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University College of the North (UCN) is extending its voluntary withdrawal (VW) date for the Fall Term to January 8th, 2021. 

This move allows students who are facing significant pressures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to withdraw from a Fall Term course without academic penalty. This means that if students choose, they may withdraw from any or all Fall Term course (or courses) where their GPA is not as strong as they had hoped. They will be able to make that decision knowing their final term grade in that course.

The delay in the VW date is meant to help students manage their academic career in the light of the pandemic. Students have been under significant stress, and UCN recognizes academic performance may have been affected. By giving another chance to withdraw from a Fall Term course, students have another tool to help manage their GPA. Of course, all of the other regulations with respect to course progression and prerequisite courses still apply. 

Please review the 2020/21 Academic Calendar (see page 15 for VW information) and please speak with an academic advisor or your instructor to be sure that you understand the implications of a decision to withdraw from a course.  A decision to withdraw from a Fall Term course may also have implications for your sponsorship or your student loan. Talk to your funder if you have any concerns. 

University College of the North will be delaying the first day of class for nearly all programs and courses until Monday, January 18, 2021.

This will have a domino effect throughout the term, which will be extended by two weeks, as will the Spring Term. (See here for a revised academic schedule that shows these changes.)

The main reasons for this decision are: 

1. The anticipation that the holidays will bring unadvised family and friend gatherings. This poses an increased risk of spreading COVID-19 such as what was seen after Canadian Thanksgiving. As you may know, the incubation period for COVID-19 is two weeks. Our original return-to-class date would mean that people returning to UCN would be back just as that incubation period ends and the symptoms of COVID would begin to surface. The two-week delay will not prevent COVID symptoms from appearing, but it does help prevent UCN from becoming a hotspot and potential site for further transmission of the virus. The decision to delay the start of classes helps ensure the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff.
2. The K-12 system is considering either delaying its return to class or switching to online delivery for at least two weeks after the holiday break. Either way, the effect will challenge students, faculty, and staff with young children in the school system. This delay helps those parents manage the school system changes and make longer-term arrangements for child care if necessary.
3. The additional two weeks gives students more time to recover from a stressful term. Additionally, those two weeks from January 4 – January 17 will help give faculty more time to prepare Winter Term courses. The delay helps to give us all a chance to catch our collective breaths.

We recognize that this may cause inconveniences and disruptions in classes, exams, assignments, clinical placements, applied learning, practicums, and other work-integrated learning opportunities. Your instructors will be working to revise courses to help accommodate these disruptions for the delay at the start of the term. 

All courses, whether offered online, remotely, or in person, are subject to delay, except for the following courses and programs: 

Adult Learning Centre courses (Thompson)

Adult Learning courses are regulated and scheduled by the Government of Manitoba. which issues separate guidelines for pandemic planning. UCN’s ALC will follow those guidelines (which often are aligned with decisions taken for the K-12 system). Where possible, UCN’s ALC will align its pandemic plans with those of UCN.

Apprenticeship Programs  (Thompson and The Pas)

Apprenticeship programs are regulated and scheduled by the Government of Manitoba. Note, however, that no Apprenticeship students will be taking face-to-face courses at a UCN campus until February 2021.

Year 2 Early Childhood Education diploma program (Thompson and The Pas)

Delays in Year 2 would mean that students would be unable to complete their applied learning before childcare centres associated with schools closed for the summer. This would mean that students would be unable to graduate.

Natural Resources Management Technology diploma program (The Pas)

Timing in this program is aligned to hiring for the summer season, which starts the day after the course ends. All aspects of this program will be offered entirely online for the first two weeks of January.

Primary Care Paramedic certificate program (The Pas)

The delay would mean that students would be unable to write the entry to practice certifying exam administered by the Canadian Organization of Paramedic Regulators (the COPR exam)

PSYCH.1000 Introduction to Psychology (Thompson, The Pas, and Garden Hill)

This is a University of Winnipeg course offered through Inter Universities Services (IUS), and the U of W has not delayed the start of the term

62.171L Introduction to Statistics (The Pas)

This is a Brandon University course offered through Inter Universities Services (IUS), and BU has not delayed the start of the term

Courses offered on contract with a community or industry (Various)

These will be discussed with the relevant Education Authority on a case-by-case basis.

While there may be other exceptions, they will be very limited and in any event, any additional exceptions will be communicated to students by no later than Friday, December 4, 2020. 

If you have questions about your program (e.g. what does this mean for my clinical/applied/practicum, etc.?), please speak to your instructor. 

What was the original date for the first day of classes?

The first day of classes was originally scheduled for Monday, January 4th, 2021. The first day of classes will now be Monday, January 18, 2021.

Why was the first day of classes changed to Monday, January 18th, 2021?

The decision to change the academic schedule is always a difficult decision and has significant impacts on students, instructors, programs, and courses. The decision is not taken lightly. There were a number of reasons why this decision was taken.

1.  The anticipation that the holidays will bring unadvised family and friend gatherings. This poses an increased risk of spreading COVID-19 such as what was seen after Canadian Thanksgiving. As you may know, the incubation period for COVID-19 is two weeks. Our original return-to-class date would mean that people returning to UCN would be back just as that incubation period ends and the symptoms of COVID would begin to surface. The two-week delay will not prevent COVID symptoms from appearing, but it does help prevent UCN from becoming a hotspot and potential site for further transmission of the virus. The decision to delay the start of classes helps ensure the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff.
2. The K-12 system has delayed its return to face-to-face instruction and has switched to online delivery until January 18, 2021. This has an important impact on students, faculty, and staff with young children in the school system. This delay helps those parents manage the school system changes and make longer-term arrangements for child care if necessary.
3. The additional two weeks gives students more time to recover from a stressful term. The two weeks from January 4 – January 17 will help to give faculty more time to prepare Winter Term courses. The delay helps to give us all a chance to catch our collective breaths.

Ultimately, the difficulties caused by changing the schedule had to be balanced against the risk to the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff.

Will any exceptions be allowed, and why are those exceptions being allowed?

All courses, whether offered online, remotely, or in person, are subject to the decision to delay the start of class to January 18th, 2021, with the following exceptions:

Adult Learning Centre courses (Thompson)Adult Learning courses are regulated and scheduled by the Government of Manitoba. which issues separate guidelines for pandemic planning. UCN’s ALC will follow those guidelines (which often are aligned with decisions taken for the K-12 system). Where possible, UCN’s ALC will align its pandemic plans with those of UCN.

Apprenticeship Programs  (Thompson and The Pas)Apprenticeship programs are regulated and scheduled by the Government of Manitoba. Note, however, that no Apprenticeship students will be taking face-to-face courses at a UCN campus until February 2021.

Year 2 Early Childhood Education diploma program (Thompson and The Pas)Delays in Year 2 would mean that students would be unable to complete their applied learning before childcare centres associated with schools closed for the summer. This would mean that students would be unable to graduate.

Natural Resources Management Technology diploma program (The Pas)Timing in this program is aligned to hiring for the summer season, which starts the day after the course ends. All aspects of this program will be offered entirely online for the first two weeks of January.

Primary Care Paramedic certificate program (The Pas)The delay would mean that students would be unable to write the entry to practice certifying exam administered by the Canadian Organization of Paramedic Regulators (the COPR exam)

PSYCH.1000 Introduction to Psychology (Thompson, The Pas, and Garden Hill)This is a University of Winnipeg course offered through Inter Universities Services (IUS), and the U of W has not delayed the start of the term

62.171L Introduction to Statistics (The Pas)This is a Brandon University course offered through Inter Universities Services (IUS), and BU has not delayed the start of the term

Courses offered on contract with a community or industry (Various)These will be discussed with the relevant Education Authority on a case-by-case basis. 

Who authorized these exceptions?

Decisions about exceptions were made by the Vice-President Academic and Research in consultation with the program area and Dean.

All decisions with respect to exceptions were made before the last day of classes, December 4, 2020, to ensure that students could be informed advised of the exception. Requests for exceptions are no longer being accepted.

What about work integrated learning opportunities?

Many courses have clinical placements, practicums, applied learning, and other hands-on learning opportunities. These may have to be adjusted to accommodate changes in the curriculum necessitated by the change to the Academic Schedule.

These decisions are program decisions. Please speak to your Dean about those changes.

How does the decision to delay the first day of classes affect the rest of the Academic Schedule?

Generally speaking, everything is delayed by two weeks. Statutory holidays remain the same. UCN’s Reading Week will be scheduled when the K-12 Spring Break is scheduled – if the K-12 system changes the date, UCN’s Reading Week will change. If the K-12 Spring Break does not change, UCN’s Reading Week will not change. The reading week that is scheduled in February for some selected programs will remain the same.

Please see the revised Academic Schedule.

Will the Start of the Spring Term Also be Delayed?

Yes. The decision to delay the return to classes to January 18, 2021 will affect the academic schedule for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic year. The Spring Term will also be delayed by two weeks, and end two weeks later.

Please see the attached revised  Academic Schedule.

Does this change mean that UCN’s holiday closure period now ends on January 18, 2021?

No, it does not. This decision only changes the date of the first day of classes. UCN’s faculty and staff are expected to be back at work as of January 4, 2021. However, like UCN has been operating for the past number of weeks, and based on operational necessity as defined by your supervisor, faculty and staff are encouraged to work from home to prepare for the first day of classes on January 18, 2021. This way, we ensure the maximum safety for those whose work requires them to be present at a UCN facility.

Note that UCN’s holiday closure ends on New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2021. If you are planning on being on vacation beginning on January 4, 2021, then you must have a leave form approved by your supervisor.

How will any additional costs to students and their sponsors resulting from the delay be addressed?

UCN recognizes that the delay of the first day of classes inconveniences many different parties. The decision to delay the first day of classes has not been made lightly, and was taken to help ensure health and safety, including reducing the possibility of transmission of COVID-19, and to help give students additional time to rest and recover from a difficult term. UCN’s Recruiting Officers/Sponsor Liaisons will be contacting sponsors to advise them of this change to allow them to adjust as required.

Will Convocation be Delayed?

Yes, convocation will be delayed by two weeks. UCN was in any event anticipating that Convocation will be held virtually as it was in summer 2020.

Specific dates for the virtual convocation in summer 2021 will be shared at a later date.

How will this decision be shared with the broader UCN community?

Students. By email, through social media, and other methods before the last day of classes in the Fall Term (December 4, 2020). Instructors are also expected to share this information with students.

Sponsors. UCN’s Recruitment Officers/ Sponsor Liaisons to contact sponsors to advise them of the changes and the reasons why.

Faculty and Staff. An all staff email and revised Academic Schedule was shared with faculty and staff (November 27). This FAQ will be similarly shared. The Vice-President Academic and Research will also share the information in regular Academic COVIDeo Newsletters.

The General Public. Via press release and social media announcements.

How will this affect the faculty/staff summer vacation period in 2021?

This decision delays the start of classes, but does not delay the return to work date for faculty and staff.

The first day of classes is now scheduled for January 18th, 2021, but return to work date for after the holidays for faculty and staff remains the same at Monday, January 4th, 2021. There will be no impact on the summer vacation period (July 2nd – August 23rd, 2021).

Should a faculty or staff member take approved VL between January 4th and January 18th, 2021, the number of VL days available to that faculty or staff member will be lower, which may have an impact on your summer vacation period. However, this is not a direct consequence of the delay to the first day of classes.

Recommended Minimum Technology Requirements

Using computer systems, software, and internet connections that do not meet these

minimum requirements could impact your ability to participate in and complete

your courses.

Computer:

Computer running Windows 8 or Windows 10.

CPU: 2GHz processor

Memory: 4GB Ram

Hard Disk: 256 GB

Web browsers:Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox.

Headphones, microphone, and a camera.

You can check to see if your computer is compatible with UCNLearn at this site:

d2l.ucn.ca/d2l/systemCheck

Internet connection:

Recommended: Wired or Wireless connectivity.  A wired network connection

is preferred. Internet bandwidth should have a minimum of 5 Mbps of download and 2 Mbps

of upload capacity.

You can test your internet connectivity here: https://www.speedtest.net

Recommended Computer Specs for AutoCAD or MasterCam:

CPU: 2.5GHz processor or better

Memory: 16GB Ram

Hard Disk: 512 GB or more

Graphics Card: 4GB Ram

DirectX 11 compatible

Welcome new and returning students!

We are excited you've chosen to study at University College of the North (UCN) and look forward to supporting you in your academic endeavors. In order to ensure you get off to a successful start, we have designed an online orientation that all students are required to complete before classes begin.

The orientation provides students with a complete overview of UCN life, from technology requirements, obtaining textbooks and student ID, registering for courses, to student opportunities and more. Students will learn about the resources and services available to them, meet others and participate in fun challenges to win prizes.

The online orientation can be accessed by visiting http://ucncatalog.brightspace.com/ (for best results use Google Chrome) and selecting The Pas or Thompson Campus Student Orientation. Students will be required to "Register" to create an account or "Log In" if an account has already been created. Note: When completing the registration form, please make sure to use your legal first and last name in the name fields.

After you have completed this first step in your post-secondary journey, you can be sure that you are on the right path to success.

On behalf of the entire Orientation and Student Services Team, WELCOME to University College of the North and we wish you all the best in the 2020/2021 academic year!

Questions?

The Pas Campus students can contact: Michelle Ballantyne (204) 627-8517

Thompson Campus students can contact: Emerald McKay (204) 677-6402 or Nick Pajic (204) 677-6365

Some may be wondering why UCN is staying open during the current crisis. First and foremost, it is our job to train and educate students, conduct research and ensure our students and graduates have the knowledge and skills they need to help build a better society. This is important work. UCN has a proud tradition of delivering education and training opportunities to northern and Indigenous students. While we manage this world-wide emergency, along with everyone, we must remember that UCN’s business is educating students, and we remain dedicated to this business and our students. We are still open because we still have work to do. Keeping the facility open avoids more difficult decisions that may impact staff and students. Nevertheless, we are well aware that things are changing day by day.

The Pas Campus

• Monday – Thursday | 6:00 am – 10:00 pm
• Friday | 6:00am – 5:00pm
• Saturday |12:00pm – 5:00pm
• Sunday | Closed

Students in residence will have 24-hour access to the campus.

UCN Thompson Campus 

• Monday - Thursday | 8:30 am - 9:00 pm
• Friday | 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
• Saturday | 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
• Sunday | Closed

(updated: October 8, 3:38 p.m.)

 Oscar Lathlin Research Library Hours (The Pas campus): 

• Monday - Thursday 8:00 a.m.  - 9:00 p.m.  
• Friday 8:00 - 4:00 
• Saturday 12:00 - 4:00  
• Sunday closed 

Wellington & Madeleine Spence Memorial Library Hours (Thompson campus): 

• Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m.  - 9:00 p.m.  
• Friday 8:30 - 5:00  
• Saturday 1:00 - 5:00  
• Sunday closed

UCN students have access to our free counselling services. 

• The Pas Campus: Counsellor, Barb Partridge 204-627-8804. Resident Elder, Ernie Samatte 204-627-8581
• Thompson Campus: Counsellors, Tammy Moen 204-627-6459 and Kimberly Bee 204-677-7202. Resident Elder,  Lynda Neckoway  204-627-0634

 UCN is keeping the most up to date information on the LATEST UPDATES page on the website. We have also compiled links to credible COVID-19 resources at this link: COVID-19 Resources.