Much of the confusion surrounding Laurentian University’s decision to suspend admissions to some of its programs has settled, but faculty say they still aren’t happy with how the decision was made.
University administration announced early August that it would not accept applications to 17 of its programs for the upcoming school year, citing concerns about declining enrolment. The decision impacts programs across multiple faculties, including the arts, sciences, health, and management.
According to Laurentian President Robert Haché, students currently enrolled in these programs will be able to complete their degrees. Meanwhile, the 49 students who had been accepted into these programs for the upcoming year have received alternative offers from the university in the same field of study. He said 47 of those students accepted their offers.
Haché pointed to the low number of incoming students as evidence of the declining appeal of these programs and an indicator of the need for change.
“The most important part about this is having our overall offerings to be as attractive as possible, because that’s what generates strong student interest,” he said.
Faculty are more concerned that in making this decision, protocol wasn’t followed.
The Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) announced Aug. 12 it would be pursuing a judicial challenge to reverse the decision and force administration to consult with the university Senate before moving forward.
Jean-Charles Cachon, a professor of marketing and management and LUFA’s treasurer-secretary, said only Senate has the authority to make these kinds of decisions.
Cachon called the decision an “unprecedented” violation of the Laurentian University Act.
“Academic decisions are the purview of the Senate and its committees,” Cachon said. “They cannot decide unilaterally as they did to suddenly cancel registration in programs.”
Haché pushed back at these assertions, stating that Senate does not need to be consulted on questions of admissions.
“Senate has authority, which we completely respect, in the creation and closing of programs,” he said. “We have not closed the programs and it is within the purview of the Provost, based on enrolment, to decide whether to offer in a particular year individual programs.”
According to section 21 of the Act, Senate has the authority to hear recommendations on “regulations respecting the admission of students, courses of study, and requirements for graduation”.
The matter has been referred to the Academic Planning Committee for review.
While the programs are not being cancelled outright, Cachon said suspending admissions is like “putting programs on the chopping block,” and that he is concerned about the long-term consequences.
“The effects are going to be devastating to Northern Ontario,” he said. “If you don’t have a spread of programs which is attractive enough, people who have more income will send their kids to Ottawa or Toronto and people who can’t afford that will look at local colleges.”
In response to these concerns, Haché said further changes, including cuts to programming, are “entirely possible” down the road, but that the goal was to make changes that draw students in.
“In the absence of change, the long-term future for some of these programs is not bright,” he said. “What we do really need to encourage is for that change to occur.”
For some faculty, like the Faculty of Arts Dean, Joël Dickinson, the situation is complicated but necessary. She said that they need this change in the long-run, but that a lot of faculty were upset about how the decision was made.
“If there had been discussions beforehand, they would have been able to do things to adjust their programs, as opposed to having a disruption.”
Cachon also said the announcement created confusion and apprehension.
“If they had done the proper consultation, this kind of announcement would have been minimized,” Cachon said. “This is damaging to the institution. Some people out there are thinking ‘Oh, these programs are gone, so I have to go somewhere else,’ which is totally untrue.”
For students like Patrick Yasko, a fourth-year student in the music specialization, the decision to suspend admissions to his program is raising some concerns.
“All of a sudden, my school and my program kind of lose their credibility and appeal,” he said. “I’m going to say I went to Laurentian and right away [people] are going to say, ‘Didn’t that program get cancelled?’ And if it got cancelled how good was it?”
Charlie Dedo, a second-year French mathematics student, said she initially received an email that she would not be able to finish her degree.
“I got the same email the first-years would’ve gotten,” she said, explaining that she was given two options: either switch to the English program or switch to another program entirely.
After a week of confusion, Dedo confirmed that she would be able to finish her degree in French mathematics, but she called the entire exchange “very unprofessional.”
“I was very angry,” she said. “The middle of August is not the time to be doing this. We didn’t get a letter, we didn’t get a phone call. It just makes me think that the university is very disorganized right now.”
Featured image by Mia Jensen.
