OLDS — Olds College has made changes to its mask bylaw but no changes have been made to the way classes are delivered because the province hasn’t called for that, according to Blayne Meek, the college’s director of corporate communications and marketing.
Meek made those points after the provincial government on Nov. 24 announced new restrictions to fight COVID-19.
In an email, Meek said Olds College “will be following all of the new restrictions” including the cancellation of events and indoor social gatherings."
“Olds College has changed our mandatory mask directive on campus to include all on-campus indoor public spaces, including classrooms, hallways, washrooms and other common-use spaces,” she wrote.
She said masks are not mandatory if staff are working alone in an office or cubicle or where a barrier is in place.
However, they must be worn outside if social distancing protocols cannot be met.
Also, all Olds College employees who can work from home are encouraged to do so.
Meek said the college will deliver classes as it did before the fall semester began this year because the province has not mandated new health restrictions for post-secondary institutions.
“Prior to the fall term, all programs of study were put through an academic delivery model review to determine the most appropriate delivery method, including online, in-person or online lectures with mandatory in-person labs,” Meek wrote.
In the wake of provincial new restrictions, changes have been made to the way the CLC Fitness Centre will operate as well.
The CLC will remain open under its current hours of operations.
However, due to the new restrictions, the centre will be limited to 25 per cent of its normal capacity, as per the Alberta Fire Code.
The CLC can now only take a maximum of 25 clients per session. Clients will still have to book sessions online in order to attend them.
In addition, all remaining group fitness classes and recreation programming were cancelled as of Nov. 27.
New programming will be communicated to clients in early January as permitted by Alberta Health Services guidelines at that time.
