To the campus community:

The University of Windsor continues to move forward to protect the health and safety of our campus community and support the work of public health agencies in the face of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The University of Windsor Senate unanimously approved an Emergency Academic Plan late Friday afternoon. It is an extremely important measure and will provide a great deal of support and flexibility in the University’s efforts to effectively deal with COVID-19.

The Emergency Academic Plan will have an immediate impact on academic programs and includes:

• All classes will be cancelled on Monday, March 16; Tuesday, March 17; and Wednesday, March 18.
• This will provide time for faculty — after consultation with deans, associate deans and department heads — to alter the delivery of classes away from face to face to other forms of delivery including online.
• Beginning on Thursday, March 19, all courses will resume in their new form of delivery.
• Moving forward, an alternative delivery of examinations will also be considered.

The University is asking a great deal of everyone at this time, and these measures will require an enormous effort on the part of faculty and staff across the institution. The University greatly appreciates the commitment and effort of everyone who will be involved in this unprecedented process.

As well, the understanding of students and parents at this time is also appreciated so that the academic year can be completed in an environment that will minimize risk to everyone.

The transition will require the patience of our entire institution, as there are still many questions to answer. But we are confident the commitment and dedication of our campus community will ensure success.

The University will remain open but there are other related issues we would like to announce:

• Residences will continue to operate until further notice.
• Library services, food services, student health services, and other student services will continue to be available.
• Until further notice, we will be cancelling or postponing all non-essential University events both on and off campus.

Over the past few days, we have heard many concerns from both students and parents. We feel the focus on moving to alternative modes of delivery coupled with cancelling or postponing all non-essential University events is the right thing to do given the growing concerns over COVID-19, and our ongoing commitment to keep members of the campus community healthy and safe.

We will continue to provide additional information on a regular basis and encourage the campus community to continue to visit our COVID-19 website.

—Robert Gordon, President