To Faculty of Information students, professors and staff:
Earlier today UofT President Meric Gertler announced a change to the start date of winter term classes in January – a change that will affect and, we hope, benefit most members of the University community, including all of us at the Faculty of Information. (If for some reason you have not yet received a copy of the President’s letter you can find it here.)
At the Faculty of Information, we have decided to act in line with the vast majority of UofT Faculties and shift the date that classes start from January 4 to January 11. This will not affect the end of term, which remains April 19, 2021. Nor will it affect the February Reading Week, which remains February 15-19, 2021. Basically, everything that happens in class will just be taking place a week later than originally planned.
If students have questions about how this change will affect academic dates and deadlines or other possible impacts, they should feel free to reach out to the Student Services team at inquire.ischool@utoronto.ca. As always, my virtual door is open if you would like to discuss things further with me. And, as the President noted, the University will still reopen with staff in place on January 4.
I would also like to let you know that while we had originally planned to offer a small number of in-person courses during the winter term, the public health restrictions currently in place in Toronto make that seem unrealistic. As a result, all courses will once again be delivered remotely for the winter term.
In closing, I would like to wish you all the best as we finish off our fall term. I know how hard each and every one of you has worked, and I am grateful for how you have come together to help each other through this difficult time. As challenging as this pandemic has made so many aspects of our academic life, I am reminded every day of what a privilege it is to be a part of this community of ours. I thank you all and hope that this delayed start to the winter term will be something you can take advantage of as we end this year and enter 2021.
Sincerely,
Wendy Duff
Professor and Dean
