Going to an overnight camp is a vastly different experience during a pandemic. Besides a sleeping bag and clothes, campers need to remember masks, hand sanitizer and to keep socially distanced.
The first in-person classes for University of Toronto Engineering students, since March 2020, will be held this August. The classroom setting is a little different, however, as it’s along the shore of Gull Lake, near Minden, Ont., at the U of T Survey Camp.
The first cohort of students is due to arrive Saturday, August 14 for one-week condensed in-person classes at U of T Survey Camp. Three one-week sessions are scheduled instead of the usual two-week sessions offered most years.
The Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering (CivMin) holds the annual class for their department’s students known as Civil and Mineral Practicals (CAMP with course code CME358). The usual two-week course was suspended in 2020 during the beginning of the worldwide pandemic, after all in-person classes and services were halted at U of T. The last day classes were held, or offices open, for in-person visits was Friday, March 13, 2020.
Exhaustive preparations for a safe return to in-person learning has been met eagerly by CivMin. Firstly, as part of U of T policy, participants must have at least one COVID vaccination to attend. Before any student can board the chartered bus for Camp, they must first take a rapid test for COVID. Additionally, all at Camp will undergo daily testing to ensure the continued good health and safety of all. A substantial supply of N95 masks, hand sanitizer, surface cleaners, eye protection and more has been ordered for students, faculty, staff and contractors.
As a necessary precaution, tents are to be used for classroom activities and outdoor dining. An enormous 20 ft. by 40 ft. tent has been erected for outdoor dining and to also provide an outdoor alternative for the students to shelter in case of rain. The well-ventilated outdoor dining tent is located immediately by the Dining Hall, not far from the new bunkhouse and facilities.
A highlight of this year’s trip to Survey Camp is surely the chance to be first to enjoy the newly constructed facilities, which are fully accessible. The new HCAT Bunkhouse, MacGillivray Student Lounge, washrooms and showers allows for much more flexible use than the older structures at the century-old site.
The new bunkhouse features eight separate rooms, each subdivided into two, with a total capacity of 16 per room. Out of an abundance of caution, this year’s capacity will be capped at six per room and a curriculum designed to keep each group together for most assignments, dining and other activities.
A place to unwind has also been thought of, in the form of the MacGillivray Student Lounge. The spacious, high-ceiling structure is to be a focal point of socializing, but will take a back seat to outdoor activities this year as efforts are made to minimize close contact of students.
Numerous new individual shower stalls and new male and female washrooms comprise the third component of the new facilities. As the stalls are independent from the washrooms, traffic flow allows for fair use, on a first-come basis.
As of this writing, finishing touches were still being made to interiors of the buildings, as well as landscaping. We’ll keep you updated!
By Phill Snel
Past stories about Survey Camp include:
Surveying Survey Camp: The Repairs, Renovations and Expansion of Gull Lake