Anxiety high among Mohawk students
Student Ledina Stavre has been in to see the college’s services staff three times already on this first day of a return to classes — and it’s just after 10 a.m.
She is now sitting outside the office, trying to decide if she has a future at Mohawk College in Hamilton.
It’s Tuesday, a day after Ontario’s striking college faculty was legislated back to work on Monday, and the 26-year-old separated mother of two young boys is despondent.
“I’m thinking of withdrawing because all of this process is very stressful for me,” she says. “For people like me who suffer from depression and anxiety, it (the strike) is one of the worst things that can happen. I don’t have the motivation anymore.”
Stavre, an Albanian immigrant, is in her first semester in human services foundation studies, working toward a social services certificate. She was already feeling “so guilty” before the strike, about taking her unwilling 15-monthold and six-year-old sons to daycare so she could attend Mohawk — and the thought of having to get them used to that again just kills her.
Angst was a common feeling among returning Mohawk students the first day back. Faces with furrowed brows were the norm as they asked questions, weighed their options, headed to class to see revised and compressed curriculum plans — and then tried to figure out their best course of action.
They had been greeted when entering the college by staff who were wearing T-shirts that read Ask Me, and sitting at tables to give out information and direct students to various offices for help.
The academic counselling and administration services waiting areas were teeming with students waiting to talk to someone.
Rehman Ahmed had lots of questions at the Ask Me table. Ahmed, 28, is married with two children and is the sole supporter for his family. He works part time, and it’s been tough.
He is concerned about his finances if he stays in college.
“It’s a big worry, because I live paycheque to paycheque.”
But then again, this is his third year in business administration,
and he’d like to graduate this spring. So, for now, he is in class, and asking his questions of staff while on a break.
Geoff Ondercin-Bourne, president of OPSEU Local 240 which represents the Mohawk faculty, says that while faculty are glad to be back at work, they are not happy being legislated back by the Ontario government and still without a contract.
So, faculty too, is experiencing anxiety, he says, because they don’t know what the coming mediation and binding arbitration will mean for them.
Still, he add, “Teaching is what we do, so it’s good to be back doing that.”
Students are eager to get on with their studies and are focused on that now, after having vented Monday at a Mohawk Students Association-held town hall and on social media and the picket line during the strike, he said.
Mohawk’s communications director Jay Robb said the province is allowing students to withdraw from the semester with a full tuition refund, and without academic penalty. Those who stay but who are in financial difficulties can also apply for up to $500 from a student strike relief fund set up by the province. Details on both will be available on Friday, Robb said.
The deadline to withdraw is Dec. 22.
Robb said Mohawk had several dozen requests on Tuesday alone from students asking to withdraw from the semester. But the college encourages students to continue.
“We realize students planned their life around Mohawk, and the strike changed that. We’re saying talk to your profs, we’ll make alternate plans — because we realize college is just one commitment
that students are juggling,” he said.
“If students can just go to classes and get their semester completion plans (given at the start of each class) … once they see it, they’ll see that it’s manageable. … It might be better for them to finish what they started.
“I think a lot of students are coming back with concerns about their courses. Once they see those plans, it may put their concerns to rest.”
The five-week strike occurred halfway through the semester, so it’s worth coming back for this week at least to get a feel for how they can keep up, he added.
“Some faculty are looking at (extra) weekend and evening classes, especially where certain numbers of hours are needed for instruction” — like in the aviation course, he said.
Mohawk College president Ron McKerlie said: “Helping every student complete the second half of the fall semester is the No. 1 priority for all of our faculty and staff. … We’re confident that students will get whatever help they need to be successful.
“No one will have to go through the semester on their own.”
McKerlie admits students are anxious.
“They want reassurances that the quality and integrity of their programs will be maintained.”
But others are relieved they are finally back in the classroom, he added.
There are 800 students graduating at the end of this semester and another 5,000 this spring “and they’re eager to join the workforce.”