MRU staying with vaccine mandate for students at the moment

Mount Royal University is sticking to the status quo in response to lifting of some restrictions by the province Tuesday.

The university issued a statement Wednesday, saying "Mount Royal University continues to work with health authorities and Alberta Advanced Education in our collective response to COVID-19 in Alberta.  MRU has an obligation to the members of its community to take all reasonable steps to ensure its campus is a safe place to learn, teach and work.

"At present, our current directive continues to apply as we review it in light of the (provincial) changes announced Feb. 8.

"As has been the case throughout the pandemic, we are doing our best to appropriately respond to changing protocols in the interests of the health and well-being of our campus community."

MRU returned to some in-person instruction as of Jan. 24 and is scheduled to have all the courses originally scheduled for in-person instruction back on campus Feb. 28 after reading week.

The current directive requires students to present proof of vaccination to attend classes unless they have a special exemption.

The University of Calgary announced a similar policy in a statement released Tuesday evening.

PROVINCE RESPONDS

Late Wednesday afternoon, Demetrios Nicolaides,  Alberta's minister of advanced education, tweeted that he expected post-secondary institutions to adopt new provincial policies.

"I expect AB institutions to align their COVID-19 policies with that of our gov't and I am eager to see students returning to in-person learning without proof of vaccination requirements this March," Nicolaides said.