By Rob Faulkner
The Hamilton Spectator(Mar
15, 2006)
Mohawk College president
MaryLynn West-Moynes did
damage control yesterday,
denying her managers will
teach classes or mark
assignments in place of
striking college teachers.
In a flurry of
interviews, she reacted to a
wire story that cited
Ottawa-based Algonquin
College president Robert
Gillett saying college
managers may fill in for
faculty, on strike since
March 7.
West-Moynes said the idea
is impractical and unfair to
students. Mohawk has just 92
administrators and 460
striking faculty and these
managers can't replace
experts in 102 different
programs, she said.
"That's not my
intention here," West-Moynes
said. "It's
disrespectful to students
that we wouldn't recognize
the calibre of professor
required."
Indeed, Gillett's quip
struck Mohawk faculty union
local president Fred Deys as
"bizarre." Mohawk
teachers are staffing
pickets six hours a day to
demand smaller classes and
more faculty.
"I'm not sure if it
was misinformation.
(Gillett) may very well have
meant that," Deys said.
"Right from the moment
we heard it, we couldn't
believe it was a workable
solution. And that's putting
it politely."
For over a week, a strike
by 9,100 teachers has put
150,000 students at 24
community colleges across
Ontario out of class. No new
talks are scheduled between
the colleges and the Ontario
Public Service Employees
Union (OPSEU).
But yesterday colleges
pledged the strike won't
cost students their
semester. OPSEU's Ted
Montgomery said this
guarantee may prolong the
strike and drive the two
sides further apart.
Students called it
meaningless because it lacks
any details.
Montgomery said a college
diploma may be devalued if
managers teach, and students
may as well buy diplomas
online if colleges award
them to pupils who don't
complete all course work.
At Mohawk, where the term
ends April 28, West-Moynes
said early next week she'll
give students a plan for how
missed work will be
completed.
"Our students are
starting to worry and I
don't think that's
fair," she said.
"They're starting to
hear from employers and are
worried about losing a
job."
She refused to detail
plans, which will vary
across Mohawk's 102
programs. Each will focus on
a program's "critical
elements," she said.
"For some programs
there will be more (critical
elements) than others: in
health sciences you want to
make sure every critical
element is addressed ...
whereas in business
administration maybe it's
more a concept or
philosophy" with fewer
essentials.
She said Mohawk may
collapse its exam schedule:
now, classes are set to end
April 13, exams run April
17-20 and a week of meetings
run up until the end of the
semester April 28.
Deys said it's odd for
her to plan without knowing
when the strike will end.
Mohawk is still
struggling with timing, and
West-Moynes would not commit
to meeting the April 28 end
date. If the strike ends,
classes will restart. If
not, she'll send students a
framework for completing
their programs.
Can the semester be
completed if faculty remain
on strike?
"That's not my
intention ... that's not my
hope," she said, noting
prior strikes have extended
semesters or, in the case of
York University, proclaimed
a term done with no makeup
time.
She said teachers will
select the core elements in
each program so her goal is
just to create a framework
with few academic details.
Faculty can't edit
curriculum while on strike,
she said.
OPSEU has said it will do
what's needed to help
students complete their
year, whether it's teaching
on weekends or extending
classes.
Meanwhile the week-old
strike is already affecting
many students. Residences
are about 70 per cent empty.
And, while paid co-op terms
are unaffected, many unpaid
field placements are
cancelled.
Mohawk spokesperson Jay
Robb said field placements
in workplaces for about 640
junior students are on hold,
while another 1,200 or so
are still doing their field
work.
But because field
placements for senior,
graduating students don't
involve faculty, the strike
isn't risking their
graduation, Robb said.
And junior students,
whose placements are
supervised by faculty, will
be able to do field
placements when the strike
ends, or in 2006-07. They
won't skip the field
experience, Robb said.
rfaulkner@thespec.com
905-526-2468
