Continuing education students, along with undergraduate students, will get a break from their studies during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Ken Florkow, director of learner services at BCIT, said some scheduling will be restructured during the Games.
“We recognize that people are going to want to attend the Olympics, and commuting could be difficult,” he said, noting that no classes will be in session Feb. 13-28. “Some classes might start a week early, some might go a bit longer on a daily basis, and some might provide an assignment to be done in lieu of class time over the Olympic period.”
However, facilities such as the library will be available.
It is the same story at Simon Fraser University, where dean of continuing studies Tom Nesbit says no undergraduate or graduate courses will be offered during the Games.
“Transit and travel in the downtown core will be seriously affected, and this will impact both students and staff,” he said. “To prevent serious disruption, some continuing studies programs have made other arrangements.”
The changes at SFU will last throughout the Olympics and Paralympics, said Nesbit, and around “a week or so on either side.” The Vancouver campus will be affected most.
Similarly, the University of B.C. has extended its reading week to two weeks, from Feb. 15-26. There will be no classes for undergraduate or graduate students, with the exception of first- and second-year medicine and dentistry students, according to Michelle Aucoin, director of the university’s 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Secretariat.
Several school campuses — such as BCIT and SFU’s Burnaby campuses — will also be providing 2,000 to 3,000 parking spaces each as part of the Olympic bus network.
