#sessionals

Revisiting a classic: #ClassStruggle - 2014 Ira Basen documentary |  @CBCSunday

It is a black mark on the ivory tower, a story of insecurity, fear, jealousy, thwarted ambition, poverty and inequality. And it's a reality that university presidents, and many professors, don't like to talk about.

Universities in Canada - which threw open their doors this week to almost a million undergraduates - are propped up by a huge army of part-time teachers, who are highly qualified and poorly paid. They have no job security or pension, and little hope of ever getting a full-time position. They go by many titles: sessional lecturers, contract academic staff, adjunct faculty.

"Teaching Assistants at York University and the University of Toronto are on strike. At first glance these seem like classic labour disputes, but they are a warning of how fundamentally flawed the Canadian university system has become."

"Graduate students at U of T receive a minimum funding package of $15,000 a year. This amount hasn’t increased since 2008, and it’s well below the $19,307 poverty line for a single adult living in Toronto. After 12 months of negotiation the university hasn’t budged – it’s still offering $15,000."

"Graduate students currently make $42.05 an hour but are limited to 205 hours a year. U of T has offered to pay $43.97 an hour but will cap the number of hours at 180 starting September 2017. So instead of making $8,965.06 graduate students will actually make $8,231.18 – which is $733.88 less."

"What is surprising is how many media outlets are repeating without analysis U of T’s claim that it’s offering a raise. Again: U of T is offering a $733.88 pay cut."

"What’s happening at U of T and York is symptomatic of a larger problem across Canada. Underpaid part-time staff teach a majority of undergraduates in Canada. For example, at U of T contract faculty and teaching assistants do 60 per cent of the teaching but make up 3.5 per cent of the budget. This is not an isolated problem. According to one study, the number of contract faculty in Ontario increased 87 per cent in between 2000 and 2014."

Paying the people who do the majority of teaching a salary that is above the poverty line won’t solve all the problems in academia, but it sure would be a good place to start.

The Globe and Mail, March 4, 2015: "Why U of T, York strikes are more than labour disputes," by Zane Schwartz

The Globe and Mail, March 5, 2015: "Academia has to stop eating its young," by Showey Yazdanian

CBC News, March 4, 2015: "CUPE strikes: Demonstrators cram into UofT's Munk School"

FAIRNESS STUDY

course was extremely well organized and both readings and instructions were clear.

the readings selected were not to difficult to understand.

I did not resonate with the material and there was no real discussion around the material.

the discussions were very stimulating

She seemed to enjoy the discussion about ways to remove a cork from a wine bottle when you don't have a corkscrew. This was the topic in which she was most interested in commenting.

i have nothing to suggest

I would hope the instructor would be a strong communicator and not use emoticons to convey her message.

making me take a stronger interest in politics in general

the only thing positive about this course is that it is over.