Graduate Programs at Laurier for the Fall 2020 term

Uploaded May 15, 2020

Today you should have received a communication from President MacLatchy outlining Laurier’s planning process for Fall 2020 term. In that announcement, President MacLatchy mentioned that graduate students and postdoctoral scholars would be getting more detailed information from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS). This is the first of what will likely be several communications from FGPS that you receive throughout the summer.

Laurier prides itself on cultivating a sense of belonging to a thriving academic community. Given the current social distancing measures, we cannot invite you to campus for a chance to meet us and meet each other over cookies and lemonade. So how do we start making personal connections in a largely digital world? I think one small way to start is by making important communications like this a bit more informal and more personal.

Hello. I am Douglas Deutschman, AVP and Dean of FGPS. I am quite tall, outspoken (perhaps just loud) and old enough to be at higher risk for complications should I get COVID-19. Although my current role is as an administrator, I am also a professor of biology who loves teaching statistics and has served on 101 graduate committees and/or exams over the past 25 years. Perhaps as importantly, I am the parent of a graduate student beginning a PhD program in Toronto this fall. For me, this is personal.

In the next few pages, I want to provide a frank and honest assessment of the challenges facing graduate students in 2020. I also hope to convince you that Fall 2020 is still a good time to begin or continue your graduate studies.

Higher education was changing

Long before COVID-19 emerged as a zoonotic virus, higher education in Canada was changing in complex ways. Many of our traditional notions of fulltime, on-campus degrees were being criticized as outdated and ill-suited to meeting the needs of our increasingly diverse student population. Nearly all universities have expanded online course offerings integrated virtual/on-line elements as an integral part of many degree programs. Simultaneously, higher education has redoubled its commitment to experiential learning. Traditionally, experiential learning has been associated with co-op programs, internships, and clinical placements but it really encompasses a much wider range of hands-on, high-value experiences. As a result of these two trends, graduate programs have been updating degree paths in order to carefully match the mode of delivery with the learning objectives of the degree.

How is COVID-19 impacting graduate education

In late 2019, the SARS-COV-2 virus made the jump to humans and exploded across the world. Our lives were upended in profound ways. In response to the alarming spread of the disease, universities across the world were shut down and/or moved to 100% virtual delivery. This tectonic shift happened rapidly and without adequate time for any university to truly prepare its students, faculty, and staff for the change. All members of the university community (including administrators) found this abrupt transition stressful. The continued uncertainty around when and how we will emerge from this pandemic adds to the stress and anxiety.

Given this rapid change, it is easy to get discouraged and think of the coming term as limited by the significant countermeasures required to slow or contain COVID-19. For the next few months, we will need to abide by public health mandates like physical distancing, frequent testing, quarantine periods when we travel, and the expectation that we should be wearing face masks in public. 

How will the pandemic impact the Fall 2020 term at Laurier for Graduate Students?

The honest answer is that we are not entirely sure. No one is because we do not know what the pandemic will look like in September 2020. We don’t know what treatments might minimize the severity of the illness and we don’t know when a vaccine will be developed and produced at scale. Like Laurier, it is a safe bet that most universities will be delivering large portions of their programs online. As highlighted in President MacLatchy’s message, Laurier is committed to providing you the same quality academic experience, student support, and inviting you to feel part of a thriving and interactive academic community.

Laurier is developing a series of plans for bringing students, faculty and staff to campus in a way that is safe and sustainable. These plans are linked to the expected gradual easing of public-health restrictions. High priority will be given to students and programs that are integral to Laurier’s research enterprise. Similarly, high priority will be given to programs built around major experiential components like co-ops and clinical placements. In addition, it will be important to start with smaller groups of students as Laurier refines procedures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. As you look through this rational list of high-priority considerations, graduate programs tick all the boxes. I am cautiously optimistic that many graduate students will return to campus in the earliest phases.

What makes all this uncertainty a good time to be in graduate school?

COVID-19 changed the world. It has already changed how we think about international security, global supply chains, energy use, food production, and highlighted the fundamental need for increased surveillance for emerging diseases around the world.

Being in the first cohort to earn your graduate degree in the COVID-19 world will hone your skills at developing meaningful personal and professional networks built through intense virtual interactions. You will be building partnerships and working with students in new ways. Essentially, your degree will position you to be a leader in the society and economy that will emerge post COVID. I suggest that you think of yourself as being one of the trail blazers ready and willing to work within this new paradigm.

This will not be easy. The faculty, university, public-health agencies and governments are continually changing and adapting to the dynamic nature of the pandemic. There is no well-tested standard operating procedure for reopening universities while COVID-19 is still a threat. Laurier will make mistakes. I will make mistakes. You will make mistakes. That’s OK. In fact, it is more than OK if we learn from those mistakes and improve our ability to thrive in whatever the new normal will be.

Perhaps I am being too optimistic. Perhaps I am wrong, and the pandemic will not permanently alter our global society. Perhaps a vaccine will be developed quickly, and we can conquer COVID-19 almost as fast as it spread around the globe. Only time will tell.

What I do know is that the staff in FGPS and our many on-campus partners like the Graduate Students’ Association, the Career Development Centre, the Library, Writing Services, and the Center for Teaching and Learning have worked incredibly hard to provide value and service to our graduate students. I know that Laurier is committed to ensuring that you receive the high-quality education that you envisioned. That includes meaningful connections with your faculty and your peers. It includes opportunities for personal and professional development at a critical time for society. It also includes a commitment from the university to support you as graduate students if you encounter difficulties in your program and in your personal life.

So, more than 1,000 words later. I hope you are excited about the upcoming term and confident in Laurier’s commitment to the quality of your experience. I hope you start thinking about how you can leverage being in graduate school during this pandemic into building a life and career that allows you to adapt and lead in whatever world lies ahead of us.

Stay healthy and stay connected.

-Douglas