[Fdu] Open Letter to our Colleagues

[Cynthia Wright]

Dear FDU listserv,

Below is an open letter to U of T colleagues from Prof Alissa Trotz in Women's and Gender Studies and Prof Deb Cowen in Geography. 

Please give it a read and address any comments and organizing ideas to Alissa off list at da.trotz at utoronto.ca.

Many thanks
Cynthia




  Dear Colleagues,


  We are now ten days into the strike by members of CUPE 3902 Unit 1 at the University of Toronto.


  The University of Toronto homepage seeks to assure the academic community and wider public that everything will be done "to minimize the impact of the strike on our students" and that the administration "will continue to keep you apprised of the situation. The University will remain open. Students are able to pursue their courses. "


  As instructors of large classes with teaching assistants (members of CUPE 3902 on the picket lines), we have been inundated with e-mails and visits from undergraduates worried about class assignments, worried about examinations, worried about graduating on time. It is patently clear to us that it is not business as usual. Our teaching assistants play a crucial role in the delivery of course material. They are essential to ensuring academic excellence and integrity in our classrooms. They help provide small group experiences in large courses. 


  We do not accept that the responsibility for answering these questions (which frankly we cannot) should be downloaded to us, as per the website of the Vice-President and Provost which advises students that "If you are still unclear about the status of your course after consulting Blackboard, contact your instructor or the department offering the course." Nor do we accept, as the website of the Vice-President and Provost directs, that if "students are asking...questions about the strike that I can’t answer," we "can refer them to the FAQs for students on this page, or to status updates on the University homepage." 


  Our students deserve clear answers, which we are unable to provide them. It is also impossible for us to respond in a timely manner to the volume of individual questions we have been receiving since the strike has started. This downloading is unfair and misplaced, and is the unacknowledged cost of declaring that the University remains open and classes continue.


  We have therefore directed our students to write directly to:

  The Vice-Provost of students at: vp.students at utoronto.ca
  Copied to the Vice-President and Provost, Professor Cheryl Regehr, at provost at utoronto.ca 


  WHY are we suggesting that students approach these offices? Because they explain their mandate thus:
  "The Office of the Vice-Provost, Students & First-Entry Divisions has responsibility for policies and procedures affecting students and student organizations across the three campuses. The mandate of the Vice-Provost, Students & First-Entry Divisions is to ensure that university-wide programs and services are available in order for the academic divisions to deliver an outstanding student experience."


  AND


  "Welcome to the website for the University of Toronto Vice-President and Provost’s Office. This office is responsible for academic and budgetary matters at the University of Toronto."


  We invite you to join us in taking this step. We may all be affected in different ways, but we are all in this together.






  D. Alissa Trotz
  Caribbean Studies at New College
  and Women and Gender Studies
  University of Toronto
  40 Willcocks Street
  Toronto, Ontario
  M5S 1C6
  Tel: 416-978-8286
  Fax: 416-946-5561
  http://www.stabroeknews.com/category/features/in-the-diaspora/


             
  Deborah Cowen
  Department of Geography 
  University of Toronto
  100 St. George Street, #5047
  Toronto, ON
  M5S 3G3
  416.946.0567
  deb.cowen at utoronto.ca


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