COVID Updates

Here is where you will find all the latest updates from Centre for Arts and Technology in relation to the COVID–19 Pandemic. Students, please continue to check this page as well as your email for future updates.

Official COVID Protocol (Summary) – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

Official COVID Protocol (DETAILED) – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

COVID Contingency Plan – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

Pre-Arrival To Canada for CAT International Students – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

Readiness Requirements for International Students – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

International Student Quarantine Plan – Centre for Arts and Technology 2020

August 25th, 2021

Dear CAT Students,

Yesterday we learned of the province’s amended plans for a full return to campus across the province, both for K-12 and post-secondary schools. While CAT students have been on campus, most universities remained online over the past year.

This fall will look very similar to last fall at CAT – students will be required to wear a mask on campus and will be asked to stay at home when they are feeling ill. We are also promoting and enforcing social distancing wherever possible.

Due to the size of our school, none of the activities listed in the BC Vaccine Passport impact our college community. As Dr. Henry confirmed yesterday, no post-secondary school is permitted to require student vaccination, as their current goal is to ensure everyone has access to education.

Let’s continue to follow the rules set by the province and health authority and do everything we can to keep our college community safe.

All the best,

Matt Redmond, B.A., M.A.
Director of Education

Centre for Arts and Technology
T: 250.860.2787 Ext. 6194
TF: 866.860.2787 F: 250.712.1083

mredmond@digitalartschool.com
www.digitalartschool.com

August 4th, 2020

Dear CAT Community,

While CAT takes pride in being leaders in the education we deliver, we are also proving to have the same ability in our pandemic response. We have done everything possible to put the health and safety of our community first, while continuing to deliver exceptional education. When you are surrounded by passionate and inspired people, it is easy to accomplish anything.

We are a month into our safe return to campus and we continue to be impressed by our staff and students. We opened our doors with policies in place for additional cleaning and sanitization, mandatory symptom and temperature checks, hand cleaning protocols, physical distancing in the classrooms and hallways, and mandatory masks in classrooms that didn’t allow for proper physical distancing. We closed all public gathering spaces to ensure adherence and marked out one-way routes throughout the entire campus. With these changes in mind, we were amazed to see how well our students adapted and put the collective community first.

As expected, we continue to see fluctuations in cases throughout BC, and it is our job to react to these changes to support our overall safety. In Week 2 of the quarter, we made masks mandatory on campus, as we recognized firsthand how difficult it can be to always follow physical distancing requirements. Once again, our community reacted positively and wholeheartedly adopted the adjusted policy.

Every week the Health and Safety Committee gathers to review the previous week, what has been working, what needs attention, and how we might continue to improve for the safety of our CAT community. We want to be sure that we take ever possible precaution to keep our community healthy and safe.

While there remains a lot of uncertainty in the world, one thing is for sure – CAT is ready to start your educational journey this October. We will be ready to keep you safe on campus, to support your transition to Kelowna, and to provide you with the highest standard of education.

See you on campus this Fall!

Matt Redmond, B.A., M.A.
Director of Education

Centre for Arts and Technology
T: 250.860.2787 Ext. 6194
TF: 866.860.2787 F: 250.712.1083

mredmond@digitalartschool.com
www.digitalartschool.com

June 11th, 2020

Dear CAT Community,

While CAT takes pride in being leaders in the education we deliver, we are also proving to have the same ability in our pandemic response. We have done everything possible to put the health and safety of our community first, while continuing to deliver exceptional education. When you are surrounded by passionate and inspired people, it is easy to accomplish anything.

We are a month into our safe return to campus and we continue to be impressed by our staff and students. We opened our doors with policies in place for additional cleaning and sanitization, mandatory symptom and temperature checks, hand cleaning protocols, physical distancing in the classrooms and hallways, and mandatory masks in classrooms that didn’t allow for proper physical distancing. We closed all public gathering spaces to ensure adherence and marked out one-way routes throughout the entire campus. With these changes in mind, we were amazed to see how well our students adapted and put the collective community first.

As expected, we continue to see fluctuations in cases throughout BC, and it is our job to react to these changes to support our overall safety. In Week 2 of the quarter, we made masks mandatory on campus, as we recognized firsthand how difficult it can be to always follow physical distancing requirements. Once again, our community reacted positively and wholeheartedly adopted the adjusted policy.

Every week the Health and Safety Committee gathers to review the previous week, what has been working, what needs attention, and how we might continue to improve for the safety of our CAT community. We want to be sure that we take ever possible precaution to keep our community healthy and safe.

While there remains a lot of uncertainty in the world, one thing is for sure – CAT is ready to start your educational journey this October. We will be ready to keep you safe on campus, to support your transition to Kelowna, and to provide you with the highest standard of education.

See you on campus this Fall!

Matt Redmond, B.A., M.A.
Director of Education

Centre for Arts and Technology
T: 250.860.2787 Ext. 6194
TF: 866.860.2787 F: 250.712.1083

mredmond@digitalartschool.com
www.digitalartschool.com

June 11th, 2020

Dear CAT Community,

Since the start of the pandemic in British Columbia, Centre for Arts and Technology has worked diligently to ensure the continuance of quality educational delivery alongside the health and safety of its staff and students.

On March 18th, CAT led the way in Kelowna with the closure of our physical campus. Thankfully, we are a school that lives up to its name, and we were able to leverage our knowledge of technology to transition our programs to online remote delivery. This meant delivering all our courses live with an instructor through an online format, continuing to provide high quality, instructor-led classes.

As we approach the end of our remote delivery quarter with exceptional results, the CAT team has been planning our “Return to Campus” policy and protocols to allow the safe return of both staff and students. It is certainly comforting that we are planning this return to campus in Kelowna, one of the safest cities in Canada in relation to the pandemic; we have now had over two weeks without a single case of COVID being diagnosed in the entire Interior Health Region, of which Kelowna is a small part. Our School District (SD23) successfully brought students back in the K-12 setting on June 1st, and at CAT, we have a safety plan in place to allow a “blended” return to campus starting July 6. Most students chose CAT because of the hands-on learning environment we provide, and on July 6th we will welcome students back on campus for all hands-on learning courses. To slowly ease into this return, we are balancing our on-campus courses with keeping our lecture-based courses running online with remote delivery.

We are excited for the start of our July quarter because we know it will set the positive first steps for our ability to have a full return to campus in October. We will continue to work on our safety measures to ensure they have the greatest impact on the safety of our community, as we look forward to welcoming our newest group of students in October.

If you are considering enrolling for this October, the time is right. CAT will be ready to welcome you onto our campus and start your educational journey towards a new and rewarding career. There’s a lot of uncertainty in our world right now, but the positive side of that uncertainty for CAT students is they are training for careers that continue to grow in demand.

Please stay safe, and if you have any questions about how CAT is keeping its community safe as it plans to return to campus, please do not hesitate to contact us.

All the best,

Matt Redmond, B.A., M.A.
Director of Education

Centre for Arts and Technology
T: 250.860.2787 Ext. 6194
TF: 866.860.2787 F: 250.712.1083

mredmond@digitalartschool.com
www.digitalartschool.com

May 14th, 2020

Dear students,

BC has been leading the way in Canada in terms of its COVID-19 response. No doubt a large part of this has been institutions like CAT moving to online delivery and establishing a high level of physical distancing by closing its campus to staff and students. Your continued work and efforts certainly play a significant role in “flattening the curve.”

Behind the scenes, the Management Team at CAT continues to plan for the future. Part of this planning relies heavily on information being provided by the Provincial Government and Health Authority. Last week Premier Horgan announced BC’s “Go-Forward” strategy for re-opening the province and we are expecting additional details from the Ministry of Education in the coming weeks. As we make these plans, our primary consideration is the health and safety of our CAT community.

What we currently know is that K-12 education should be fully back to school in September, though it might not look the same as it did pre-COVID. We also know that School District 23 is working towards some form of a blended return to class for more students across the province starting in June. The details of this have not yet been made public, but could involve alternating days in class, small class sizes, and even blended in-class and online learning.

CAT is following this progress closely and looking to model our approach on those being applied in our province. There are courses in our July Quarter that need to be back on campus, and we are looking at ensuring that safety protocols are in place to allow this to happen. It is believed that a full return to campus in July would be unwise, which leads us to think that a blended approach will be our best option.

Our model for re-opening will likely change with the pandemic, but we are excited at the thought of once again having students in our classrooms, studios and labs. We encourage you to stay the course with the recommendations made by the Provincial Health Authority; this will speed up our ability to get back to “normal.” We are doing our part to ensure that we are ready to go once the green light is given.

March 18th, 2020

The Campus will be closed as of 5:00 pm today, Wednesday, March 18th, 2020.

Since last Friday the senior staff of the school has met every morning to discuss the latest recommendations of public health officials in order to make fact-based decisions about how to best proceed with regards to our response to the emerging COVID-19 challenge.

We had hoped to remain open to ensure each of you had access to all the things you need to complete the quarter, but these are unprecedented times and changes have been coming swiftly. The news of the last 24 hours and the data provided by health officials made it clear that we need to do more to protect ourselves and one another.

To that end, we have made the decision to close our campus to students effectively immediately.

This announcement is likely to raise a whole number of questions. “What about my assignment?” “How can I capture my animation?” “How will I complete this class?” “Will I be able to continue my studies?”

Know that we already have answers to many of the questions we assume you will have, and we also have solutions to many of the challenges this decision raises. We know that our decision to close the campus may have some bumps and hiccups along the way but be assured that we are fully committed to doing everything we can to ensure you continue on your path to success. Classes will re-convene, likely virtually, in April. In the coming hours and days, you will receive emails detailing how you can expect to proceed and so it is important that you check your email regularly.

It is often the case that announcements such as this one come tagged with something like, “…this is a difficult decision…” The truth is this ISN’T a difficult choice. The health and safety of our students, staff and their families has always been our highest priority and we are fully committed to this responsibility.

All our CAT staff including Department Heads, Managers, Instructors and Support Staff will continue to respond to emails, but if you have any immediate questions or concerns, please feel welcome to reach out to me.

In the meantime, enjoy the coming of spring, follow the recommendations of Health Canada, and stay healthy.

We’ll reconnect when we can.

With respect,

CAT Management Team

March 16th, 2020

In-Class Students: Transitioning to Online/Alternative Delivery & Assessment Methods

In an effort to increase social distancing, we will be transitioning our in-class instruction to online instruction and alternative forms of delivery and assessment, where possible and reasonable. Please note – We will be open and classes in session for these final days of our January Quarter. Students – Please check your emails daily for further updates specific to your program.

Campus
Our campuses will remain open while implementing measures to support social distancing. We are open for our final week of the January Quarter, completing final quarter educational requirements. Pay attention to your e-mail for future notifications regarding plans for post-term break.

In response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) and in accordance with B.C. health officials’ guidelines, Centre for Arts and Technology is undertaking the following measures on top of additional cleaning and sanitation on campus:

Cancelling or rescheduling any events of 50 people or events that include the public.
Cancelling all corporate travel outside of Canada – including to the U.S. In addition, anyone who chooses to travel will be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return as per the Canadian government. This applies to employees and students.
If you become sick, or develop a fever, do not attend classes. Immediately inform your Instructor, Student Success Advisor by email and Centre for Arts and Technology by calling in at 250-860-2787 as per your Student Handbook. Additionally, you can call HealthLink 811 for medical advice and also access more information at HealthLink BC. Students will not be penalized for not attending but are expected to continue with their theoretical studies remotely by connecting with their instructor for any assignments.

Symptoms specific to COVID-19 include:

Fever
Deep cough
Difficulty breathing
If you have any of the above symptoms but have not recently travelled, not been exposed to a site with a declared outbreak and have had no direct contact with anyone tested/awaiting results for COVID-19, call 811 and they will provide you with any necessary next steps and advice. Please note it may take a while to get through, so please keep on trying. If you are unable to connect with 811 assistance, please go to HealthLink BC.

Centre for Arts and Technology is following the advice from health agencies and is urging students, employees and visitors to our campuses and facilities to reduce the risk of transmitting respiratory diseases by:

Regularly cleaning your hands with soap and water, or alcohol-based hand rub.
Covering your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or flexed elbow.
Staying at home if you or someone in your family is experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Centre for Arts and Technology is monitoring the situation and will update this information page as appropriate. You can learn more about novel coronavirus updates from these organizations:

BC Centre for Disease Control
Health Canada
World Health Organization