Cancel in-person exams at UBC: Stop the Spread
Cancel in-person exams at UBC: Stop the Spread
The Issue
With case numbers and the Omicron variant on the rise, we call on UBC to immediately cancel in-person examinations and protect our communities.
UBC students do not feel safe in the conditions they are forced to write their final exams. With exams taking place in massive gyms and lecture halls with up to 900 students packed closely together, we are experiencing an urgent threat to the health and safety of not only our campus communities but all of our extended contacts and families we had planned to return home to. With all of the packed libraries, residence halls and transit commutes to campus, the risk of in-person examinations is dispersed far and beyond an exam hall. Dozens of other universities in Canada have already identified this risk and moved their examinations online. Why won't UBC?
Preparing for finals is stressful enough, but students are now forced to shoulder the additional burden of worrying about whether or not attending an in-person exam will expose them and their families to COVID-19. The r/ubc subreddit is full of students sharing that roommates, friends or the poster themselves, are feeling symptomatic and will be attending in-person examination regardless. UBC has forced students to make an impossible choice. At best, students could write a deferred exam months from now and study all over again (if they’re even approved for a concession at all!). At worst, students are entering an exam room knowing they will carry this risk of exposure with them home for the holidays.
On December 16th, the PHO announced restrictions, that do not apply to post-secondary institutions, "limiting venues of 1,000 individuals or more to 50% of the seated capacity with reinforced masking requirements and scanning of the BC Vaccine Card." How can UBC tell us it's "safe" for hundreds, if not thousands, of students to gather to write their exams while the BC government announces significant new restrictions that limit this type of gathering?
UBC's COVID-19 vaccination and testing measures have been woefully inadequate and do not instil any confidence that we are "safe". UBC is the largest of the few universities in Canada that do not have a vaccine mandate. Our weaker alternative of a testing mandate hasn't even been properly enforced. At the December UBC Vancouver Senate meeting, we learned through a memorandum from the Registrar that "at this time roughly 9800 students across both campuses of UBC are not in compliance with the Program due to not having declared their vaccination status, and a further ~6250 have declared their status but are not compliant due to not having uploaded proof of vaccination. A substantial number of students have also not been undergoing regular testing..." The fragility of our already weakened COVID-19 regulations on campus further our concerns and demand immediate action.
We cannot afford to wait. Every day, every hour, more examinations are being conducted in packed exam halls that are putting students, faculty and staff and their families at great risk.
We need UBC to act NOW and IMMEDIATELY cancel in-person examinations.
Please sign and share this petition if you agree.
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For more information:
- AMS letter to Santa Ono calling for in-person examinations to be cancelled https://twitter.com/eshanabhangu/status/1472022024155373569
- Reddit thread keeping track of all posts about students saying a symptomatic person will be showing up to an exam: https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rj1qv2/ubc_only_cares_about_their_reputation/
- Video of crowds of students packed together leaving the Student Recreation Centre (SRC) https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rix6c7/the_scenes_at_src_at_what_cost/
- Pictures of people waiting for the exam outside the SRC https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rjf7z5/pictures_of_people_waiting_for_the_exam_outside/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
- Packed math examination in Osbourne Gym: https://twitter.com/RobinMathesonn/status/1472285213703106560
- Global BC - UBC student society calls for cancellation of in-person exams amid Omicron spread https://globalnews.ca/news/8461470/ubc-student-society-calls-for-cancellation-of-in-person-exams-amid-omicron-spread/?utm_medium=Twitter&utm_source=%40globalbc
- BC CTV - Students, representatives worry about spread of COVID-19 at in-person exams at UBC https://bc.ctvnews.ca/students-representatives-worry-about-spread-of-covid-19-at-in-person-exams-at-ubc-1.5712924
- Santa Ono community update December 14th https://president.ubc.ca/blog/2021/12/14/exams-testing-update/
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For media:
This petition is organized by a collective of concerned student leaders from the AMS, Resource Groups, Senate and Board of Governors.
Contact Person: Eshana Bhangu, AMS VP Academic and University Affairs, vpacademic@ams.ubc.ca
Please direct media requests to media@ams.ubc.ca
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Cover photo via reddit user u/seidmel19 https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/riwgno/dec_2019_vs_dec_2021_ubc_hasnt_bothered_to_even/
1,234
The Issue
With case numbers and the Omicron variant on the rise, we call on UBC to immediately cancel in-person examinations and protect our communities.
UBC students do not feel safe in the conditions they are forced to write their final exams. With exams taking place in massive gyms and lecture halls with up to 900 students packed closely together, we are experiencing an urgent threat to the health and safety of not only our campus communities but all of our extended contacts and families we had planned to return home to. With all of the packed libraries, residence halls and transit commutes to campus, the risk of in-person examinations is dispersed far and beyond an exam hall. Dozens of other universities in Canada have already identified this risk and moved their examinations online. Why won't UBC?
Preparing for finals is stressful enough, but students are now forced to shoulder the additional burden of worrying about whether or not attending an in-person exam will expose them and their families to COVID-19. The r/ubc subreddit is full of students sharing that roommates, friends or the poster themselves, are feeling symptomatic and will be attending in-person examination regardless. UBC has forced students to make an impossible choice. At best, students could write a deferred exam months from now and study all over again (if they’re even approved for a concession at all!). At worst, students are entering an exam room knowing they will carry this risk of exposure with them home for the holidays.
On December 16th, the PHO announced restrictions, that do not apply to post-secondary institutions, "limiting venues of 1,000 individuals or more to 50% of the seated capacity with reinforced masking requirements and scanning of the BC Vaccine Card." How can UBC tell us it's "safe" for hundreds, if not thousands, of students to gather to write their exams while the BC government announces significant new restrictions that limit this type of gathering?
UBC's COVID-19 vaccination and testing measures have been woefully inadequate and do not instil any confidence that we are "safe". UBC is the largest of the few universities in Canada that do not have a vaccine mandate. Our weaker alternative of a testing mandate hasn't even been properly enforced. At the December UBC Vancouver Senate meeting, we learned through a memorandum from the Registrar that "at this time roughly 9800 students across both campuses of UBC are not in compliance with the Program due to not having declared their vaccination status, and a further ~6250 have declared their status but are not compliant due to not having uploaded proof of vaccination. A substantial number of students have also not been undergoing regular testing..." The fragility of our already weakened COVID-19 regulations on campus further our concerns and demand immediate action.
We cannot afford to wait. Every day, every hour, more examinations are being conducted in packed exam halls that are putting students, faculty and staff and their families at great risk.
We need UBC to act NOW and IMMEDIATELY cancel in-person examinations.
Please sign and share this petition if you agree.
-----------------
For more information:
- AMS letter to Santa Ono calling for in-person examinations to be cancelled https://twitter.com/eshanabhangu/status/1472022024155373569
- Reddit thread keeping track of all posts about students saying a symptomatic person will be showing up to an exam: https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rj1qv2/ubc_only_cares_about_their_reputation/
- Video of crowds of students packed together leaving the Student Recreation Centre (SRC) https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rix6c7/the_scenes_at_src_at_what_cost/
- Pictures of people waiting for the exam outside the SRC https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/rjf7z5/pictures_of_people_waiting_for_the_exam_outside/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
- Packed math examination in Osbourne Gym: https://twitter.com/RobinMathesonn/status/1472285213703106560
- Global BC - UBC student society calls for cancellation of in-person exams amid Omicron spread https://globalnews.ca/news/8461470/ubc-student-society-calls-for-cancellation-of-in-person-exams-amid-omicron-spread/?utm_medium=Twitter&utm_source=%40globalbc
- BC CTV - Students, representatives worry about spread of COVID-19 at in-person exams at UBC https://bc.ctvnews.ca/students-representatives-worry-about-spread-of-covid-19-at-in-person-exams-at-ubc-1.5712924
- Santa Ono community update December 14th https://president.ubc.ca/blog/2021/12/14/exams-testing-update/
-----------------
For media:
This petition is organized by a collective of concerned student leaders from the AMS, Resource Groups, Senate and Board of Governors.
Contact Person: Eshana Bhangu, AMS VP Academic and University Affairs, vpacademic@ams.ubc.ca
Please direct media requests to media@ams.ubc.ca
-----------------
Cover photo via reddit user u/seidmel19 https://www.reddit.com/r/UBC/comments/riwgno/dec_2019_vs_dec_2021_ubc_hasnt_bothered_to_even/
1,234
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on December 18, 2021