Universities across the country have rapidly mobilized to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and protect the health and well-being of their campus and broader communities. According to Universities Canada, in the space of about ten days, universities:
shifted to online education for over 1.4 million students, about 18% of whom are international students;
de-populated residences while providing accommodation for those with no alternative; and
wound down research operations except for those projects that are in the vital national interest, such as combating the pandemic.
The Saint Mary's community continues to do an incredible amount of work to safeguard our students, faculty and staff while maintaining operations, completing the academic term and serving the needs of our community.
The transition to virtual operations was a major shift for faculty, staff and students, but has gone rather smoothly.
"Shout out to the folks in the Studio who provided guidance on the "Virtual Classroom" and ITSS," wrote Dr. Peter Twohig, Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts, on Twitter shortly after the transition. "My session this morning with the students worked seamlessly and the students gave it a good review."
The Studio for Teaching and Learning has provided a wealth of resources for faculty, students and staff to help make the switch to online/remote teaching. And more support is available. The Software & Application Support Centre (SAS) provides training and support for faculty, staff, and students using university-supported software and technology.
The Patrick Power Library has moved to virtual hours of operation. Students, staff and faculty, can access more than 350,000 e-book titles and over 30,000 online scholarly journals from home, anytime. These are available via the library catalogue at http://smu.ca/library. Students, faculty and staff can access Research Help via email (research@smu.ca) and text (902-702-3057) from Monday-Friday, 9 am-7 pm, and Saturday 1-5 pm as they continue to work on projects and assignments.
The librarians and staff are also working to fill document delivery requests for articles, book chapters, and other items that can be provided electronically when possible. They are unable to accept requests for books or other physical library items at this time. If you currently have any items borrowed through inter-library loan, please keep them until the library is open again to the public. Please email ill@smu.ca with any questions.
The university continues to support the well-being of the remaining students in residence. Special thanks to our residence, facilities and security staff who are working diligently to keep residences and campus clean and safe.
For future students, the Recruitment and Marketing team is working extended hours — now seven days a week — to make sure incoming students have access to information. There is also a new live chat service on smu.ca to assist prospective students, and an additional information phone line open after-hours.
To help us stay connected and positive as a community, we're collecting stories of kindness and compassion, as well as shout-outs to colleagues who are going above and beyond in a difficult time. Send your ideas to rachelle.boudreau@smu.ca or tag @smuhaliax, #smucommunity on social media.