Victoria Silman | News Editor
Featured image courtesy of Lung Liz
The Faculty of Health will no longer be moving some of its programs from the Health, Nursing, and Environmental Sciences (HNES) building to Stong College. However, the faculty is on a hunt for an even better option.
Though the building is relatively inaccessible and black mould in the building does exist, Dean Dale McRonald, says the move comes in light of Stong being deemed not unsafe enough.
“We decided to move the faculty of health to Stong College, mainly because it would present some irony for the students within our programs that would truly provide them with a well-rounded York experience,” he says.
Lee Onhert, a second-year nursing student within the Faculty of Health, says the move to a building that poses health risks would be beneficial to her education.
“If I’m going to be learning about health related things, I might as well feel what it’s like to be unhealthy. Treating myself for mould exposure will give me better real-world experience than any textbook-oriented class could offer,” she says.
The faculty is currently looking for a new building to host programs within the Faculty of Health, however, the process may take some time.
Regarding this, McRonald says: “It appears I was wrong on the state of Stong. The health department was in to assess the building, and deemed it relatively safe, though they did spot some black mould on the floor they were going to move our faculty to.
“We are currently in the process of finding a building to send the faculty, which complies with the mould standards the faculty of health seeks. We are looking for suggestions from the community, and will be putting together a search committee to seek the next best viable option for the faculty,” he adds.
The change comes with some concerns from the community. Elios Dias, a third-year disaster and emergency management student, says he is concerned his program will be moved to Stong instead because of the change.
“I don’t understand why they don’t just leave them in their current building or just move them to Stong like they originally planned. What are they going to do with Stong if they don’t go there? Put a different program there? I don’t think so. They were talking about moving my program there but I don’t want to have to sit in that disgusting building,” he says.
Brenda Ranton, media relations spokesperson for York, says the university is providing every resource they can to assist students and faculty affected by the changes.
“We understand the concerns from the Faculty of Health, and we take these matters seriously,” Ranton says.
“We will offer support to the faculty and students in finding another building to host the faculty. Our hope is that the Dean can find a worse environment to expose the health programs to.”
DISCLAIMER: Everything published in this week’s issue (with the exception of advertisements) is satirical; it is not intended to communicate any true or factual information.
