Parent complains to provincial ombudsman about online classes at Carleton University

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This article was published 29/11/2021 (1439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial ombudsman has been asked to look into Carleton University’s decision not to offer more in-person classes in the new year by a parent who says the school has provided little information about the situation.

The complaint by Carleton parent and Ottawa lawyer Paula Clarke comes as frustrations mount with continued online learning, which some schools have relied on as others have returned to mostly in-person classes given the high COVID-19 vaccination rates on campus, mandatory masking indoors and the go-ahead from the provincial government.

“This is a public institution and these students, and their parents and the alumni are owed answers,” said Clarke. “None of that is forthcoming.”

Clarke’s son, a first-year biology student, has no in-person classes and it’s unclear what his winter term will look like. The university has said it will boost on-campus classes to 50 per cent, up from the current 30 per cent, but has also said students may have to wait until early January — right before the term starts — before they find out schedules.

Carleton spokesperson Steven Reid said the school’s “return-to-campus decisions are made with the health and wellness of students, faculty and staff as our top priority … as the pandemic continues to unfold, with rising COVID-19 cases, a new variant and with the province pausing its opening plan, Carleton, like the other Ottawa Region institutions, is continuing to take a safe and gradual approach to its return to campus.”

Reid said “our return-to-campus plan is aligned with public health recommendations to gradually increase capacity limits and ease physical distancing requirements at universities.”

Some students, however, aren’t happy about the delayed return to in-person learning, pointing to other universities that have already successfully brought students back to campus. They also say Carleton did not do a good job in communicating the upcoming changes.

“I do feel, as a student, we should be able to do more things in person with classes and programming” and events, and the student association is now lobbying for a reduction in tuition given the limited opportunities on campus, said Valentina Vera González, vice-president of student issues with the Carleton University Students’ Association.

The Carleton University Academic Staff Association has said “students have been reporting a dramatic increase in courses being switched from a planned in-person delivery to online instead” but the university says the opposite.

The association said it is “is very concerned about any plans to increase in-person course sections without the proper consultation of all necessary bodies,” including the faculty association and the university senate.

“If proper consultation was had, transparency would be more naturally experienced. It would avoid confusion and disappointment. It would also make for a less jarring experience when decisions about how to keep everyone safe on campus need to be made,” the association said in a post on its website.

While not able to comment on specific complaints, the ombudsman’s office has said those regarding post-secondary institutions often centre on admissions, academic appeals, financing and student services.

“In 2020-2021, most post-secondary education in the province was moved online due to COVID-19, and our staff helped hundreds of people navigate the impacts of this change,” the ombudsman’s office said in its annual report.

Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy