The elimination of us

This will be my first time writing a post that doesn't have a solution at the end, or a happy ending…I try to remain positive and focus on the good all the time, but sometime…

what is unsaid needs to be said and simply read

I am a partial load (unionized) faculty at Seneca College, Ontario’s largest college of applied arts and technology. We are contracted by the semester to work 7–12 weekly teaching hours. This summer I received a phone call from my chair telling me that there will no longer be unionized hiring starting January 2015.

Here is why I am writing this:

• The college has not made this public, it’s hiding behind invisible numbers and nonexistent promises.
• The union FAILED faculty. They were not able to take a stand and work out a plan with the college to support us.
• Without the union, we either work too few hours (not enough to make ends meet) or too many…and here is where the education of our students will suffer.
• MANY other reasons, but most importantly…
• STUDENTS DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS!!!

Why Should Students Care?

One simple answer: The quality of their education is being compromised.

Seasoned faculty, who have been teaching at the college for a number of years now (ranging anywhere from 5–15!) are thinking and searching for another position that will sustain their livelihood. Faculty who choose to stay, will either work somewhere else to make up for the loss of income, or will not have time to meet with students, reply to emails, provide constructive feedback, plan lessons…grades essays…the list is too long.

These responsibilities were never compensated, but the shifting of faculty positions will make them nearly impossible to manage.

Faculty who will be leaving will be replaced by someone else, most likely with less experience and qualifications.

Students’ Rights:

• Students have the right to know about college-wide decisions that effect the staffing of their professors.
• They have the right to know why the quality of their education is changing.
• They have the right to know that the quality of their education is diminishing.

There will still be some great teachers who teach there, there will still be some great people who work there. But slowly, this change will catch up, and it is the students who are paying for it.

I’ve decided that with these changes, I will no longer be returning to the college in January and will continue to write and find ways of making a positive impact in Education. I’m lucky to have this choice to make, as many others do not.

***Please recommend this post if you want others to read it***