December 16, 2021

Hello everyone,

As we prepare to head into the winter holidays, we are seeing the Omicron variant spread at an unprecedented rate. Projections by the Ontario Science Advisory Table indicate that new cases in the province could reach .

In this context, following discussions with public health authorities, the Council of Ontario Universities, and , we will hold the first three weeks of the winter 2022 courses fully online. As part of our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our community, we are making this decision proactively to provide as much certainty as possible to students, faculty and staff in advance of the holiday break.

All winter term classes will begin online from January 10, 2022. Subject to public health guidance, we anticipate in-person instruction to start Monday January 31 for courses currently scheduled to be delivered in-person. We are continuing to monitor the rapidly evolving situation and will provide further updates in January.

As we complete the fall 2021 semester, the small number of in person exams scheduled from Monday, December 20 and onwards will be moved online or rescheduled.

From December 20 until January 31, employees should only come to campus to perform necessary work that cannot be conducted remotely. Research that cannot be performed from home can continue to proceed on campus following public health guidelines and indoor capacity limits. Detailed plans for the library, residences and athletics will soon be communicated by these units.

We strongly recommend that all members of the 杏吧原创 community get their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. Everyone in our community should be eligible as of Monday, December 20, as .

We understand that this pause in our safe and gradual return to campus is disappointing. However, in the face of such an aggressive variant, these measures are necessary to protect the health and safety of our community.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

Wishing everyone a safe and restful holiday season,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

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December 1, 2021

Good morning everyone,

The coming of December highlights that in a few weeks, the fall 2021 term will successfully draw to a close and we can all enjoy a well-deserved rest over the winter holidays. As always, I want to thank everyone for the flexibility and compassion we continue to demonstrate throughout this (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime, worldwide disruption.

Among many successes this fall, we celebrated over 1,300 graduates on their way to successful and self-determined lives. Overall, the class of 2021 is the largest in our history at over 6,800 graduates! And yesterday, on Giving Tuesday, we raised over $1.2M, matched by the University to address issues that matter to us all鈥攊mproving health and wellness, strengthening the new economy, creating new tech for good, ensuring sustainable development, supporting vibrant communities around the world and so much more! I could not be prouder of our students and community.

Looking towards the winter 2022 term and beyond, we are staying true to our commitment to a safe and gradual return to campus. We are still in the pandemic, with cases currently rising here and in many jurisdictions and . As always, our return-to-campus decisions are made with the health and wellness of students, faculty and staff as our top priority. We understand that 20 months into the pandemic, we are all eager to return to 鈥渘ormal,鈥� but caution is warranted for a little while longer, through the virus-friendly winter months, as the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide and new, poorly understood variants of concern arise.

As confirmed by Senate earlier this fall, the winter term will see a mix of face-to-face and online learning opportunities to maximize flexibility. Compared to the fall, there will be a notable increase of in-person classes and opportunities, and classes will also have larger capacity. Developing and implementing a timetable in the current context is very challenging and I want to thank everyone involved for your efforts in meeting the needs of our students. At its latest meeting, Senate also confirmed that the flexible and compassionate grading policy that we have been following since the start of the pandemic will remain in place for the winter term. Campus life is also continuing to safely and gradually reopen, from dining services to the gym, outdoor spaces, study spaces, intramural sports, etc.

We are currently developing the summer schedule and the percentage of in-person sections will again increase. We will continue to offer some courses in online, hybrid, or bimodal formats to best meet the needs and preferences of diverse students. Barring a fifth wave or new public health restrictions, we anticipate that we will complete our full return to campus over the summer, well in time for the fall 2022 term.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

In closing, we have entered the global . This period includes December 6, Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day) which honours the 14 women killed specifically because they were women in the horrific 1989 Montreal Polytechnique massacre. On December 6, the Faculty of Engineering and Design will release a commemorative video where I am honoured to speak. As a community, 杏吧原创 is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working and living environment where violence of any kind, including gender-based violence, is not tolerated. As part of these efforts, we are currently reviewing our sexual violence policy and further enhancing our strategy Honouring Each Other: Building Consent Cultures on Campus, Together. I invite you to participate in this important work and to stand against any form of gender-based violence.

Thank you again for all your hard work in supporting our students鈥攊n-person and online鈥攁s we continue our safe and gradual return towards full campus life.

Have a great day,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post A Safe and Gradual Return 鈥� Continued appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

November 11, 2021

Good morning everyone,

Today is Remembrance Day, a day to honour the generations of women and men who answered the country鈥檚 call and fought to keep Canada peaceful and free.

To ensure everyone in our community can join together to honour Remembrance Day, we have prepared a commemorative video, which I invite you to watch.

I encourage every member of the 杏吧原创 community to observe a two-minute moment of silence at 11 a.m. today. It is an opportunity to honour the millions of Canadian soldiers who have served throughout our nation鈥檚 history, many paying the ultimate price.

Our flag is at half-mast and wreaths have been laid at the flagpoles on Library Road near the Azrieli Theatre. Those who are on campus are invited to visit the wreaths to pay their respects.

杏吧原创鈥檚 own history is deeply tied to our veterans. Founded in 1942, 杏吧原创 was envisioned as a place of learning to meet the needs of those returning from serving in the Second World War.

Today, we remember the courageous women and men who served, and those who continue to serve, to ensure our freedom. Let us never forget.

Sincerely,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

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October 26, 2021

Good morning everyone,

Let me start by sincerely thanking everyone for making our safe and gradual return to campus and the beginning of our academic year so successful. As always, I am truly grateful for all your efforts in the 杏吧原创 spirit of creativity, flexibility and compassion. We are already halfway through the fall term and I hope you are all enjoying our annual fall break this week. This is always a welcome opportunity to catch our breath and take stock of how things are going, and I take this opportunity to remind everyone of the many services and programs available to support our students and ourselves.

On the other side of fall break is November already, and we will quickly come into the exam period and then some well-deserved winter holidays. As announced earlier this week, in an attempt to give people as long a break as possible, the university will be closed from December 24 to January 4, inclusive, reopening on January 5, 2022.

Preparation for the winter term is already well underway. As per past practice, the 杏吧原创 University Scenario Planning (CUSP) Working Group has formulated its recommendations for winter 2022, namely that our safe and gradual return to campus continues to unfold, with a mix of in-person and online courses to ensure maximum flexibility for students. These recommendations were confirmed by Senate last week. I take this opportunity to thank everyone working towards optimizing our winter 2022 schedule, which should be finalized and posted by mid-November.

At that same meeting, Senate also approved the last group of students to graduate in the class of 2021 鈥� our largest ever at over 6800 strong! As previously announced, due to current public health restrictions, it will not be possible to hold in-person fall Convocation ceremonies this November, but we will be hosting virtual graduation celebrations for our fall 2021 graduates on November 13 鈥� more details will soon be available on the Convocation website.

A reminder that two very important community consultations are taking place this fall: (1) We recently announced the process towards updating our Student Mental Health Framework (SMHF) to version 3.0; and (2) 杏吧原创 is also launching a broad and inclusive consultation process towards the next iteration of the Sexual Violence Policy, which we are committed to reviewing every 3 years. In both cases, members of the 杏吧原创 community are encouraged to review the draft plan outlining the proposed consultation process and to provide feedback through the consultation website.

Our institution has also received great national reviews this fall: The . 杏吧原创 made gains in several key categories including research (both on the SSHRC and NSERC side), student awards, Indigenous initiatives and reputation. And last week, announced that 杏吧原创 is the first university to receive two important certifications relating to our commitment to wellness in the workplace: .

In closing, our annual United Way campaign opens today and will run until November 12. This is an important 杏吧原创 tradition of helping people in need in our community and I invite everyone to participate in all the events organized by members of our community, such as the MacOdrum Library online auction. And registration is open for the launch of the university’s new Centre for Community Engagement鈥�(CCE) happening on October 27. Join inaugural Director Prof. Chantal Trudel to learn about the Centre, share your experiences and ideas, and participate in thematic workshops that reflect an impressive breadth of the amazing community engagement expertise across 杏吧原创.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the fall break!

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post Mid-Fall Update appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

October 18, 2021

Dear Members of the 杏吧原创 Community,

杏吧原创 is committed to reviewing its Sexual Violence Policy every three years. Our last review was completed in April 2019 and we are now launching a broad and inclusive consultation process towards the next iteration of this important policy.

杏吧原创 is committed to being a safe and inclusive community, and it is our shared responsibility to always strive to enhance our efforts towards education, prevention and response to sexual violence. We thank you in advance for your engagement.

Following a robust consultation and review process in 2018-19, the current policy now allows more flexibility to be supportive to survivors throughout the process, while at the same time respecting the requirements for procedural fairness. Conducting a review every three years helps us to ensure our policy is as responsive and supportive as possible.

Over the course of the year, we will be engaging with the community in this important process. As a first step, we have developed a draft plan outlining the consultation process itself. Members of the 杏吧原创 community are encouraged to review this draft consultation plan and to provide feedback through our consultation website throughout October.

Feedback on the draft consultation plan can be provided directly through our website or by email at svpolicy@carleton.ca.

As described in the draft consultation plan, there will be many opportunities to provide feedback on the policy itself through digital feedback, information feedback sessions and continued meetings with stakeholder groups. An important complement to the policy is Honouring Each Other, a campus prevention strategy for sexual violence. As part of this review, suggestions and feedback that may not be appropriate for the policy will be provided to the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee for review towards further enhancing Honouring Each Other.

We look forward to working collaboratively with the entire community. Together, we can ensure that we further strengthen our survivor-centered policy and processes towards making our community safer and more inclusive.

Sincerely,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post Sexual Violence Policy Review Consultation appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

October 5, 2021

Dear Members of the 杏吧原创 Community,

As mentioned in my recent updates to the community, this fall we are launching a consultation process towards updating our Student Mental Health Framework (SMHF) to version 3.0.

The SMHF 2.0 was launched in 2016 and aimed to further enhance student wellbeing and mental health at 杏吧原创. Since 2016, I am pleased to report that all 38 recommendations in the SMHF 2.0 have been implemented or addressed.

A key direction of the 2020-2025 杏吧原创 University Strategic Integrated Plan (SIP) is to continually Strive for Wellness. As such, we will be engaging the entire community and key external stakeholders towards developing the SMHF 3.0 over the coming academic year.

As a first step, we have developed a draft plan outlining the proposed consultation process. Members of the 杏吧原创 community are encouraged to review this draft consultation plan and to provide feedback through the consultation website over the next couple of weeks. Feedback on the draft consultation plan can also be provided by emailing SMHFramework@carleton.ca.

After this first initial step, we will finalize the consultation plan and initiate the consultation process with the 杏吧原创 community. There will be many opportunities to provide feedback on the framework through digital feedback, information and feedback sessions, and continued meetings with stakeholder groups.

We look forward to working collaboratively with the entire community. Together, we can ensure that we have an updated Student Mental Health Framework that best supports the mental health and well-being of all students.

Sincerely,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post Student Mental Health Framework 3.0 Consultation appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

September 22, 2021

Good morning everyone,

We are already two weeks into the start of the term and I want to take a moment to thank everyone for all you have done and continue to do to ensure such a great start to the new academic year. The safe and gradual return to campus of faculty, staff and students presented significant challenges, and I continue to be impressed by the resilience, flexibility and compassion of our community in responding to the ongoing pandemic. It is truly remarkable that, under what remains very challenging circumstances, we are off to a strong start!

The vaccine mandates are only one aspect of our strategy to keep our community safe. All courses this fall are delivered with full physical distancing and classes are capped at 60 students. We have also invested in updated ventilation systems, rigorous water testing protocols, signage, traffic flow, hand sanitizing stations and new cleaning protocols. In addition, with the continued rise of the fourth wave in Ontario, and to ensure we are complying with building capacity limits, we are pausing our phased return of units to campus. As such, units in Phase 4 will continue to work remotely at this time. Information on the return to campus of Phase 4 units will be communicated with at least a month’s notice.

In light of the ongoing pandemic, we are planning to extend our flexible and compassionate grading policy for the fall term. Senate will be considering this matter at its next meeting and more information will be shared with students and course instructors before the end of September. A sub-committee of Senate is also in the process of considering permanent changes to our grading policy in light of the important lessons learned in the pandemic.

Unfortunately, due to current public health restrictions for indoor events, it will not be possible to hold in-person fall Convocation ceremonies this November. As we have done for the last year, 杏吧原创 will be hosting virtual graduation celebrations for our fall 2021 graduates. More details will soon be available on the Convocation website. We continue to look forward to the day when we can celebrate all of our recent graduating classes and provide them with the opportunity to cross the stage in recognition of their remarkable accomplishments.

Looking forward to the Winter 2022 term, the 杏吧原创 University Scenario Planning (CUSP) Working Group has begun its work considering relevant situational factors and consulting with stakeholders towards developing recommendations for course and program delivery in the winter. The intent is to confirm our plan at the October meeting of Senate. Over the coming weeks we will be working with each academic department to start preparing course schedules for the winter term that will allow us to continue delivering on our academic mission in a safe way.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

As mentioned in my , this year we will be conducting a full review of our Sexual Violence Policy, which was last reviewed and approved in 2019. We are also continuously implementing and adapting our sexual violence education and prevention strategy 鈥� Honouring Each Other: A Blueprint for Building Consent Cultures on Campus, Together. These documents are integral to our community’s safety and wellbeing and, as always, we will be actively seeking feedback to ensure they are strengthened by the diverse voices of the 杏吧原创 community. This work is especially timely in light of recent events in the province. You can learn more about 杏吧原创’s continued efforts in this .

In closing, I would like to share two fantastic recent announcements. I am thrilled that we have received a transformative to support bursaries for Indigenous students at 杏吧原创. This gift has been matched with an additional $2.5M from the University to support other Indigenous initiatives and accelerate the implementation of our Kin脿m脿gawin (Learning Together) strategy. And please join me in congratulating in recognition of her outstanding research in experimental particle physics!

Enjoy the first official day of the fall season everyone,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post A Strong Start Under Challenging Circumstances appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

September 2, 2021

Good morning everyone,

I hope you were all able to enjoy well-deserved summer holidays and to recharge in anticipation of the academic year ahead. September is already here and in about a week we will be welcoming new and returning students back to 杏吧原创’s beautiful campus, as well as to virtual learning environments. As always, I would like to thank everyone for everything you do to ensure a great experience for our students, both on campus and online.

Our community’s gradual return to campus is well underway, and we will continue this process throughout the fall, closely adhering to all public health guidelines. This change may be exciting for some and more challenging for others and I know our community will continue to show care and compassion as we navigate through this transition together.

As was the case throughout last year, adapting to the ongoing pandemic remains our most significant challenge, and recent modelling indicates that . Our first guiding principle, established in the very early days of the pandemic, remains: We will place the health and well-being of students, staff, faculty and the broader community above all other considerations.

A critical element of our safe and gradual return to campus is for all in-person university activities, on the and as required by the province. I am pleased to report that since we , over 8,600 members of our community have uploaded their information and the full vaccination rate stands at 96%, with the vast majority of other respondents having received their first dose. I encourage everyone to upload that important information in cuScreen at the first opportunity.

Another important aspect of our fall strategy has been to schedule all our in-person courses in rooms that allow for physical distancing. While the province has recently announced that they would allow flexibility with regards to physical distancing in classrooms, in consultation with local health authorities, we are staying the course with our fall 2021 plan and maintaining planned distancing requirements. We will evaluate whether these measures can be relaxed for the winter term once the amplitude and duration of the fourth wave is better understood.

As per government regulations, masks remain mandatory in classrooms, indoor spaces and whenever physical distancing presents a challenge. We have also insured that we were ready with updated ventilation systems, rigorous water testing protocols, signage, traffic flow, hand sanitizing stations and new .

As we prepare to welcome students back, you can as always find training and resources for faculty and staff on the Student Support website. In the event you are concerned about a student who you believe is struggling with a range of academic, financial, or psychosocial issues, please submit a Care Report and this will automatically begin the process of creating a confidential file in the Office of Student Affairs who will provide the appropriate support and guidance to the student.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

As we plan for the present, we must also always keep an eye on the future. Following the successful launch of our new Strategic Integrated Plan, we are continuing to develop important operational plans. This year will be focusing on three very important consultations: An Academic and Research Plan, the Student Mental Health Framework 3.0 and the Sexual Violence Policy review. These documents are integral to our community and, as always, we will be actively seeking feedback to ensure that they are strengthened by the diverse voices of the 杏吧原创 community.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day and a great start to the fall term!

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

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August 10, 2021

Good morning everyone,

It’s great to be back to work after some much-needed downtime in July. I hope that everyone has had the chance to rest after what has, no doubt, been the most challenging year of our history. Looking back at 2020-21 and all the disruption we have faced through the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot find the words to convey the depth of my appreciation and admiration for all the ways that we have creatively adapted to safely and successfully maintain our academic mission and operations. We can all take pride in our collective achievements, which were made possible by the deep collegiality and compassion that characterizes our community.

A highlight of the summer is that tentative collective agreements were reached with both the 杏吧原创 University Academic Staff Association (CUASA), representing professors, instructors and librarians, and OPSEU Local 404, representing Campus Safety Officers, Special Constables, Communication Officers and Student Safety Patrol employees. I want to thank all negotiating teams and everyone involved for successfully coming to these agreements during these difficult times.

Looking at the academic year ahead, we are continuing to monitor updates from the Government of Ontario as the province continues to implement its , now in Step 3. We are moving forward with our own plans to prepare for the safe and gradual return of staff and students for the fall term. All units in phase 3 have finalized their plans and are ready to return to campus on August 23 so that we can start providing face-to-face support for our students. The Return to Campus working group will offer a further series of information sessions throughout August for members of the university community.

Courses that have been scheduled to be delivered  will proceed as planned. Notably, we have scheduled all in person classes with sufficient space for social distancing, and masks will be required as per government regulations. If the situation allows, we will look to safely increase on-campus opportunities for students throughout the fall term in line with public health guidelines.

Our amazing Facilities Management and Planning staff have been hard at work ensuring that all of our buildings have updated ventilation systems, rigorous water testing protocols, signage, traffic flow, hand sanitizing stations and new  in advance of units returning to campus. We have identified capacity limits for our buildings and spaces, should they be required, and are setting up an Ambassador program to provide encouragement to the community to follow all public health guidelines.

We are also preparing to launch our new COVID-19 screening tool, cuScreen, which has been developed in partnership with Thrive Health Inc., a leading Canadian health care technology company with expertise in protecting personal health information. This investment in our community’s safety was necessary as our current system did not have the capacity to scale up to the level of campus activity we are expecting. cuScreen has been fully reviewed by our privacy office and information security team and we are setting up an FAQ page to answer some common questions about this new system 鈥� more information will be coming soon.

It is great to see that vaccination rates across Ontario and Canada are very high. Our own data indicate that the vast majority of our students, faculty and staff will be vaccinated in time for the fall. Based on the recent recommendation of Ottawa Public Health (OPH), we have made the decision to . These activities include living in residence, engaging in varsity/competitive sports and participating in music performance instruction. The University will also as recommended by OPH.

For everyone’s safety and for the continuity of our academic mission and operations in the face of the Delta variant, we urge everyone to get immunized against COVID-19 as soon as possible. Over the next few weeks, we will further encourage vaccination through a campaign featuring faculty, staff and students. Our Health and Counselling Services is preparing to run additional drop-in vaccination clinics in mid-August and will continue to run clinics during residence move-in and orientation week, as well as throughout the early fall.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

I am hopeful that once we get over the understandable hesitation of returning to campus after more than a year away, we will again come to fully enjoy the pleasures of seeing each other in person and of feeling the wonderful energy of the fall term. Over time, we will return, safely and gradually, to all that makes university life on the beautiful 杏吧原创 campus so interesting, meaningful and rewarding.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

The post Ready for a Safe and Successful Fall appeared first on The President and Vice-Chancellor.

June 29, 2021

Good morning everyone,

As we head into the long weekend and well-deserved summer holidays, I wanted to thank our entire community once again for a successful year under truly challenging circumstances. Thanks to our shared commitment and hard work, last week we celebrated the success of well over 6,000 new 杏吧原创 degree holders 鈥� the largest graduation class in our history! I wish all our new alumni the very best as they tackle new challenges and opportunities.

We are continuing to see encouraging signs that we will eventually emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 30, the province will move into Step 2 of its , and we expect that Step 3 will follow within a month. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to monitor Ontario’s reopening plan and will be communicating any significant changes both through email and on our COVID-19 What’s Open and Closed website.

The vaccination rates across Ontario and Canada continue to accelerate. It’s important that individuals receive both doses of the vaccine to boost their immunity and help everyone return to campus safely. After having my first dose of AstraZeneca in early May, I am looking forward to receiving a second dose, this time probably an mRNA vaccine, in early July. We are planning on additional vaccination clinics in August at our Health and Counselling Services based on vaccine allocations and supply from Ottawa Public Health. In addition, we are preparing to launch a full vaccination campaign in August to encourage all our students to get vaccinated with two doses.

The Return to Campus working group is continuing to plan for units to gradually and safely return to campus starting in August in advance of the fall term. All units in phase 3 are now preparing their return to campus and staffing plans to ensure we can provide face-to-face support for our students on campus starting August 23. We are continuing to prepare our buildings, including ensuring all buildings have updated ventilation systems, signage and traffic flow, and updating our cleaning protocols in advance of units returning to campus.

I am grateful for everyone’s contribution to the complex process of preparing for the fall term in circumstances that remain fluid. I am confident that we will be ready and that as the 2021-22 academic year progresses we will gradually and safely come to once again enjoy the full range of activities that make university life so rich and so rewarding.

As always, any questions you may have that are not answered by 杏吧原创’s COVID-19 information website and its FAQ section should be forwarded to covidinfo@carleton.ca.

I will be away for a few weeks, but will be back with regular communications in August. In the meantime, our Provost Jerry Tomberlin will be Acting President. Please make sure you also take holidays 鈥� we all need it!

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Benoit

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor

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