Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Amandalina Letterio

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY

TRU to welcome back students with vaccine passports, COVID protocols – staff has mixed feelings

Aug 25, 2021 | 4:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is preparing to reopen its doors to more than 10,000 students in a few weeks.

But even with these new protocols in place, faculty and staff have mixed feelings.

Mask wearing is mandatory on campus, yet again, as the province reinstates COVID-19 restrictions.

“First couple of weeks are going to be really interesting as we get used to each other again, get used to being in spaces together. There’s no question that people have anxieties and concerns and I think the guidelines we have are safe,” TRU’s Vice President of Administration and Finance Matt Milovick says.

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One of those safety requirements is a vaccine certificate for students wanting to attend sporting events, work-out in the gym, live on campus, and more.

“The intended effect is that students that aren’t vaccinated will see all the things they can’t participate in and go get vaccinated,” Milovick adds.

Many students are okay with the new protocols — if it means they can get back to the books.

CFJC News spoke to some people who were roaming the TRU campus on Wednesday (Aug. 25) afternoon.

“I think they’re just for us to be safe. I don’t mind them,” said one woman.

“I’m vaccinated and I hope everybody gets vaccinated so that should probably solve the issue to a great extent,” said another student, who just moved to Kamloops from India for her education.

“I feel much safer going back to school,” said one man.

Most students are looking forward to going back to school, but faculty and support staff have mixed feelings.

“Going back into the classroom, there are some faculty who have concerns about the safety and contracting COVID and the smaller confinements of classrooms,” explains Tara Lyster, President of the TRU Faculty Association. “And then I’m hearing from other faculty who are very excited to get back to being with students in the classroom and teaching and interacting.”

Lois Rugg, president of the TRU support staff union says, “it’s absolutely a concern.”

“We are encouraging the employer to do more wherever they can just to ensure that there’s proper barriers in locations and in offices and classrooms and those sorts of things,” Rugg says.

Unvaccinated students will still be allowed to attend in-person classes – but the university is working with the province to find out if that will apply to all courses.

“Programs that perhaps are more intensive, more physically engaging – will there be an option to mandate vaccination for those – so we’re seeking clarity on that – things like nursing as an example. So those are some questions that we need some answers to,” Milovick adds.

TRU is also looking into if they can make exemptions for students with religious beliefs or medical considerations that might stop them from getting vaccinated.