Students have been on campuses from Monday for Orientation Week, ahead of face-to-face courses starting next week with some additional safety measures.

UON's most recent COVID-19 update on its website said "the risk of exposure in the majority of teaching scenarios is low, which means in the event of a positive case on campus, face-to-face teaching will continue". It said staff would endeavour to offer online tutorials for students required to isolate and, where this is not practical, students should apply for adverse circumstances.

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University of Newcastle Students' Association (UNSA) president Jessica Philbrook said what worked for one person may not work for another.

"This is especially pertinent to gaining an education during a global pandemic," she said.

"Personal health circumstances should always be taken into consideration when designing courses, buildings and events. UNSA see returning to campus as no different.

"While we applaud the institution for providing some limited hybrid options, especially in the Law School, these by no means address the concerns and anxieties of students, nor does strict criteria to enrol in the online delivery option.

"We understand that some courses and degrees with lab and workshop based components are unable to accommodate this model, but in 2022 the vast majority can. It is absolutely essential that we validate the real and genuine concerns of vulnerable students and prioritise providing accessible, safe and inclusive education environments.

"We encourage the university to support their staff and empower their students by providing clear, consistent and detailed communication because right now, nobody knows what is happening."

National Tertiary Education Union Newcastle branch president Dan Conway said UON's plan appeared to be sound, but there did seem to be some issues in getting a clear message through to some staff.

"We are satisfied that the university is complying with the public health order and their approach to getting people back on campus is generally fine," Mr Conway said.

"But we've identified some individual issues where people's personal circumstances have not been considered in the manner we think is appropriate.

"We've raised those issues with management and they'll be taking them up and attempting to communicate the process for exemptions more clearly and we look forward to that taking place.

"The communication is definitely there, but it's not getting through to people for whatever reason, so university management are going to attempt to get some cut-through on that and make it clear around what happens.

"Our position is that although the public health order now allows an employer to exercise discretion around whether someone should be forced back into a workplace or not, that where someone can reasonably do their job from home - and there's been substantial evidence of capacity to do that over the last two years - that that person should be able to do their work from home, except for where there's an identifiable face-to-face portion of their role.

"Management has legitimately made a decision to hold all teaching face-to-face as they're entitled to do, so you need to go and present face-to-face unless you're exempt because of some underlying condition which presents a significant risk."

Mr Conway said some staff who had underlying conditions or were considered vulnerable had been "very very distressed" because they weren't aware of other possible provisions, including working from home, delivering lectures online, being allocated to other roles and having colleagues temporarily step into their position; although "that's slightly difficult in a lot of areas, there's not really people who can pick up a course at a moment's notice and just start teaching it".

He said it appeared lectures would continue to be posted online - as well as delivered face-to-face in spaces with density limits - but this wasn't always possible with tutorials and laboratory activities.

"We have had some complaints about ventilation," he said.

"The university in its policy is to, where possible, have fresh air going through the place, open windows and all of that. Where that's not possible we've got mechanical ventilation... but there will be spaces at the university where none of those things are possible or able to be achieved and that's unfortunately a function of the place, it wasn't designed for this."

UON's chief operating officer David Toll said UON was "committed to delivering the best possible face-to-face experience for our students" and applying all reasonable safety precautions.

"We're confident we have the right safety measures in place that have been developed, and continue to evolve, in consultation with staff and students," Mr Toll said.

"We continue to follow the advice from NSW Government and have consulted with NSW Health on our response.

"We have implemented a risk-informed approach to manage transmission of COVID-19 on our campuses to keep both our students and staff safe.

"We continue to reassess high risk areas and apply reasonable controls as government advice is updated.

"We maintain support for all of our vulnerable staff and students and for those who have an increased risk of COVID-19, we encourage these staff and students to develop a personal COVID-19 plan.

"In addition, our existing processes to enable reasonable adjustment, safe and timely recovery at work provides the support for vulnerable staff to minimise their personal risk of infection and transmission."

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