger, starting to surface," Frazer told CBC's Information Morning on Wednesday. "We're quite concerned about the welfare of our students."
Frazer first heard about the issue Monday morning, when students began emailing to say they would miss class because they believed they'd been exposed to COVID-19 and were awaiting test results.
Sanctioned or unsanctioned, Frazer said they know of at least two on-campus events where rules weren't followed: a party at the Golden X Inn student bar and a dance in the Bloomfield Centre's MacKay Room.
Every report Frazer has heard is that the MacKay Room was filled with hundreds of people and maybe "a couple of dozen" were wearing masks.
Frazer said the university's comments that exams are safe ring hollow, given it apparently assumed it had the right measures in place to keep people safe during various X-Ring events.
However Jack Irvin, president of the St. FX Students' Union, said rules were still followed at the Bloomfield Centre dance, which was hosted by the union.
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