DR. TRAVIS FRIDGEN, ACTING DEAN OF SCIENCE

The fall semester at Memorial University, including in the Faculty of Science, will continue to be primarily a remote teaching and learning environment for students. As previously stated, full in-person, on-campus courses will not resume before January 2021.

Faculty and staff are working toward ensuring that your courses are of the same high quality and academic standard that you are used to, but delivering them in way that is mostly new to us all; via remote instruction. This includes courses that involve labs.

While inter-provincial travel is beginning in select areas, many of our out-of-province and international students remain unable to return to Newfoundland and Labrador. Additionally, opening up travel increases the risk of a second wave of the virus – which may lead to the province raising the alert levels if deemed necessary. Shifting from face-to-face back to remote teaching and learning in that instance would be time consuming and disruptive.

Offering remote teaching and learning at this time ensures equitable access to our high quality programming for all students, while helping to flatten the COVID-19 curve in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Please note – Limited forms of necessary on-campus activity in the fall semester will occur in a measured and safe manner that adheres to the provincial health directives.

In the Faculty of Science some students conducting honours research projects will be allowed to come to campus to carry out research that cannot be conducted remotely. Such students will be contacted by their departments in the coming weeks.