Algonquin to add study breaks, cut in-class time
Facing new wage law, college eyes heavier load For Full-time Profs
Algonquin College plans changes to its academic year that would add study breaks in the fall and summer, reduce classroom time and require full-time professors to teach more classes.
The changes come as the college foots the bill for implementing the province’s new equal-pay law.
Many of the courses at Algonquin and other Ontario colleges are taught by part-time instructors, who are paid less than fulltime professors.
The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148) requires employers to pay part-time, casual, temporary and seasonal workers the same rate as full-time employees doing substantially the same work.
Algonquin estimates that Bill 148 will cost an estimated $25 million a year. That’s a sizable chunk for an institution with a $380-million budget.
Among the strategies being adopted by the college to save money is to shift more of the teaching load to full-time professors. That means fewer contract instructors will be required, unless enrolment surges.
“Ironically, the very people who are going to benefit (from pay equity) are the very people who will be let go,” said Jack Wilson, vicepresident of OPSEU local 415, the union representing academic staff.
The precarious work of contract instructors was a major issue in a five-week strike by college faculty across the province last fall.
Bill 148 is supposed to even out pay imbalances for employees doing equal work, but it will have other impacts as colleges trim budgets to pay for it.
However, some part-time instructors will also have a shot at obtaining a full-time job. The college plans to hire 42 full-time faculty in 2018-19 to fill vacancies, Claude Brulé, Algonquin’s senior vice-president academic, said in a statement.
Those jobs are usually filled from the ranks of non full-time faculty, he said.
Many details of the academic shakeup at Algonquin are still being worked out, but here is what is known so far:
There will be a study break in every term: The introduction of weeklong study breaks in the fall and summer terms will save the college money, said Wilson, since part-time employees are only paid for hours spent in the classroom. There is already a study break in the winter term.
The college says the main reason for adding the study breaks is “student success and mental health,” according to a letter Brulé sent to employees.
“We believe in the merit of providing students with a break in each of our fall, winter and spring/summer terms, to help students better manage their academic affairs and promote student success.”
The Algonquin Students Association had been lobbying for a study break each term, said president Victoria Ventura. “This is a real big win for students.”
Students need the time to catch up, study and relax, she said. “Especially for students coming to post-secondary for the first time, it gives them an opportunity to go home, unwind, de-stress, and get over their homesickness.”
The new study breaks will preferably be added in weeks that already contain a holiday, such as Thanksgiving or Canada Day, Brulé’s statement said.
The number of instructional weeks will be reduced: There will still be three terms each year: fall, winter and summer. But the number of instructional weeks in each term, which includes both classes and an assessment week, would fall from 15 to 14.
Pat Kennedy, president of OPSEU 415, said the college has not provided enough information about how programs will change.
“As usual, the college doesn’t have any plan that is expressed, or obvious. They just say, ‘OK, we are cutting out one week and we are going to save some money.’ ”
The college has held town hall meetings to inform employees about the impact of Bill 148, has received hundreds of suggestions, and has posted information on a website.
Several professors said they are concerned that reduced instruction time in a 14-week semester will hurt the quality of education. They ’ll have to cram course material into a shorter period or reduce the amount covered, said Michael Anderson, a full-time professor in the information and communications technology department. He says his students already work hard to learn the material.
“Our students are amazing. They work hard and are highly regarded by industry. But we are already pushing the students to their capacity.
“Students are not going to pay less for tuition, but students are going to get less classroom instruction.”
More courses will be offered in the summer: More courses will be offered in the summer term “to better balance our academic terms and improve the year-round use of our existing facilities,” Brulé’s letter said.
What will that mean for the majority of students who go to school from September to May and take jobs in the summer? Will any of them be required to take courses in May, June and July? No. Those students will not be affected, said Brulé’s statement. The college hasn’t worked out yet what extra courses will be offered in the summer term.
Part-time instructors will get a raise: Algonquin has announced that it will increase pay for parttime instructors who work one to six hours a week and for sessional instructors, in both instances up to the level of the “partial-load” instructors, who are part-time workers but are unionized and earn more. As for the partial-load instructors, who work seven to 12 hours a week, equal-pay negotiations are being conducted centrally between the union and the colleges.
Full-time professors will teach more classes: Another cost-saving measure is the plan to boost the number of hours full-time professors spend teaching. Most full-time professors now teach two 15-week terms each year, for a total of 30 weeks, said Brulé’s letter. Algonquin plans to offer them the “opportunity” to teach up to 35 weeks a year, said the letter.
The collective agreement permits full-time professors to teach 36 to 38 weeks a year, depending on the program, Wilson said. Some professors already work the maximum number of weeks.
But many who teach 30 weeks are not happy about the extra classroom time, he said. The teaching year for most full-time professors begins just after Labour Day and ends in early May. Wilson said he expects many profs will be asked to teach classes in May and June, when they are usually doing professional development and preparing courses.
I can’t imagine any students saying, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea, have a course split between two professors, in mid-semester.’
Their schedule might sound easy, but good professors work hard, Anderson said.
“In the fall and winter term, typically I work 50 hours a week. If you don’t believe me, ask my wife and kids.”
Anderson said he spends May and June revising courses, attending conferences, talking to employers who hire graduates, and updating his credentials. Anderson said he spends two to six weeks a year studying and writing exams to keep his certifications current in the fast-evolving technology field, where software can change every six months.
“We are going to have even less time to learn material that is always evolving.”
Brulé’s letter said professors could work two 14-week terms, plus an extra seven weeks. That raises the prospect of two professors splitting a 14-week course. That would not be good for students, say union officials.
“I can’t imagine any students saying, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea, have a course split between two professors, in mid-semester,’ ” Wilson said.
Another possibility is that Algonquin will offer some sevenweek courses.