It's Not Over

We are back "inside", but it is not and will not be the same.

When I started in the college system many years ago (even before the workload formula ... which by the way has me working 44 hours per week, not an "average" of 14) ... I had an 18 week semester with 4 hours per class, approximately 25 students per class, and tests were in a testing centre so I did not lose class time for testing. I now have a 14 week semester, with 3 hours per class, approximately 40-45 students per class, and no testing centre for tests (except for makeup tests, for which students generally are charged unless they produce a death certificate or equivalent). Since the workload formula came in, I have NEVER had any increase in preparation factors or complementary function factors, despite technology introductions and despite the increase in numbers of students and reductions in full time faculty, meaning that students who have part-timers come to the full-timers for help. And evaluation factors have come down because management has dictated that we will reduce them by moving to multiple-choice rather than written test items regardless of whether that is appropriate for evaluating attainment of outcomes.

In my current online environment I probably have to spend at least double (don't ask me to document it because even if I did the college would claim I am exaggerating!) the time I have since 1998 for contact and feedback to students via WebCT or email. I used to have access to support staff to type tests and etc ... no more, it is now up to me to format, type and put it all up on WebCT. How much time did I have on my SWF to learn PowerPoint, FTP, FrontPage, Windows XP? When the IT systems fail me I spend literally hours discussing on phone or via email with IT just trying to get problems solved ... FOR THE STUDENTS. Trust me, I personally could live without figuring out why FrontPage crashes in our labs but not on my laptop! I'm not whining about this ... I would just like RECOGNITION that this type of activity is occurring constantly and is eating up all sorts of time and effort.

I think we also need better decision-making at the college level relative to the way the $$ that we have are spent (granted to begin with that the system is underfunded and that we do not have appropriate $$) and why the issue of quality is not clearly audited. I love the new technology and we do need to invest in that ... but why has our college never seriously considered outsourcing aspects of the technological infrastructure, (or if they have, why have they never shared the business case for retaining it in-house with either faculty or, for that matter, Deans and Associate Deans, as far as I know.) I wonder how seriously colleges have looked at costs (other than teachers' salaries), and ways to address those.

We do need goverment intervention ... and not just via "arbitration" which is always some sort of compromise. Where are the auditors? They should look at not only the balance sheets but also at WHERE the $$$ are going, and whether the moneys are being spent in ways that truly provide better quality education to students.

I am sure faculty will be working on developing strategies in the next several months to politicise these issues, because my faculty have been radicalized by the communications in this strike and the unconsionable rhetoric that claimed we were on strike for big salary increases, so I think many are now prepared to take whatever (legal and political and other) action is necessary to bring pressure to bear on the government to bring accountability to the system. How long will it last? Who knows. But certainly faculty are more united now than they have been in many years.

Tell me why our college had approximately a $6 million surplus last year and is crying poor? Tell me why the college system overall had a $50 million surplus and they are crying poor? Tell me why specialized buildings at our campuses are sitting close to empty, while other students in our "core" programs are squashed into classrooms and labs where there are not enough seats for them, nor room on the tables for them for them to take notes? Tell me why I cannot squeeze down the aisles in a lab to help students because a lab originally designed for 30 computers has had an aisle of computer stations stuffed in to"accommodate" technically, 45 students, while at the same time my college invests millions in a "research" department? Tell me why I should care about applied degrees when our core programs (diplomas that confer skills) are being treated as cash cows and millions are being spent on developing esoteric programs which do not attract students? I would really like to know the answers to these questions. Bill Davis, where are you? You had a vision for colleges. It is still valid. But many, if not most, college administrators have lost it. They want to become sub-whatever universities.

The only answer that springs to mind is that some people want items to pad their resumes and move on to other jobs at universities.