Continuity of Education Plan (CEP)

Continuity of Education

In the event that the Toronto campus is required to suspend delivery of on-ground courses—either as a result of an outbreak localized to our campus community, or because of a wider municipal or provincial shutdown—all on-ground course instruction will transition to online delivery.

All Northeastern courses, including courses delivered on-ground in Toronto, involve the use of an online course ‘shell’ that is hosted on Northeastern’s Learning Management System, Canvas. This shell can serve as the vehicle for the delivery of all content associated with the courses, including lectures. Faculty have been advised to prepare for the possibility of a mid-semester transition to online instruction, and have received training around managing this transition effectively.

Given that there are no ‘hands-on’ or laboratory components associated with any of the programs offered at Northeastern University’s Toronto campus, we are confident that our students’ learning experience will not be compromised by a temporary shift to online instruction.

Emergency Resources

The main point of contact for students at the Toronto campus is the Associate Director of Student Services, Stephanie Cochrane ([email protected]). In the event of an emergency, she is responsible for communicating with students and for directing students to the appropriate Northeastern and external resources. All other student-facing staff members have received training on emergency response protocols and can access the necessary information through the ‘Emergency & Crisis’ section of Northeastern’s shared online workspace.

Key Northeastern University resources include the following:

Northeastern University Health & Counseling Services

Students seeking medical guidance and mental health support are encouraged to contact University Health and Counseling Services, which offers 24-7 phone support and counseling sessions through the Find@Northeastern service. This service is accessible by phoning 1 (781) 457-7777. More information can be found here.

WeCare

Students seeking support in the light of disruptions to their academic progress are encouraged to contact WeCare at (617) 373-7591 or [email protected]. This office works with students to coordinate among university offices, to offer appropriate referrals, and to help develop viable options to support the students’ continued success at the university. WeCare also provides guidance to faculty and staff in identifying Northeastern resources and policies to help students succeed. More information on this service can be found here.

Northeastern University Police Department

While students are encouraged to reach out to local emergency response resources in the first instance, the Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) is also available to direct Toronto-based students to appropriate local resources. In some cases, NUPD can work directly with local emergency response services to address student-related emergencies. The NUPD is reachable at (617) 373-2121. More information can be found here.

SafeZone

Students at all of Northeastern’s campuses are encouraged to download SafeZone, a free, cloud-based mobile app which provides the NUPD police department with the ability to respond to geo-located reports of emergencies, non-emergencies, and minor medical alerts. The SafeZone system allows a user to send an alert from any smart device, from anywhere in the world, to the NUPD dispatch centre. More information about SafeZone can be found here.

Emergency Response Protocols

Notification System

In the event of an emergency, including an outbreak of COVID-19 on campus, students will receive notification through the NU Alert Emergency Notification System. This system can deliver voice message, e-mail, text message, and social media notifications, as required in a given situation. It is used across Northeastern’s global campus network for communicating emergency notifications, timely warnings, campus closures, and other types of information to the Northeastern community. More information about this system can be found here.

Campus Closure

In the event of a campus closure, Toronto campus staff will post signage at the entrance to the campus space and add a notification prominently on the Northeastern Toronto website.

In the event of a closure related to an outbreak of COVID-19 on campus, Northeastern will implement a full-scale cleaning and disinfection of the campus space in compliance with Public Health Ontario’s Cleaning and Disinfection for Public Settings guidance document. We have arranged for this service to be provided by the maintenance office of First Canadian Place (the building in which Northeastern University Toronto is tenanted). We will also seek guidance from the Toronto Public Health authorities and provincial authorities on the appropriate timeline for the re-opening of the campus.