Tim Rahilly message to campus community

Posted May 14, 2020

Transcript

Hi everyone. I’m Tim Rahilly, President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Royal University. I’m with you today to communicate a very important planning assumption for the fall of 2020.

Just today, the President’s Executive Committee has made the determination that we should plan for virtual delivery of our programs and services for the fall. This is not a final decision and I will commit to circling back with the campus community by the end of June to affirm the final decision. However, we think it’s important as we plan that our professors have the opportunity to plan their courses and that students understand the circumstances under which they’ll be studying.

We have made these decisions based on a number of assumptions, including the phased re-opening strategy of the province, the advice of Alberta Health Services, and the Chief Medical Officer, as well as the required physical distancing we anticipate for the fall. We value face-to-face instruction at Mount Royal University and I’m confident we will have the opportunity, hopefully soon, to return to face-to-face instruction, which is a noted strength.

These are strange and challenging times for the University and I am so grateful to all of you for your support of MRU. This week, again, I’d like to thank our faculty and our staff for all the work you are doing. I’d like to give a shout out to the planning team’s for all of the good advice you’re providing. Students, we look forward to your return and new students, we’re so excited that you’ll be joining us here at MRU.

In closing, no matter what, I think it’s important for us to remember MRU is here and will continue to be here serving our students. I will keep you posted in terms of our delivery for the fall and I hope you will continue to take good care of yourself and each other. I look forward to chatting with you again soon.