University Blues

There's tension in the air at Brandon University. The Faculty Association has been without a collective agreement since March of this year, and has been attempting to negotiate a new contract with the University. Over the weekend, conciliation talks failed and both parties agreed to move towards mediation. The sticking ponits are wages (wow, that really surprises me), workloads, and "academic freedom." It's too early to predict how this one ends up, but BUFA has been openly talking about holding a strike vote sometime soon.

The University claims to be running short of money. They blamed the tution freeze imposed on Manitoba universities since the NDP was elected in 1999. They insist that the only way to meet their financial obligations is to charge students more, even though the University is continuing to see the increasing enrollment that has been happening for the past few years. I don't really follow that line of logic: more students paying tuition fees equals less money for the University. And of course there will be those who try to pit the students and the faculty against one another. Students have to accept high tuition in order to attract good profs, and profs have to be "reasonable" in their requests so students can afford to eat. Fortunately the faculty and the students union have long resisted that trap.

What is really missing from this issue is discussion over the role the Administration plays in this. Earlier this spring, BUSU sponsored a motion that would have seen the Administration take a 15% pay cut (and I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that went over). Yet this is what irritates me. The Administration claims to be short of money. They have asked students to chip in by paying more in tuition or ancilliary fees, they have asked the faculty to chip in by having allowed the negotiations to get to the point where a strike vote could still be on the table, and they have asked the taxpayers to chip in with direct funding to the University. Yet, what has the Administration done to chip in? Why do they insist on asking everyone else to make sacrifices when there is little to suggest they have done so personally? This, while staff positions go unfilled and courses go unoffered. I've met students who are willing to pay higher tuition if it means they get a better quality education, and many do believe "you get what you pay for." Yet, I'm sceptical of that logic. As mentioned earlier, more students are going to school, so that should be making the University more money. Furthermore, if tuition actually rose, is there any guarantee that it would actually go towards solving the problems, or would the problems be used as a means to justify increasing tuition?

Is there even a financial problem at the University? When was the last time Brandon University had its books audited? I think that's a question we should be asking our MLAs. If we know what the true financial picture of the University is, that makes it easier for BUFA to negotiate a fair deal for its members.

(I will edit this page to privide more links ASAP. I am unable to do so right now because certain essential websites are down.)