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Tertiary education is set to look different this year as institutes, staff and students navigate education during Omicron.�� ��

While��most��universities��have already announced vaccination requirements for campuses,��only vaccinated people are allowed on campuses at the red traffic light setting.������

Both staff and student unions��are calling for more planning.������

Tertiary Education Union National Secretary Sandra Grey believes there needs to be the right balance between teaching face-to-face and doing the right thing as a sector��when it comes to Omicron.������

Staff should be working from home where they can and going onto campus for things that cannot be done from home, she said.������

Some institutes are encouraging that,��while others have said people should be coming back to campus, Grey said.������

“We don’t think that’s what the Government’s advising, we all need to do our bit to slow Omicron.”����

Grey believes there also needs to be more planning for��large numbers of staff self-isolating��and some unable to teach online.������

“You can’t just hope that you’ll have enough standing at the end of this to carry on, we need those contingencies.”����

The New Zealand Union of Students’��Associations��wants clarity from��education��providers around self-isolation plans in student accommodation.������

“We know that student accommodation is quite a high-risk area for transmission, there’s a lot of people living in very confined quarters.������

“We know institutions have managed it in the past, but Omicron is a very different beast,” President Andrew��Lessells��said.������

In previous lockdowns student accommodation was run similarly to MIQ with each flood, or sections of floors, acting as bubbles, he said.������

They would like universities to be up front about Omicron plans, what self-isolation requirements in student accommodation will be and that switching to online learning is a real possibility.������

Universities��also��need to be flexible so students can delay moving into halls or starting studies��and get refunds��if they change their mind due to Omicron,��Lessells��said.������

The��University of Auckland��is opting for most teaching to be done online until the mid-semester break.������

"As we have seen before, a degree of certainty in advance is far preferable to the disruption that would be caused by having to change our learning and teaching settings at short notice," the university said.��

Halls of residence will be open,��but students can delay��moving in��until after the break and will not be charged for the period they are not in residence.������

The University of Otago has��also��decided to move all lectures online for at least the first part of the semester.������

Where possible, tutorials, labs and other smaller groups will be held in person.����

At red, My Vaccine Passes��are��required to be on campus��and universities are asking students to��register their passes online.������

Massey, Lincoln, Auckland, Victoria, Otago, Waikato��and Canterbury��Universities have implemented��campus��vaccination requirements.������

AUT anticipates at the orange and green traffic light settings campuses will be open regardless of vaccination status��with health protection measures in place.������

Universities are encouraging unvaccinated students to��engage with student services to discuss their options which could include distance or online learning.������