We, the Computer Systems Technology students of BCIT, have created this petition to urge the CST faculty to consider online instruction for the remainder of the 2022 Winter semester. 

From the success of a similar petition by the Business Students of BCIT, it is evident that there is widespread support to delay the return to in-person classes for the entirety of BCIT. However, it is understandable for BCIT to be apprehensive about online instruction, as many programs are not well suited. In addition, many students of these programs may not support online instruction. Fortunately, online instruction is possible for the CST program, and this petition is here to show that many CST students support online instruction.

While we were glad to hear CST’s decision to remain online for the week of January 10th, we disagree with their stated reasoning around returning to in-person classes. Their announcement states that: “Transmission in structured in-person learning environments is less, compared to online students who gather in unstructured settings.” But, we know that everyone’s situation is different, and we believe that the individual knows what is best for their health and safety. They also state that “there is a high vaccine uptake amongst post secondary communities” and “for vaccinated individuals who are positive for the Omicron variant, symptoms tend to be mild.” While we don’t doubt these statements, Omicron has shown to be highly contagious, even in fully vaccinated individuals. And even if symptoms are mild, the need to self isolate and miss classes even for a single week would be highly detrimental for a CST student. So, finally, while online learning has negatively affected some of us, we believe that hastily returning to in-person too soon would be much worse.

Additionally, because of our class schedules, many of us will need to utilize public transit during peak hours, furthering the risk of infection. While Omicron may be mild to most, many of us live with high-risk individuals. The choice between furthering our education and risking the health of loved ones is not one we would like to make.

We also understand that a blended approach may not be possible because of our class schedules. It may be a choice between fully online classes and in-person. And despite this, because of the reasons stated previously, we firmly believe that online instruction is the best course of action.

We hope that BCIT and the CST faculty can decide what is best for their students with this information.