Profs want more input to teaching in dispute over ‘academic control’
Striking Ontario college professors say they are seeking the “academic freedom” to decide what and how to teach and evaluate their students. For the college administrators on the other side of the bargaining table, it’s a demand for “academic control” they say they can’t relinquish.
It’s one of the key issues in a dispute that is keeping students out of classes at 24 Ontario colleges.
The strike by 12,000 full-time professors, part-time instructors, counsellors and librarians began Oct. 16. Both sides say they are waiting for a mediator to decide whether there is any point in a return to bargaining.
A key issue is the union proposal to increase the number of full-time faculty and to increase job security and pay for part-timers. The colleges say meeting all the union’s demands would be unaffordable.
But the other main stumbling block is a dispute over “academic freedom.”
The debate revolves around the quality of education, at a time when budgets are tight, as well as who is in the best position to make decisions about programs.
The union maintains that professors are the experts, but are treated like technocrats hired to deliver courses. Faculty can’t criticize managers for decisions about programs that erode quality but save money, they say.
At universities, in contrast, professors enjoy more freedom in course delivery and research.
College management says faculty are consulted but can’t be the “exclusive voice.”
Administrators have ultimate responsibility and must be fiscally responsible, they argue.
Colleges aren’t the same as universities, said Sonia Del Missier, the chief bargainer for the College Employer Council. Colleges work closely with industry and respond to labour market demand, she said.
When del Missier was the vicepresident academic at Cambrian College in Sudbury, for example, the mayor suggested there was a need to train call-centre workers. The college created a program in two weeks.
College courses must also be consistent to meet the needs of accreditation bodies, whether it’s for nurses or dental hygienists, she said.
Every college program has an advisory committee that includes administrators, industry, faculty and sometimes former students, she said. Most colleges also have academic councils to provide advice, she said.
But some professors say their advice is neither sought nor heeded.
At Algonquin College, Prof. Enrico
DeFrancesco said he’s noticed a trend after teaching hotel and restaurant management for 27 years.
Most of his managers used to be former professors who understood the industry, he said in an interview on the picket line. These days, they are increasingly bureaucrats whose “main focus is budgets and saving money.”
“(Teachers) are not part of the process anymore.
“They’ll cut things out of the curriculum because they are too expensive.”
For example, the college cut a course about beer, wine and other beverages that included sampling products and learning how to pair them with food. That’s an essential skill when working in the industry, he said. That course was replaced with an online course on wine and food in culture. No classroom required, or costs to buy beverages. “We are graduating students that have zero knowledge about beer or wine.”
DeFrancesco says academic decisions should be a “three-way partnership” between faculty, college administrators and the advisory committees.
“We want to be part of the thought process when it comes to reviewing curriculum.”
Pat Kennedy, the president of the local union, says it’s not uncommon for faculty to have master’s degrees or PhDs. They are experts in their fields. “It’s not that we want to run the colleges, no. But If you (have) this level of expertise, why don’t they use it?”
Debate over the faculty role in academic matters goes back decades. After college faculty staged their first strike, the provincial government created a committee to study workloads and faculty-management relations.
The report found the relationship between faculty and senior managers was poor and recommended a “commitment to collegial decision-making.”
“Faculty felt that their efforts were not appreciated and that their expertise and judgment pertaining to educational matters were not respected, with the result that faculty had low morale and were cynical about the college’s genuine commitment to high-quality education,” said the report. It was published in 1985.
(Teachers) are not part of the process anymore. They’ll cut things out of the curriculum because they are too expensive.