Ebony Adenga, a fourth-year business student at the University of Guelph-Humber, was excited to be going to Mexico for the holidays; however, after the Ontario college strike, Adenga’s holiday plans were in jeopardy. Adenga said, “I was worried when I found out that the strike was over, but the semester wouldn’t be done until Dec. 22. I started stressing because I’m supposed to go to Mexico Dec. 18 so I didn’t know what I was going to do.” There are now exam week options for students whose travel plans were affected by the recent college strike, which left students and faculty out of school for five weeks. Students who had travel plans for the winter break were left wondering how their plans would affect their exams. Before the college strike, fall semester exams were supposed to conclude Dec. 14, but now end on Dec. 22. What does this mean for students with travel plans between these times?

Communications and Public Relations Manager, Elissa Schmidt said, “Students who booked travel prior to Oct.16 to be away Dec. 18 to 22, should contact their academic advisor. In these instances, University of Guelph-Humber will work with students to ensure that course completion plans accommodate their travel schedule.”

Here’s what to do; students with travel plans have to email their academic advisor as well as download and fill out the Request for Academic Consideration form on the Guelph-Humber website. The form asks for details about why students will miss their exams and they have to put the courses they are seeking consideration for. Students then have to fill out a letter that explains the reason for their request; as well as provide documents that support their reason.

Third-year Guelph-Humber media business student, Danielle Daley said, “They want me to write what exams I’m going to miss. Then they want me to write a letter attached to the form basically saying where I’m going, my flight details, where I’m staying, so they know that you’re actually leaving.”

An Air Canada representative said, students “have to call the airline and… to change it, it will be free. We won’t charge you the change fee, which is $100 penalty to change the booking or $200 depending on the type of ticket you have; however, if the ticket is a little bit more expensive, then we will charge you the fare difference and you won’t have to pay the change fee.”

A representative from West Jet said, “As of right now, I don’t have any notifications letting me know to cancel any fees for the college students affected by the strike. It could change at any minute, but as of right now you would have to pay a fee to make any changes or cancellations to your booking.”

Students who have to cancel or reschedule their flights with West Jet may have to pay a fee of $100. The representative also said, “Depending on when you’re travelling, so any trips 60 days or less from travel then it would be $100- $118 and anything over 60 days will be $25- $29.50.” If students did not book with Air Canada or West Jet, they should contact their airline to see what options are available.

If students’ contact their airline and they are told they have to pay a fee, then they may be eligible to receive their money back through the Student Strike Relief Fund. The fund is for college students who experienced unexpected expenses due to the strike; students who qualify can receive up to $500. In order to know if they are eligible, Deb Matthews, the Minister of Higher Education said, “Students should contact the financial office of the institution they’re attending.”