Dear POLS students,
As we start the final week of the adjusted semester, I want to take a moment to reach out again following the letter that was sent out last week. If you haven’t had the chance to read it, please do so here.
First and foremost, I want to reiterate that the staff and faculty in the Department of Political Studies recognize that this is a period of chaos and uncertainty for our students. You have had to transition to working remotely with little time to adjust or prepare, and we realize the challenges that this poses. Additionally, many of you had to make sudden travel plans and resettle elsewhere; you may have concerns around finances and returning to class in the fall term, or have questions about convocation if you are graduating this year. We appreciate your patience as we respond to this continually evolving situation. Rest assured – we understand the challenges that COVID-19 has created, and we are committed to supporting you as we navigate through this unprecedented situation together.
If you are not doing so already, you may want to monitor the university updates with regard to COVID-19. There is a section on the site for daily updates, as well as sections highlighting Messages and Statements, Symptoms and Response, Prevention, Travel, Public Health Updates, and FAQs -- and you can also find information as specifically for Students. For questions specific to undergraduate programming, please visit the Faculty of Arts and Science website for messaging from the Dean. Information regarding support services for students can be found here.
Our department is planning to host a number of online “drop-in” sessions for our undergraduate students in the very near future. These sessions will be organized according to the year you are in. We will use them to get feedback from you about how things are going. We also hope to be able to offer advice about your next steps in your undergraduate program and to share information about some of the measures we will be taking in the future regarding everything from this year's convocation plans to next year's course offerings. Each of these sessions will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and give us your views on what’s working or what’s not in our program. Please watch your e-mails for an invitation.
In addition, our department is developing a FAQ document to help guide your decisions and provide responses to the most-asked questions. Please also expect to receive this in the near future.
We anticipate that many of you have questions and remind you that staff and faculty are available as a resource and support, and we encourage you to seek those resources and that support if needed. Do feel free to contact me directly if you think I can be helpful.
Stay healthy, and take care.
Eleanor
Eleanor MacDonald,
Department Head,
April 8, 2020