Modified Level 1 – Return to Campus Plan

Timestamp: Tuesday, April 27, 2021. 6:00pm

To the CBU Student Community,

As you are well aware, cases of COVID-19 are rising across the Province, and variants and community spread are a very real concern. To combat this, Premier Iain Rankin and Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, have announced a Province-wide shutdown. This shutdown is intended to be a two-week circuit breaker and comes into effect at 8:00 am on Wednesday, April 28, and stays in effect until May 12, 2021. I urge you to adhere to these new measures for the benefit of the community.

For these reasons, we will move to a Modified Level 1 of the Return to Campus plan.

Modified Level 1:

• Employees work remotely except when in-person is deemed necessary. Essential services, including maintenance and care, and/or emergency repair are required.
• Courses are delivered to students online.
• Campus is closed to the public with the exception of the Nova Scotia Health Vaccination Clinic and when CBU administration deems access necessary and in accordance with the Public Health Order
• CBU events are cancelled or postponed,
• Only essential maintenance of critical research equipment or specimens, by approval only.
• Some in-person visits to the Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre are allowed when deemed necessary by the clinician and the client. By appointment only.

What you need to know:

• All classes for the spring semester that were scheduled to begin on May 3, 2021, will begin online as we stated earlier this week.
• Student services options including library, student affairs, health services and admissions are being offering as virtual services. These virtual services are available to ensure there is no disruption in services for students.
• Convocation is being offered as a virtual experience by School, and will be available at cbuconvocation2021.ca on May 8, 2021.

Resources:

• Healthy Minds NS
• Personal Counselling: CBU’s Personal Counsellors are Clinical Social Workers who work with students to deal with a variety of issues including depression and anxiety, grief, parenting, anger, relationship issues, family conflict, time management, stress, financial concerns, and more. This free and confidential service is available by contacting the Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre.
• meSAFE: a 24/7 digital mental health support program for international students. keep.meSAFE provides students with access to a large and diverse network of professional counsellors who are equipped to offer support and guidance. Students are matched to a counsellor based on their situation, language and cultural preferences.
• TAO (Therapy Assistance Online) – An online mental health library with interactive modules to help you understand and manage how you feel, think and act. TAO recently created mindfulness video exercises to help students cope with their feelings.
• Mindfulness in Nova Scotia (MindWell-U) – MindWell-U is a free 30-day mindfulness challenge. This online tool is only five minutes per day and helps lower stress and improve wellbeing.
• ICAN (I Conquer Anxiety and Nervousness) – ICAN Anxiety Program is available to those 18 years and older who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. This program includes online tools for tracking and managing symptoms, and weekly phone calls with an anxiety coach

While this is not welcome news, it is necessary to protect all of us here in Nova Scotia. As Dr. Strang noted, if we all lock arms and stand together, we can roar back at this storm. By following the science-based direction from the Province, we can do our part to ensure we get this virus under control. Please do not engage in non-essential travel, stay within your own municipality, wear your mask, respect physical distancing and wash your hands. We’re in this together.

For a full list of provincial measures and restrictions, CLICK HERE.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Tanya Brann-Barrett

Chair, Return to Campus Committee

Associate Vice-President, Academic and Research