CREDIT: HANNAH THEODORE
What Fanshawe looks like in the fall will depend on public health measures, but for now the school plans to get somewhat back to normal.

Fanshawe College has announced its plan to expand in-person learning for the upcoming fall term. With vaccines for COVID-19 becoming more readily available, the College is planning to offer more in-person learning opportunities and experiences to students across an array of programs.

The current plan proposes smaller class sizes to give students more hands-on lab time. The plan also extends to Fanshawe’s non-academic facilities, with hopes to fully reopen eating areas and the Wellness Centre with safety precautions in place.

“Our hope is that we will be given permission that once restrictions ease, to return to some sort of normal,” said Fanshawe’s executive director of Reputation and Brand Management, Dave Schwartz.


While the College announced the plan earlier this month, Schwartz said whatever the fall looks like will be dependent on public health measures.

“We’re hoping that we continue to have eased restrictions by the public health officials, and the more restrictions that are released, the more we can open up,” he said.

Each program will likely have individual learning models, as with the 2020-21 school year. Schwartz said the goal is to continue offering students a valuable college experience, both academically and socially.

“We’re hoping that some of those great student experiences outside the classroom can be opened up,” said Schwartz. “So if the health restrictions allow us to continue to expand those engagement activities, we’ll open them as soon as we can.”

For students still on the fence about returning to school in the fall, the college has also introduced a student guarantee. The guarantee would allow students to enroll for the fall term, with the option to refund their tuition after 10 days if they are not fully satisfied. The $250 non-refundable deposit could then be deferred to the next available intake of their given program.

“If they enroll now and they’re not happy with what it’s going to be, we will refund their tuition,” said Schwartz.

Also new in the fall is Fanshawe’s designation as an Adobe Creative Campus. All students will have full access to the Adobe Creative Suite, including software like Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, InDesign, Spark for free.

“Whether you want to just touch up your photos, or do your resume in a more professional manner, whether you want to edit videos, every student is going to have access to the full suite, plus all their training,” said Schwartz. Adobe Creative Cloud usually costs about $30 a month.

In the statement released by the college, Fanshawe also said they are committed to making sure every full-time student gets the Signature Innovative Learning Experience. This ensures that students develop job skills for the future through signature learning experiences like multidisciplinary projects, live client work, applied research, entrepreneurship or global projects. Schwartz said both students and faculty can look forward to a potentially more normal school year.

“We’re in a great position for the fall,” he said. “The leadership is excited for a return to in-person as much as possible.”

Despite the promises, much will still be dependent on the state of the pandemic come September. For now though, students can expect campus to look a bit more normal in the fall.