CMU planning for mostly in-person classes and campus life this fall

July 22, 2021

WINNIPEG—Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) anticipates that about 90 percent of its classes will happen in person, and 10 percent online. Also, there will continue to be some hybrid extensions of in-person classes for students who are not able to attend in person for COVID-19-related reasons. Providing provincial testing and vaccination goals are met—and currently the province is tracking ahead of schedule on its vaccination goals—the most likely scenario enables CMU to move ahead with a high proportion of in-person education classes and other activities this fall, even as these plans can be adapted should further pandemic conditions of concern arise. The CMU learning community has a proven track record in honouring the safety, health, and well-being of all, according to Cheryl Pauls, CMU’s president. “Sometimes I describe the story of COVID-19 during 2020-21 at CMU as ‘blessedly boring,’ she says. “There was no outbreak and no known transmission of COVID-19 on campus amongst those who live on campus or those who commute in for the day.” The rate of vaccination of the CMU learning community is high, with 95 percent of faculty and staff who took an anonymous survey indicating that they are vaccinated. “In keeping with the overwhelming consensus of scientific and health authorities globally, CMU views vaccination as a safe and necessary way to stop the transmission of COVID-19 and to protect the health of the population. As such, CMU sees vaccination as a social responsibility and an expression of care for others,” Pauls says, but won’t require staff and students to be vaccinated. Come fall, CMU will continue to follow all protocols from Manitoba Health.

—Canadian Mennonite University

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