The University of Canberra (UC) has announced it is to ask its students in China to defer their studies for semester one, following the extension of travel restrictions to and from mainland China to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic at UC, Professor Geoff Crisp said the facility’s top priority was to ensure the best possible learning outcomes for students.
“Due to complications from the Chinese firewall, access to study materials and the multiple variations of individual student’s study plans, we would rather ensure our students continue to receive the high-quality face-to-face experience offered here at UC, instead of an online version of our career-focused degrees with practical work-integrated-learning units,” Professor Crisp said.
He said the decision was not “taken lightly” but with 380 students still in China after the 1 February travel restrictions were implemented, all other avenues for study options had been exhausted.
“Of those who arrived early, we have a total of 17 students in self-isolation, eight of which are in a dedicated isolated on-campus residence with separate air conditioning units,” said Professor Crisp.
“Those students are being taken care of with medical and counselling support from our experienced team via phone, being delivered food and groceries, and have been provided with care packages.”
He said affected students would have until Monday 2 March to defer or arrive for classes and would be automatically deferred beyond that date.
“UC is unique in that our semester starts far earlier than most universities so we have had to act quickly to alleviate our students’ anxieties around commencement of studies this week,” Professor Crisp said.
He said there would be no fee charges for affected students.
“Our dedicated staff have worked hard to investigate the best solution for these students to ensure they are able to complete their degrees while enjoying a good learning experience,” Professor Crisp said.
