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����ֱ�� has prepared a new Return to Campus Priorities outline to assist faculties, schools, and shared services units with their planning for any required faculty and staff presence on campus in fall 2020.

The majority of academic activities will be held remotely in the fall to keep campus density low. Detailed mapping of building capacities has been completed to ensure limited on-campus operations align with physical distancing guidelines and enhanced cleaning protocols.

“In all university planning, the health and safety of the Queen’s community is our top priority,” says Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Mark Green in an email to faculty and staff. “Where possible, employees are asked to continue to work remotely to decrease density on campus and mitigate the exposure of those whose work requires them to be on campus.”

Queen’s typically has more than 24,000 students on campus each year. However, in compliance with the stringent health and safety requirements in the current environment for the 2020 fall term, only 6,600 students are expected to regularly be on campus. ����ֱ�� 4,400 students will be participating in on-campus academic activities, such as labs and limited in-person lectures, and Queen’s residences are planning to house approximately 2,300 students (about 100 of whom are counted in the 4,400 above).

As previously announced, programs that have been identified as priorities for on-campus delivery in fall 2020 are limited to those that require on-site access to specialized facilities for students to continue their studies:

• The professional programs in Medicine, Nursing, and Rehabilitation Therapy in the Faculty of Health Sciences. These programs require on-campus delivery because of the need for on-site access for clinical skills training.
• Research graduate master's, PhD, and some professional graduate and second entry programs. These programs will follow a combination of on-campus and remote delivery models to accommodate on-site access needs regarding labs and other critical teaching and research resources that cannot be accessed remotely.

In consultation with local public health officials, it was determined that Queen’s residences will run at 50 per cent capacity in the fall term to protect the health and safety of students and staff. It was decided that some spaces in residence should be made available, predominately for students admitted under the Indigenous and first-generation admissions pathways, first-year students with programs on campus, and students with learning needs or extenuating personal circumstances that create barriers to learning off campus.  

The Return to Campus Priorities outline provides guidance on positions with priority for returning to campus, such as staff and faculty required to deliver and support the limited amount of in-person academic and non-academic activities. It also underlines the importance of supporting staff and faculty with on-campus duties if they need to work from home due to, for example, their own health situation or caregiver duties.

Programs that have been identified as priorities for on-campus delivery in fall 2020, are limited to those that require on-site access to specialized facilities for students to continue their studies, such as professional programs in medicine, nursing, and rehabilitation therapy.

Each faculty and shared service unit is asked to submit a Request to Resume On-Campus Activities Form, with a sample plan for departments/units in departmentalized faculties. After that, similar plans for other departments/units can be approved at the faculty level with notification to the Campus Operations Group (COG) on numbers of people returning to specific buildings in August and September.

“As a limited number of staff and faculty return to campus, members of the Queen’s community are reminded to be vigilant about adhering to the protocols outlined in the Return to Campus Guidelines, including maintaining physical distancing, hand hygiene, wearing face coverings in public spaces, and staying home if you exhibit symptoms,” said Green.

To read the Return to Campus Priorities outline and find additional information on the phased return to campus, see the Campus Operations Group website and the central COVID-19 Information & Planning website.

Further information will be added to these websites in the coming weeks.