The Senate’s academic policy of deregistering students who don’t adhere to UBC’s COVID-19 vaccine declaration and rapid testing program is essentially defunct now that the university has concluded the program.
A member of the Board of Governors and Senate, Georgia Yee, said UBC's decision to end the COVID-19 Rapid Testing Program (RTP) without consulting the Senate is problematic.
Yee said there is a recurring trend where governing bodies receive the materials very late, making it difficult to understand what the motion stands for.
“I supported the spirit of the motion [in Board] based on the guidance from the Vancouver Coastal Health and our internal UBC COVID-19 modelling group,” Yee said. “But when the Senate is not being consulted, the community is not being engaged.”
The Senate policy was passed in December to enforce the university's policy of requiring a vaccine declaration from all students, faculty and staff, and requiring those who are unvaccinated or chose not to declare to get rapid tested once a week. The academic policy placed students who didn't adhere to these policies on academic hold, and then would deregister them if they still didn't comply.
UBC Media Relations Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey said that the discontinuation of the RTP was inevitable because it was never meant to be permanent.
“The Rapid Testing Program was implemented in September and supported by the UBC Board of Governors as a measure designed to provide an additional layer of protection for our community,” stated Ramsey. “It was not intended to be permanent and, as clearly articulated in the message on Monday — with the evolution of the virus and scientific evidence and data that indicates it is the appropriate time to wind the program down.”
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) recommended the Board of Governors to end the program in late November 2021 because it no longer has utility. It again recommended an end to the program on February 16, also recommending an end to Senate's academic policy on the matter. It was not until February 28, 2022, that UBC officially announced an end to the RTP.
The university will continue to distribute masks and provide rapid testing kits to any community member who wants them.
Ramsey said that throughout COVID-19, the university has “made every reasonable effort to consult with students and will continue to do so.” UBC said it did not consult the Senate about the discontinuation of the RTP because the Senate’s jurisdiction was merely over the academic portion of the program.
Yet before sending out information to the UBC community, Ramsey claimed that information on shutting down the program was given to all Senate members, including the AMS.
AMS President Cole Evans confirmed this, saying that the UBC senior administration informed them about the changing policy prior to the reading break and allowed them to give feedback.
But Yee said that she will continue her advocacy in ensuring the inclusion of Senate consultation in decisions like this. “The next step [is] to ensure that there is consultation built into the process,” said Yee. “It should not just be an afterthought.”
The Vancouver Senate will hear a report from the registrar on the RTP on Wednesday.