Students who may have envisioned their post-secondary experience sitting in lecture halls, forming in-person connections with their professors or joining clubs are now experiencing all of university through a computer screen.
While some may have accepted the fate of online school—particularly the fact that it costs the same as the in-person alternative—some students are letting their university administrations know they aren’t happy.
Jasmine Doobay-Joseph, who is in her second year of the cognitive science program at Carleton, is one such student. In June, she started an online petition after being unsatisfied with her winter semester, which moved online due to COVID-19.
The petition, which urges Ontario schools to cut down on tuition fees until the pandemic is resolved, has garnered over 7,000 signatures, though Doobay-Joseph said she believes those numbers will only continue to grow.
“Reduced tuition fees are necessary because we are paying for the expected experience that we are not receiving,” Doobay-Joseph said.
The petition also calls for a $1,000 reduction in tuition per semester until in-person classes return.
Doobay added that the economic impacts of the pandemic on students should also be taken into consideration.
“Many students rely on their summer jobs and part-time jobs to support paying for tuition,” she said, adding both have been affected by COVID-19.
The switch to online classes has left many students feeling like they are paying full-price without the full experience, a sentiment felt by students across North America.
At the Sept. 29 Carleton Board of Governors meeting, Michael Piché, the school’s vice-president (finance and administration), said assuming online course delivery is cheaper than in-person classes is not the right way to look at the situation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Piché said the school has invested “considerable funding” to improve online course delivery and technology.
“These initiatives cost money. To be able to provide students with face-to-face and quality online course delivery, it costs money,” he said, adding that student fees go towards operating costs and investing in new online course delivery.
Steven Reid, Carleton’s media relations officer, echoed Piché’s statements on the cost of providing online education.
“Designing virtual classrooms and online opportunities for students requires multimillion-dollar investments in technology and experts to deliver a high-quality experience,” Reid said in an email to the Charlatan.
While many students in support of the petition say their reasoning behind supporting Doobay-Joseph’s initiative is because they feel they are paying for a university experience they’re not receiving online, Reid said “almost all the services students normally receive continue to be available virtually.”
Programs such as career services, academic advising, and the Paul Menton Centre have all transitioned online. With courses delivered online and students no longer commuting regularly to school, an opt-out option has been provided for services no longer needed, such as the U-Pass.
Reid added the school has also implemented new services to ease the transition to online classes such as virtual mental health counselling and support, virtual fitness programs, waiving Video On Demand and on-campus parking fees, and being a member of HathiTrust, a digital resource library.
Despite these services, some students say they are still struggling with online education.
Addie Jenson, a first-year student in global and international studies, said she has been unhappy with her online experience so far and was “surprised” tuition prices were not lowered in the first place.
“Being at home has not provided the expected experience, and students should be compensated for that,” she said.
While Doobay-Joseph’s petition has been widely shared by students online, she said she is still hoping to receive a response from Carleton president Antoine-Benoit Bacon, who she has reached out to multiple times.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
