This Week @ York

York University is committed to providing a proactive approach in communicating to the York community all information concerning the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). To stay updated:

• Visit the Coronavirus Information and Update website as a central source for York community information.
• Follow links to expert health agencies, organizations and resources for additional information.
• Check the website frequently; we will communicate with all York community members by email, social media or yFile when the University has posted a community update.
• All this information is accurate at the newsletter’s time of publication. Given the fluidity of this situation, there may be changes to some of the information below between publications.

Information about Summer courses will be available no later than April 17, 2020.

The course drop date has been extended to Saturday, May 9 (excluding students in the JD program). 

The deadline to Withdraw from a Course Without Receiving a Grade for F/W 2019-2020 and W 2020 courses has been extended to Saturday, May 9.

Course Drop Update. As noted above, the course drop date has been extended to Saturday, May 9 (excluding students in the JD program). If you wish to drop a course that was in session at the time that the COVID-19 pandemic began, please log in to the Registration and Enrolment Module to do so. If you withdrew from a Fall/Winter 2019-2020 full year course or a Winter 2020 term course using the Withdrawn from Course option (“W”), the “W” notation on that course will be removed from your transcript.  

Note: Dropping a course may impact your OSAP funding.

Note: If you applied to graduate, please be advised that dropping a course may impact your ability to graduate.

Pass/Fail Grading Option Update. The deadline to choose the Pass/Fail grading option has been extended to Saturday, May 9. See the Senate Executive Committee’s decision at the link above, with more details to follow. You can delay your final choice until Saturday, May 9. You may wish to speak to your Faculty advising office before making a final decision.

Note: Choosing a Pass/Fail option may impact program progression and your scholarship/award eligibility.

REMINDER: York recognizes that students may be experiencing a variety of circumstances as a result of COVID-19, and we are here to help. Senate Executive has agreed to waive, until further notice, the requirement for students to submit a doctor’s’ note or Attending Physician’s Statement in support of a request for deferred standing or petitions.

Changes to Summer 2020 Term. Due to the unprecedented extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, Summer 2020 terms will be delivered exclusively by online/remote learning formats. Learn more about the changes at the link above.

Stay engaged with the Registrarial Services website for updates and changes to the way York will be delivering these services to you.

Exams Information: York has cancelled all in-person exams during the formal winter exam period of April 7 to 25, 2020. More information will come from the Provost and Deans regarding alternatives to in-person exams. There are exceptions for Osgoode Hall Law School—those students will receive information from their course directors.

The Alternate Exam Centre has suspended operations. All previously booked tests and exams have been cancelled and instructors notified. Students should connect with their instructors to discuss what the method of evaluation will be such as a take-home or online exam.

Stay engaged with the Registrarial Services website for updates and changes to the way York will be delivering these services to you.

Emergency Bursaries. York has established bursaries to help students who require immediate short-term financial relief because of unexpected expenses in March and April 2020: The York University Emergency Bursary and the York University Emergency Travel Disruption Bursary. Graduate students can apply for assistance through the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Emergency Bursary. Learn more at the link above.

UIT Update: Please be advised that as of Monday, March 30, normal expiry of passwords in Passport York has been suspended until further notice.  This change is temporary to help avoid user issues due to password expiry during the Covid-19 events.  To be clear, this only affects the normal annual or 90-day expiry of passwords and has no effect on user-initiated password changes or forced password changes for other reasons such as known credential exposure. 

Student Accessibility Services remains OPEN to support you.Students are encouraged to contact the office by phone and/or email to arrange a phone or video call. Accessibility Counsellors will continue to book appointments over email, phone or video conference call. You may also e-mail sasinfo@yorku.ca.

Here’s a list of what’s closed on campus:

• All campus events are CANCELLED.
• The Tait Mackenzie Centre and the Glendon Athletic Club will be CLOSED until April 30.
• Administrative offices are CLOSED.
• IT Help Desk service support in Steacie is CLOSED.
• All shuttles have CEASED OPERATION.

Here’s a list of what’s open on campus:

• The following services are offered at York Lanes with reduced hours: Appletree Medical Centre (see below), Cucinetta (take-out only), Grocery Checkout, Hero Burger (take-out only), Shopper’s Drug Mart and York Lanes Dental (Emergencies Only). These are subject to change, so please check the link above for updates.
• Appletree Medical Centre remains OPEN with physicians now doing consultations via telephone and virtual care. Call 647-722-2370 or visit www.appletreemedicalgroup.com to book an appointment online.

• Community Safety Services, including goSAFE, are STILL OPERATING.
• The Stong, Winters and Glendon College cafeterias remain OPEN.
• Facilities Services: Maintenance, Grounds, Central Utilities, and Custodial services will continue. Students can report any issues by phone or online by visiting the Housing web site.
• Mail will continue to be delivered to the undergraduate residence Housing offices.  Mail is delivered directly to the York Apartments by Canada Post.
• The York Bookstore is also continuing to receive and process online orders.

All York University Libraries are CLOSED. All research and instruction questions and consultations are virtual. Interlibrary loans are also not available; however, there are a number of services still available. During the period of closure, York libraries will not collect late fees for overdue books, you can still renew books online, and e-books, journals and other resources can still be accessed online.

As all courses have moved online, your friends at Learning Skills Services have compiled a number of online learning resources to help you succeed as an online learner during COVID-19 and beyond. You can also check out York’s Student Guide to eLearning for information and tips on how to get started, what to expect and how to be a successful online learner.

It is important to stay up-to-date with the Government of Canada’s current travel advisories. Any member of the York Community who is impacted by the current travel restrictions, please contact goglobal@yorku.ca immediately for further guidance. More details are available in the Travel FAQs on the Coronavirus Information & Update website.

York International and other services across campus are still available to support international students. This includes International Student Advisors, Immigration Specialists, UHIP staff and more. There is also a page on FAQs for International Students about COVID-19.

York International’s Coffee Breaks are going virtual! Join student leaders on Zoom and meet other students from various programs, Faculties, countries and cultures to connect and get to know each other! No appointment required. Every day, Monday to Friday, 2 to 4 p.m.

Student Counselling and Development (SCD) is now offering telephone counselling for single session, crisis and emergency support, which you can receive by calling 416-736-5297. Details and additional support resources are available at the link above.

For additional and after-hours support, our partners at Good2Talk have advised us that they are remaining remain open at this time, and in addition to telephone support, have introduced a new texting feature.

Vote online now for the student nominees to the Board of Governors. Following the recent call for undergraduate student nominations to the Board of Governors, three undergraduate student nominees will be running for this position. The candidates and their personal statements can be found on the Secretariat website. All registered students are eligible to vote. Voting is open until the window closes on Friday, April 3 at 5 p.m. Cast your ballot at the link above.