Steenkamp on back to campus in fall

Royal Roads University President Philip Steenkamp joined host Gregor Craigie on CBC Radio’s On the Island to discuss vaccines and masks in the post-secondary environment and the university’s return to campus plans this fall.

Here is some of what he had to say:

“Like all post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, we follow returned to campus guidelines which have been developed in conjunction with the provincial health officer and the BC Centre for Disease Control and of course, representatives from all of our institutions. So we are planning in September to commence in-person programming and in-person services following those guidelines.

“Now of course, over the last few weeks with the increasing cases and the Delta variant, a lot of concerns are being raised around things like mask mandates and vaccine mandates so we are in active discussions with the public health officer about those particular issues.

[…]

“We all hoped of course when the numbers came down a couple of months ago, that we would be heading into the fall with a lot of this behind us. But circumstances have changed, and this has been the story of this pandemic, twists and turns, all the time and I fully understand that people are feeling uncertain and anxious.

“I’m going to be releasing a video to the [RRU] community today talking about the importance of getting vaccinations. We are looking, for instance, at the feasibility of having mobile vaccine clinics on campus as more students return… it's an evolving situations and we are waiting for more guidance from the public health officer on the issue of masks and on the issue of vaccines… I would hope in the next week or two. Otherwise we will have to make some decisions within our realm of responsibility.”

Listen to the full interview on CBC Radio’s On the Island with Gregor Craigie.