So on Wednesday, I published an open letter written by a student, which can be found here. (If you haven’t read it — it’s quite the remarkable comparison of the student’s experiences in a College, University, and International Baccalaureate program.
To that letter’s author, a prof in the GTA responds as follows:
Wow. As a striking faculty member, I deeply appreciate the time and caring it took for you to research the issues and the numbers and to provide a variety of perspectives from your lived educational experiences. I am envious of your IB teachers… your experiences there are what I’d love to provide to every student that walks into my institution.
You aren’t sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. You are taking an interest in and thoughtfully considering the issues, your society and the future that awaits all current students. Precarious work is an issue that affects us all. As you point out, it limits faculty’s ability to coordinate and improve curriculum and students’ ability to develop meaningful connections with program faculty as a community. But beyond that, it steals stability, health and dignity from those part-time workers, in all sectors of society, who cannot count on an income, a pension, or benefits for their families. Rather than accepting this as a new workplace reality, we must resist it.
I’m a full-timer who got in just in time… 27 years ago. I’m going to be OK. I’m striking for my husband, on contract for over twenty years; for my daughter, in her final year at our college; and for you. I want to stop the trend that would give you, and other intelligent, thoughtful people like you, an unstable future.
Thank you for caring about the issues.
One Ontario College Prof's Blog 