The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present challenges to us all at UNBC, but as I have highlighted many times, our community is responding in tremendous fashion.  

In today’s update:

• Answering your Questions
• Registration Successes

Answering Your Questions

I am excited by the responses I get to these updates. I find the community takes the opportunity to reach out, ask questions and provide feedback. Keep it coming! That said, sometimes I’m simply not the best person to ask, especially with regards to individual queries regarding schedules, course offerings and other student concerns. If you have questions regarding your specific academic situation, I suggest sending a note to studentinfo@unbc.ca, as we have an outstanding team of professionals there who are versed in a wide range of issues, can assess your questions, and send them to the most appropriate person better than I can.
All that said I am still happy to hear your concerns, challenges and hopefully successes, too!

Registration Successes

It’s been a terrific week for us at UNBC regarding registration. On opening day, we saw almost 1,300 students register, and as of today we’re at 1,550+. To put that in perspective, we registered the same number of students in one day as we did in the first two months last year! I am so very thankful that so many of our students continue to choose UNBC to pursue their post-secondary aspirations. Please know that we are committed to supporting you as we adapt to the impacts of the pandemic.

A lot of work has to take place to offer a schedule and registration. Our Chairs and Faculty have done incredible work in re-positioning their courses for alternative modes of delivery in very short order, fully supported by our tremendous team within the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT). The ingenuity and creativity you have leveraged to offer a unique, challenging and rewarding environment for our students is inspiring. Thank you all.

We must not forget our supporting units, such as the Registrar’s Office, in getting a schedule completed that provides meaningful information for our students on a very short turn-around time. Of course, each and every employee at UNBC plays a role in contributing to this process and student success regardless of your position, so thank you all as well!

We continue to monitor the situation as it pertains to the Winter semester, and I hope to have more information to share with you soon. Remember, we are working on a shared, collaborative approach across B.C.’s post-secondary sector regarding how we’ll offer courses as the pandemic evolves. We’ll continue to make student and employee safety our top priority.

I realize this has been challenging for many of you, so I appreciate your diligence, patience and understanding as we continue to move forward. 

If you have questions or concerns regarding our response and planning, please send them to unbccommand@unbc.ca, as we’re collecting feedback there, identifying themes, and developing plans and responses accordingly. And remember to visit our Coronavirus (COVID-19) website, as this is where we post the most recent information.

As always, thank you, and be safe!

Geoff Payne
UNBC Interim President and Vice-Chancellor