The province-wide public college strike will affect UTM students who are in joint programs with Sheridan College. Their Oakville campus offers courses for students enrolled in DEM, CCIT, Art and Art History, and the Theatre and Drama Studies degree programs. Those courses have been postponed until a tentative agreement between the two parties is reached.
Twelve-thousand Ontario public college faculty have gone on strike on Sunday after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSE) and College Employer Council failed to reach a mutual collective agreement.
According to a press release posted by OPSE, “On October 14, we presented council with a streamlined offer that represented what faculty consider to be the bare minimum we need to ensure quality education for students and treat contract faculty fairly,” said JP Hornick, chair of the union bargaining team. “We carefully crafted a proposal that responded to Council’s concerns about costs in a fair and reasonable way.
“Unfortunately, Council refused to agree on even the no-cost items, such as longer contracts for contract faculty and academic freedom,” she said. “This leaves us with no choice but to withdraw our services until such time as our employer is ready to negotiate seriously.”
According to the Sheridan FAQ page, all internships that are not supervised by a faculty member are not affected by the strike, but all funded research projects will be suspended during the duration of the strike.
Students affected by the strike can refer to the “Updates on Faculty Strike” page located on the Sheridan website, and reach out to their academic department at UTM to discuss details regarding their specified programs.
This story is still developing; more updates to follow.
Also, Sheridan has a joint program with art and art history and the theater and drama studies too, just saying :)