Page 14 April 1, 2009

By Joe Howell - CUP Ontario Bureau Chief

TORONTO (CUP) — Can you take a full course load and still get involved on campus? That’s the question many are asking in the wake of a strong recommendation that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Toronto move to a fixed-fee system that.would see stu- dents paying for five courses whether they take three, four, five, or even six classes.

A recent report by a “Pro- gram Fee Working Group,” struck by Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences Meric Gertler, proposed. that FAS do away with per-course charges.

Instead, it would adopt a yearly price “equivalent to five times the per-course fee” to be “applied to all full-time students ... starting [their studies] in Fall, 2009.”

A full-time student at U of T is anyone taking three full- course equivalents or more. The document projected that the shift would garner FAS “an additional $10M in base funding” and result in “course intensification,” as students enrol in more class- es to get the most out of their program fee.

Colum Grove-White, presi- dent of the Arts and Science Students’ Union, called the recommendation a “band- aid solution” to an estimated “$9 million structural defi- cit” caused chiefly by the re- cession.

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U of T eyes flat-rate tuition

“Basically I’d just be getting shafted by paying for five when I’m only taking three”

He claims the change is be- ing “pushed through” U of T’s various levels of govern- ment without proper student

and staff consultation, and

that ASSU is “trying to stop it from happening.”

“If I took the five courses I would definitely have to give up a lot of my involvement. It takes a lot of time up as it is, but if I added more cours- es I would be really suffer- ing,” said Tam Siwak, a four-class student who plays two varsity and two intramu- ral sports.

Her concern runs counter to the report, which says “it was discussed that intensifica- tion may result in some stu- dents reducing participation in extracurricular activities though there is no evidence, from any of the other UofT divisions with a program fee or from other institutions, to substantiate this.”

“The faculty has had no research into the tangential impact,” said Grove-White.

*“People take three courses

for a reason.”

Jamie Janeiro, president of the Victoria University Stu- dents’ Administrative Coun- cil, is one such person.

“This year I would have no choice but to still take three courses, because there’s no way you could be VUSAC president and still take a full course load. It’s impossible,” Janeiro said.

He says he would not want to drop to part-time status, because the majority of the students he represents are full-time.

“Basically I’d just be get-

ting shafted by paying for five when I’m only taking three,” said Janeiro.

Adam Awad, University of Toronto Students’ Union VP of university affairs and co- founder of U of T’s Ginger Magazine, said: “The more I got involved, the less time I had for school.”

Awad called the report’s assertion that course inten- sification likely would not impact campus involvement “total garbage.”

“If I had to be paying for five courses throughout my time here, I wouldn’t have the time to get involved — I’d have to work my ass off to pay an extra $1,000,” he said.

Siwak agrees.

“If it were possible, I would definitely just suck up the lost $1,000, only take four courses, and continue to play all my sports, but financially, it wouldn’t be feasible,” he said.

There are those who bal- ance involvement with a full course schedule, though. VUSAC Commuter Com- missioner Catherine Brown is taking 5.5 full-course equivalents this year, and took six when she was the co-manager of the Caffiends shop on campus.

“You make your agenda your Bible and you plan your life. You should see my to-do list,” said Brown.

But, not everyone boasts such organizational skills.

“I don’t know many in- volved students who take

Can students juggle a full course load and extra-cirricu-

PANTHER POST

lars? U of T thinks they can. Joshua Freedman/the Strand

five,” said UTSU President Sandy Hudson. “I think that they’re kidding themselves — absolutely it will affect in- volvement.”

Hudson says UTSU planned to meet with ASSU and some college presidents, but that the Students’ Union is “in opposition to the idea.”

FAS Director of Communi- cations Kim Luke says that she has “heard people specu- late that having a more in- tense course load could have people cutting back on their engagement,” but that “it’s really hard to correlate or es- tablish a relationship.”

Like says that while most of the professional faculties here are already on a pro- gram-fee system, it does not

seem to prevent them from getting involved.

Indeed, flat-rate tuition is not uncommon in Ontario or Canada, but it seems to be favoured by smaller pro- grams and institutions.

The majority of profession- al programs with limited, competitive enrollment — like engineering or pharma- cy — seem to use the system, along with small universities like Waterloo’s Wilfred Lau- rier, Nova Scotia’s St. Fran- cis Xavier, and New Bruns-— wick’s Mount Allison.

Luke adds that most of the money would go back into the classroom experience in the form of more TAs, a smaller faculty-to-student

ratio, and other benefits.