A letter to the College Presidents. Student emphasizes lack of support services negatively impacting courses. Support staff needed back at work.
Dear Mr. Lovisa and fellow college presidents:
As a student of Durham College I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read this correspondence.
It was not without reservations that I walked towards the Durham College campus on September 12th, 2011. I walked because I wanted to avoid the picket line delays that might cause me to be late for writing a correspondence course midterm test, which I had arranged with a college staff member on August 30th. Last week I received a delayed response from the Continuing Education department reassuring me that yes, my exam would go ahead as scheduled despite the strike. I was left feeling that I should print off the email confirmation of the exam booking to bring along. In fact, I should have done just that because about two minutes after arriving at the exam center I was pulling up the email on the college computer to print out for the invigilator. There was no record of the midterm being booked and no midterm paper ready for me to write.
The following day I was told I could re-schedule the exam for Wednesday September 14th. On that date, I had completed only the first few questions when I began to wonder whether or not I had the correct exam paper. The questions were not on the material that I had prepared for according to the course paperwork. After approaching the invigilator we determined that I had been given the final exam for the course, not the midterm test that I had requested. I then had to wait for the correct exam to be provided and start all over again.
The colleges would like the general public to believe that this strike is barely affecting the level of service and education provided to students. As the president of Fanshawe College so eloquently stated, he feels the strike is merely comparable to a few mosquitoes flying through an open window (the fact that this metaphor was directly followed by the claim that the strikers are certainly not being compared to mosquitoes only served to drive the insult home). Although I have a hard time knowing what to believe regarding information related to the strike, one thing I know for a fact is that if it has affected me in such a significant and inconvenient way then students at Durham College, and therefore at other colleges as well, are also being affected detrimentally. In fact, at the exam time tonight there was another student who had scheduled his exam online yet his exam was not prepared for him.
Currently, I hold a full time job as well as working part-time on the weekends, generally working 6 or 7 days a week. I am working towards a diploma through Continuing Education, taking as many as five courses at once, while maintaining an average above 90%. Two months ago I paid over $1000 to register for four courses. Not including the textbooks, of course. The diploma I am working towards at Durham College is an important step for me and it is essential that I meet my goal of an expected finish date in April 2012. This strike has, and will continue to, affect me as a student. I don’t have the time to wait for every mistake to be corrected. I certainly now have no faith in my completed exam reaching its destination, being marked and recorded properly. Not to mention complications I will be likely to experience in the other four courses I am enrolled in, or the fact that I cannot book any further midterms or exams until the strike is over.
This strike is wasting the time, money and effort of myself and every other student. And for every student that has taken the time to write to their college and complain, there are countless others who are thinking the same thing. It is imperative that the colleges go back to the bargaining table as soon as possible. Students don’t deserve to endure personal hardships because of a political agenda.
Sincerely,
College Student
Supporting OPSEU College Support Staff 