H1N1 update

The University of Winnipeg’s Emergency Management Team met Aug. 31 to discuss the final draft of the H1N1 Pandemic Preparedness Plan for the fall term.

The plan includes further measures the university will take to prevent the spread of the virus and how the university will accommodate students in the event of illness. Since sick students will be encouraged to stay home, the emergency management team is working to develop alternative means for students to keep up with classes, such as online access to lecture notes and the possibility of extensions. Specific rules regarding extensions and missed classes will be left up to individual professors.

The university has already installed hand washing stations equipped with non-alcoholic sanitizer and has posted information about the H1N1 virus on the university website in several languages.

Bottled water gone on campus

Beginning in September, students will no longer be able to purchase bottled water on campus. Bottled water is currently being removed from vending machines and water refill stations have already been installed on campus. The UWSA is encouraging U of W administration to have more installed in critical areas of the university by the beginning of fall term.

U of W represented at Global Youth Assembly

University president Lloyd Axworthy spoke alongside Free the Children co-founder Craig Kielburger and Governor General Michaelle Jean at the 2009 Global Youth Assembly in Edmonton last month.

Over 600 delegates aged 16 to 28 from over 30 countries attended the event, presented by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. Workshops highlighted issues from the environment to social activism, as well as many Aboriginal issues.

Axworthy spoke about the impact of youth involvement in the future and the importance of social responsibility in our world. The University of Winnipeg was praised for its environmental and social initiatives, including the ban on bottled water. The next Global Youth Assembly will be held in Winnipeg in 2011.

Uni won’t accept credit cards for tuition payments

Student Central is no longer accepting in-person tuition payments via credit card. Although a notice of this change was issued on the university’s website on June 25, Albert Yanofsky, father of two U of W students, said that students should have been given earlier notice and the information could have been better communicated to students.

He explained that his daughter waited in line for 45 minutes to pay for her tuition fees and did not see any signs alerting students until she reached the front of the line.

“They could have done a better job to advertise so that people can clearly see,” he said.

Students who wish to pay tuition fees with a credit card can do so on WebAdvisor. There is a convenience fee of $50 for this method of payment.

Published in Volume 64, Number 1 of The Uniter (September 3, 2009)