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April message from Dean Wendy Duff

Submitted on Thursday, April 29, 2021

Dear members of the Faculty of Information Community, 

Since I last wrote to you, the Covid-19 situation has significantly deteriorated, causing a lot of us to feel very uncertain about the coming 2021/22 academic year. 

Given all this, I felt it was important to update you and let you know that you can count on hearing from us monthly throughout the spring and summer, at the end of May, June and July, as well as in between if things change significantly. 

As it has been throughout the pandemic, the top priority of the University remains the health and safety of all members of our community. As planning moves ahead, the University continues to take advice from public health experts including those from UofT, who are advising our governments. If it becomes necessary to change course, we will let you know as soon as possible. 

At present, we are forging ahead with the plans that I outlined in my last letter. These plans call for a fall term that includes in-person components for as many courses as possible. We are currently planning for some courses to be offered completely in person, some to have remote and in-person components, and others to be delivered remotely. Details about individual classes should be posted early in July. We are currently recommending students plan on being in Toronto for the 2021/22 academic year. 

From talking to you, I know that many are asking if these plans are realistic given the current Covid situation in Ontario. I too have found myself asking the same questions at times. But what the University’s top Covid advisors keep reinforcing with me and other planners is that vaccination changes everything and that it is important to remember that we are in a very different place now than we were a year ago. We took all this into account when we planned to be online for the summer and then phase back to in-person learning in the fall. 

In the meantime, please continue to check our FAQs (below) as well as UofT’s main Covid page. If you haven’t yet taken advantage of the University’s resources, please consider taking a look, be it for wellness, housing issues, or something completely different. 

As always, I welcome your emails and questions. And – dare I say it – I am looking forward to either welcoming you back to campus or onto it for the very first time. 

Sincerely, 

Wendy Duff