Message from the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and the Office of the Principal
Dear colleagues,
Given the impact of the recent ice storm and related power outages across the region, and following discussions with municipal leadership, we’ve decided to cancel all in-person classes on the Orillia Campus for Wednesday, April 2. Online classes will continue as scheduled.
While services have been restored in some areas surrounding the Orillia Campus, many people within our campus community continue to face the impacts of the ice storm and do not have access to internet, power, or other services.
As this is the final week of classes before the exam period, we acknowledge that this disruption comes at a challenging time for many faculty, instructors, and students. For those teaching in-person classes at the Orillia Campus, or those in Orillia and Thunder Bay who may have students from this region enrolled in your online courses, we encourage you to consider adopting some of the following strategies and techniques over the next few days:
- Prepare review materials that can be shared via email and posted in D2L
- Record your lecture and post it asynchronously to D2L
- Consider transitioning your regular classroom slot to a Zoom session and record it for those who can’t attend in real-time
- Consider moving office hours online or host a Zoom drop-in session
- If you cannot get to some material in this last week of classes, consider not including that material in the final exam
- If you have scheduled in person final assignments (such as presentations) this week, consider an alternate format of submission that students could provide at a later date (e.g. a zoom recording of the presentation) or consider re-weighting the assignment.
- Please remember that the Restrictions on the Timing of Tests and Assignments policy prohibits scheduling any form of test (e.g., quiz, exam) other than laboratory tests in the 10 calendar days prior to the start of the formal examination period (the last week of classes and the study period).
- Reach out to your Chair, Director, or Dean if you have questions about how to best support students as they prepare for exams or finish up coursework
- Even though you may have on-campus or online classes, be prepared that some students may not be able to attend given their unique circumstances. Many students will be experiencing heightened anxiety right now and this can also be a stressful situation for instructors. We are confident that we can work together to support each other with kindness, patience, and generosity during this challenging time.
As you consider some of these options, the Teaching Commons is available to support you with the delivery of your courses over the next few days. Please contact them by phone at 807-343-8010 ext. 7730 or email teachingcommons@lakeheadu.ca.
Our communities are facing unique challenges, and this situation could be further exacerbated by more ice, rain, and snow forecasted for Wednesday into Thursday and Friday. There is a high likelihood that, given the current status, we will need to cancel in-person classes and activities on Thursday and Friday.
Please note that this does not apply to Lakehead-Georgian programs, as the Georgian College Barrie Campus will be open and operating as normal tomorrow.
The Orillia Campus remains open, with power, heat and internet in all buildings, should you need it.
Thank you all for your commitment to our students and to our Lakehead University community.
Dr. Linda Rodenburg
Principal, Orillia Campus
and
Dr. David Richards
Interim Provost & Vice-President (Academic)
It gives me a great pleasure to share with our Lakehead University community the release and publication of my two newly edited books - First published in London, United Kingdom, March 2025 by IntechOpen:
