University make it clear that students aren’t the first priority
By Lethbridge Herald on February 24, 2022.
Editor:
Educational institutions are only as strong as those who uphold them and it’s an uncomfortable feeling to lose hope in a school I have dedicated upwards of $15,000, time and my spirit into.
It’s hard to extend University of Lethbridge administration sympathy when considering tuition raises students have experienced, along with cuts to sports, support services and library hours.
We face increased class sizes, decreased access to professor’s expertise and the stress of impending faculty restructuring.
I recognize running a large institution costs money and budgeting involves a series of interconnected and difficult decisions, but university communications have been condescending to students and faculty, many of whom are constantly aware of income restraints.
I understand it’s hard to hear professors, many of whom make much more than I will for the foreseeable future, ask for raises, but that is an oversimplified narrative.
Rejecting the Faculty Association of the University of Lethbridge’s (UFLA) proposal to maintain cost of living would suggest financial incompetence on administration’s part that threatens the future of this institution and requires greater accountability. The university claiming ULFA requests would be crippling or unsustainable is ridiculous in the eyes of students who carry the burden of the institution’s decisions.
I have cried when I could not afford groceries and prayed I could make it up Whoop-Up on fumes alone, while students and faculty are voiceless on how my ever-increasing tuition is being used. We occasionally receive concerning and unsigned emails making us concerned we may lose the semester we paid for.
These often include multiple references to nurses’ salaries, claims that the students have to bear the new responsibility of paying increased wages and vague information that is purposely difficult to contextualise.
Considering the kind of vitriol and unprofessional passive aggression we have witnessed from the administration, it is clear students are not the first priority.
The strike represents issues that extend beyond university administration and the ULFA and it should not be an issue those in power can strategize away.
The university’s reduction in quality was explained as a way to counteract austerity measures on the part of the provincial government and maintain comparable service levels.
The university’s distorted communication with students seems like a deliberate attempt to shroud its ideological intention. The university’s budget is a reflection of its values and current negotiations reveal a disconnect between communicated intentions and administration’s actions.
Unlike the University of Mount Royal administration, Lethbridge’s president, provost, and VP of finance’s terms do not extend past a potential collective agreement.
This negates possible professional implications these deals may have for administration. Although top administration will retire, these negotiations will become their professional and personal legacy. Universities have traditionally stood for academic freedom, self-advocacy and greater collective representation.
I urge the administration to consider the importance of quality education and a quality work environment during these negotiations.
Brie Wilson
Lethbridge
19-18
Time for an external audit to be done of the entire operation, especially senior administrative positions (of which there are many), the actual/true workload those positions carry, and the salaries assigned to them.
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This strike is more about GREED than education. The Union is the problem.
U of L employees make HUGE money –$60 to over $167,000 per year. When is enough enough? https://www.ulethbridge.ca/analysis/facts/employees
I agree. We need to hold the UoL’s administration accountable for their reckless obedience to Kenny.