THUNDER BAY - With post-secondary institutions across the country no longer holding in-person classes, students are still concerned about what it will mean for their academic year, and international students left asking where they will live.
Lakehead University closed its Thunder Bay campus earlier this month and took classes online. The semester is wrapping up and exams were to take place next week, but how that will work for students has not been determined yet.
“One of the most important concerns students have at this moment is about final exams,” said Masoud Manzouri, president of Lakehead University Student Union. “As we all know, classes have moved online for the remaining of the semester. Next week exams start and students have concerns about how exams will affect their academic excellence.”
The student union met with the university administration Friday morning and there are discussions to allow students to receive a pass/fail grade as opposed a letter grade.
“That was one of the requests,” Manzouri said. “We discussed it in the meeting today. There is an emergency senate meeting on Monday because it has to be passed through the senate.”
There are even more concerns for international students and those living in residence. Unlike other universities across the province, Lakehead residences have remained open to students. There are currently 408 students still living in residence.
“We are glad so far that the university has not shut down the residence and the residence cafeteria is still open in a takeout matter,” Manzouri said. “Some universities have encouraged or asked students to move out from the residence.”
Students living in the dorms have moved into the townhouses to allow for more social distancing.
For Mahadev Dutta, a third year civil engineering student, the transition to both online courses and closed borders has been very challenging.
“Since all the classes have been online now it has been hard for students to understand the online courses,” he said. “I was also laid off from my job, so it’s really hard for me to carry on with my expenses now.”
With his family living in India, Dutta said he is no longer able to return home for the summer like he normally does.
“I can’t even go back now because of the lockdown,” he said. “India has closed down the borders to international entries, so I can't go see my family. I was planning to go back after my exams and I usually go back in the summers.”
Manzouri said the student union is continuing to monitor the situation and is assisting international students on campus and those who have already left.
“Some international students or graduated students who already left the county, they are not allowed to come back because of the travel ban,” he said. “They are working on making some exemptions for international students or workers who have a valid study permit or work permit to come back under some circumstances. We are looking forward to hearing more about that.”
Students are encouraged to visit the LUSU website if they have questions for more information.
