{"id":17129,"date":"2019-02-11T14:14:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T22:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=17129"},"modified":"2019-11-08T14:12:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T22:12:08","slug":"camosun-college-students-upset-after-college-opens-despite-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2019\/02\/11\/camosun-college-students-upset-after-college-opens-despite-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun College students upset after college opens despite snow"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Updated: Camosun College campuses are closed today, Wednesday, February 13.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Updated: Camosun College campuses are closed today, Tuesday, February 12.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On Monday, February 11, just after 6:30 am, Camosun College announced that both campuses would be open despite snowfall overnight continuing into today and Saanich Police urging people to not drive if at all possible.<\/p>\r\n

Camosun students took to social media in protest of the college\u2019s decision to open. The Facebook post where the college announced that campuses would remain open today has 188 comments as of 2:07 pm, most of which are students voicing their concern.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Adrian Johnson wrote that \u201cIt is unfair to students that classes are still in session since we are in midterm season. Those that are unable to attend\u2026 will be missing out on midterm review classes and new content.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Gwendolyn O\u2019Connor said, \u201cWhat about students who have disabilities, eh? Thanks Camosun.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Taylor Westendale said \u201cThis is such a joke… I live in the middle of [M]etchosin and I\u2019m not going to risk my safety to make it to campus when snow is suppose[d] to continue all day. Do you even consider those of us who live in [M]etchosin, [S]ooke, [H]ighlands etc…\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Johnson went on to say that because some students are unable to attend class and are potentially missing out on midterm review having the college open does not \u201cuphold the college\u2019s commitment to equity and equality in learning\u201d and said that placing the onus on students to get to class safely \u201cshows a reckless disregard for student safety.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Camosun College’s Lansdowne campus on Monday, February 11 (photo by Greg Pratt\/Nexus<\/em>).<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Camosun vice president of student experience Joan Yates urges students to not come in if they feel unsafe, and says the college monitors changes in transit and weather conditions closely, as well as messages from the Saanich Police. Yates says \u201cthe biggest factor by far\u201d is whether or not Camosun\u2019s facility services staff deem it safe to be on and get to campus. They were working to determine that as early as 4 am, says Yates, and they concluded that it was.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When asked about the fact that Saanich Police recommended people to stay off the roads, Yates says, \u201cI don\u2019t know the timing of that, and so I would have to get back to our Facilities folks.\u201d (Saanich PD sent out a media release at 5:33 pm on Sunday night \u201cadvising motorists to stay off the roads, and if travel is necessary, winter tires or chains are required.”)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Yates says that the college is \u201creally aware that people are deeply, deeply frustrated and upset.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe know that. We absolutely know that, and we\u2019re really sorry about that; no question,\u201d says Yates, adding that student safety is \u201cparamount to us.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re feeling unsafe, don\u2019t come in,\u201d she says. \u201cAbsolutely. And we would not want to jeopardize that. I hear that very, very clearly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Yates says the complaints are substantial and that the college is \u201ctaking it seriously.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe make the best decision we can when we have the information at hand,\u201d says Yates. \u201cRight now, we\u2019re clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) executive director Michel Turcotte says that the CCSS realizes it was a very hard decision for the college to make.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe think the college made the best decision they could given the information that they had,\u201d he says, \u201cgiven that UVic and Royal Roads remained open.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Saanich Police public information officer Julie Fast says the Saanich Police don\u2019t control what organizations such as the college do in these situations.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cOur primary concern is safety on the roads, and with the road conditions as they are today, this is what we\u2019re recommending,\u201d says Fast. \u201cIt\u2019s not a directive; it\u2019s not that we\u2019re shutting down the city of Saanich.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fast says it is not finable to drive without snow tires or chains.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cIf you need to drive, we\u2019re asking you to just be very conscious; make sure you\u2019re prepared. If you don\u2019t need to go anywhere, it\u2019s best just to take a snow day and stay at home.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Yates says that in regard to students who are concerned about missing midterm tests or preparation, that is handled on a class-by-class basis, and that the decision is largely left to the instructor.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cOur expectation is that faculty\u2026 will be making some decisions about that,\u201d says Yates, but she calls that \u201ca speculative thing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI mean, again, if we close, there may be impacts on that as well,\u201d says Yates. \u201cWe\u2019re really reluctant to short-change students of their classes and their class time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Turcotte says that part of what needs to be balanced is where students live: if the college remains open, there are still students who could make it to the main campuses, he says.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cOne thing our members should remember is that if the college should close, those instructional hours are not reassigned at some later point. They\u2019re just lost,\u201d he says. \u201cSo either way, those members are missing something they paid for. One of the reasons I\u2019m sure it was hard for the college to make that decision is, if you look at a demographic map of where the students live, quite a few of them live reasonably close to, for example, Lansdowne, and those transportation corridors were open. We fully understand that if you\u2019re coming from parts of the Saanich Peninsula, or Highlands, or Sooke, you\u2019re in a different situation. But there are a reasonable number of students who could access at least the main campuses of the college today. So it\u2019s balancing that issue.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

More snow is expected to fall tonight.\u00a0There have been reports of crews attending to emergencies as needed throughout Saanich, according to the Saanich Police.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe want everyone to remain safe,\u201d says Turcotte. \u201cI think the worst in this case is yet to come, because there\u2019s forecast for for even more snow tonight, so I\u2019d be watching all the appropriate Facebook and Twitter and other feeds tomorrow to get a better idea of what the situation is going to be on the campuses.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At 1:34, the college announced that classes will be cancelled tonight effective 3:30 pm, and buildings closed at 4 pm.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated: Camosun College campuses are closed today, Wednesday, February 13. Updated: Camosun College campuses are closed today, Tuesday, February 12. On Monday, February 11, just after 6:30 am, Camosun College announced that both campuses would be open despite snowfall overnight continuing into today and Saanich Police urging people to not drive if at all possible. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17129"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18586,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17129\/revisions\/18586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}