UST suspended in-person classes for the third straight day on Wednesday, Nov. 22, amid the ongoing transport strike, backtracking from an earlier decision to resume “hybrid” classes.
After “dialogues and consultations with stakeholders,” the Office of the Secretary General (OSG) announced at 7:27 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21 that classes and work would still be conducted online on Wednesday.
“Following dialogues and consultations with stakeholders and consistent with our principles on accessibility and flexibility, the University shall continue implementing the Enriched Virtual Mode (EVM) of Instructions and remote work arrangements [on] November 22,” the OSG’s announcement on Facebok read.
The initial announcement six hours earlier said in-person classes would resume after two days of purely online classes due to the transport strike.
Aside from the now-deleted OSG announcement, the Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA) made a similar pronouncement regarding the in-person class resumption posted on the dashboard of the learning management system, Canvas, and sent via email.
While the University takes into consideration inputs from the OVRAA when deciding on class suspensions or changes to work arrangements, it is typically the OSG that relays the announcement to the student body.
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In the memorandum addressed to both faculty and students, the OVRAA said that on-site and online classes would resume “in consideration of several disruptions to onsite classes due to various reasons and the limited number of days to complete the term.”
It urged students affected by the transport strike to “communicate your situation to concerned academic officials so that the principles of flexibility and accessibility may be applied.”
Academic staff were also directed to evaluate their course plan and determine the need to conduct on-site classes to make up for in-person class days lost when the University shifted to EVM.
As of writing, the copy of the OVRAA memorandum is still visible in the Canvas dashboard.
UST shifted to online classes and remote work starting Nov. 20, the start of the three-day strike initiated by transport group Piston.
Transport group Manibela on Tuesday announced it would hold its own three-day transport strike from Nov. 22 to 24.
Both transport groups are protesting the government’s year-end jeepney modernization deadline.
The OSG said it would continue to “monitor the situation of the transport strike and render announcements for the succeeding days.”
The Central Student Council said it would collate reports from students.
“The CSC wishes to leave a gentle reminder to our Thomasian students that if onsite classes are to resume in the following days, please do not hesitate to communicate with us or your respective local student councils about your concerns, suggestions, and/or comments,” it said. Hannah Joyce V. Andaya
