Academic Schedule changes approved by Senate

Earlier today, Senate Executive on behalf of Senate, the academic governing body of the university, met and approved several motions related to the academic schedule and student experience as a result of the strike.  As the strike continues, there will be significant changes required to the academic schedule to maintain the integrity of our courses and programs, and to ensure requirements for accreditation. The modifications to the academic schedule depend on the length of the strike.

Academic schedule modifications

Today, Senate Executive approved two potential scenarios:

Scenario 1 [Return to teaching on or before November 15]:

• The last instructional day of fall term, December 10, 2021 remains unchanged for continuing classes.
• The last instructional day of fall term for interrupted classes will be December 16, 2021.
• The voluntary withdrawal date will move from November 23 to November 29, 2021 for all classes, continuing and interrupted.
• The December exam period will still occur from December 11 to December 23, 2021; however, given the extension of fall term for interrupted classes a new exam schedule must be created. The new exam schedule includes dates on both days of the weekends.
• This schedule will be available to students by December 1, 2021, and will replace the current exam schedule that was made available to students at the end of October.

Scenario 2 [Return to teaching between November 16 and November 23]:

• The last instructional day of fall term, December 10, 2021 remains unchanged for continuing classes.
• The last instructional day for fall term for interrupted classes will be December 23, 2021.
• The voluntary withdrawal date will move from November 23 to December 7, 2021 for all classes, continuing and interrupted.
• The original exam period, December 11 to 23, 2021, will continue as is for continuing courses that are not disrupted by the strike.
• The dates of the alternate exam period will be January 6 to 9, 2022, inclusive. All courses interrupted by the strike will have their exams re-scheduled to occur during this alternate period.
• The final grade appeal deadline will be moved from January 25, 2022, to January 28, 2022, for all classes, continuing and interrupted.

Please note that slight modifications may be required for both scenarios. Full details about the academic schedule changes can be found here.

What happens when the strike ends?

Once an agreement has been reached and the strike has ended, things may move quickly. UM and UMFA will announce that a tentative agreement has been reached, subject to ratification, and that will include the date when courses will resume.

Senate Executive also passed two motions intended to reduce any undue anxiety or hardship for students impacted by the strike:

• No assignments will be due or exams held in interrupted courses within 72 hours of the first session after resuming. This is to give students some time to complete assignments and study.
• Some students will have a combination of courses that continued throughout the strike, and courses with modified schedule because the instructor was on strike. Academic unit heads and academic staff shall ensure that students are not disadvantaged with respect to any missed classes, materials, assignments/tests should there be a scheduling conflict between a class and an exam.

Thank you for your patience and adaptability during this time. I encourage you to visit the strike website for answers to many frequently asked questions. For any other questions you may have related to the strike, please email strikeum [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Sincerely,

Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)