THE University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus will be offering students a mix of face-to-face and online classes when the new school year begins in September in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Undergraduate tuition fees as well as the fees for halls of residence operated by the university will be frozen in the new school year, but there is no guarantee if the fees for students who live on halls operated by 138 Student Living and the fees for some postgraduate programmes will increase.

Students of the university were left in limbo after school ended on July 3 as the administration had not indicated how teaching and learning would be done for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The concern of the students spiked after the university sent out evaluation forms to assess the performance of the online teaching method after face-to-face classes were suspended in March at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jamaica.

Late Tuesday night, pro-vice-chancellor and principal of UWI Mona Professor Dale Webber sought to allay the fears of the students in a three-page letter.

“The UWI Mona Campus will commence teaching on September 7, 2020… The campus has taken the decision to offer a blended delivery mode, with some programmes/courses to be offered in a face-to-face mode, while others will be offered remotely/online,” said Webber.

He said the details of the programmes and courses that will be offered face-to-face were still being worked on, but that this will depend on the class size, since maintaining the social distancing protocols outlined by the Government is the university’s main priority.

According to Webber, students should look forward to more information about registration by July 31.

Webber added that halls of residence will prioritise students who are required to do face-to-face based on distance from campus, students who live outside of Jamaica, or those who have Internet access challenges.

The letter came two days after some UWI Mona students took to social media to vent their frustration with the UWI’s lack of communication about its plans for the new school year.

President of The UWI Guild of Students Mona Sujae Boswell was among those who took to social media to voice their frustration.

“Whereas I welcomed the move to reintroduce face-to-face learning via the blended approach, it is disappointing that the first place our students get confirmation is via a newspaper. Just last week I wrote to senior administration about the importance of communication,” Boswell posted on the social media site Twitter.

“There are available channels such as the banner system, which has been utilised for issues of far less importance. If the university has solidified its stance then it should have communicated directly to our students. Clear communication is most important now than ever before,” added Boswell in the tweet.

Webber used his Tuesday missive to respond to the criticisms.

“We thank you, our students, for your patience and resilience as you adapted to the significant changes over the last couple of months. We are aware that we should have communicated with you sooner. We apologise for this,” said Webber in a move welcomed by the Guild president.

“The Guild Council has been, and will continue, to play a strong role in the decision-making process of the university. We welcome the swift efforts by the administration to rectify the breakdown in communication which took place over the weekend,” Boswell told the Jamaica Observer.

“As a Guild Council, we will continue to work with the administration to ensure that communication is timely. There are organisational structures in place which have different Guild representatives and we will be utilising those spaces to ensure that the students’ interest will continue to be at the forefront of the agenda,” added Boswell.