During the Ontario college strike academic freedom was one of the major issues during negotiations. It was reported the College Employer Council and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) could not agree on the stipulations proposed regarding academic freedom.
Distinction between college and university academic freedom
Universities and colleges are both post-secondary institutions but have two different purposes when it comes to academic freedom.
Universities are traditionally safe spaces used to foster all types of thought. The vice-provost of the University of Guelph-Humber, John Walsh, said academic freedom at the university level is the freedom to teach and research without any repercussions.
Colleges hold similar values when it comes to academic freedom; however, colleges must abide by provincial and industry expectations with their curriculum. Colleges were originally “created to be much more industry focused” according to Laurie Rancourt, the senior vice-president of academics at Humber College. This provincial standardization ensures that all students are trained to the industry expectation.
The issue is that some schools in the college system are moving towards university-style programs. By incorporating degree programs at a college level, the line between academic freedom in colleges and universities is blurring.
Humber College liberal studies professor, Shelley McCabe, said “there is no definition of academic freedom in the college system. . .We are teaching university degrees in addition to the diploma level courses.”
University and college professor, Dr. Natalie Evans, said altering the status of academic freedom in colleges to accommodate this change is unlikely.
“Universities are set up to accommodate academic freedom and promote it. Colleges weren’t created that way in the first place. They would have to revamp their entire system . . . and I don’t think they would be willing to change that,” said Evans.
“The college system has evolved in the sorts of things we are teaching but we have not evolved administratively to keep up with that shift.”
– Shelley McCabe, Liberal Studies Professor
Standardized college curriculum
The provincial government controls what the curriculum expectations are across Ontario colleges. Rancourt said “in the college system, the curriculum is mapped and set in stone” to ensure that students who graduate with an Ontario credential have been properly taught to the provincial standards.
Even though colleges hope to meet a standardized expectation, the curriculum and how it is carried out varies because of the inconsistencies of faculty involvement. Rancourt said Ontario colleges are “a very large and a very complex system.” She said the colleges work with industry advisory committees and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development when setting the ground for curriculum.
Rancourt said the colleges “have to follow a ministry binding directive that gives [the colleges] the parameters in which we have to operate the program standard [which is] set by the ministry [of advanced education and skills development].”
The provincial government sets the academic standards across Ontario’s 24 public colleges, but it is up to the administrators and faculty to implement these standards.
“Academic freedom is the right to teach students what [instructors] know it will take for them to be successful to the standards that employers are expecting.”
– Bob Bolf, President of Humber Faculty Union, OPSEU Local 562
What do faculty want?
To be involved in the academic decision process
Currently, faculty do not have to be consulted when curating course content. Bob Bolf, president of OPSEU Local 562 at Humber, said faculty are subject matter experts who are there to teach the content and how to apply it in the field. Bolf said it is important for faculty to have a say in academic decisions that impact courses, programs and student education.
For example, under the current system an associate dean with no education in the program or course can dictate how it will run with no involvement from the faculty.
Evans said “colleges are highly structured, where you are given basically a completed course outline and you’re just adding dates and maybe a little bit of extra content and textbooks. Use of textbooks and readings are dictated by the college.” She went on to say it depends on the college and the people you are working with.
The consistency of college faculty’s involvement is “spotty” across the board according to Bolf.
“Someone else who is not an expert in my course can be in charge of deciding the way to teach my course, the books I use in my course, and how I am going to assess students in my course.”
– Shelley McCabe, Liberal Studies Professor
The right to pass or fail their students
In the current system, college administrators have the ability to change the marks of failing students or force professors into passing students who do not meet course expectations.
Bolf said he believes this clearly shows the divide in values between instructors and faculty. Instructors want students to meet course expectations and be prepared for the workplace. Bolf said he believes management is prioritizing other values.
Management applying pressure on faculty to pass students puts the students at a disadvantage for the rest of their courses. As well, faculty must put in more work to ensure the student passes. According to Bolf, this practice could also endanger the public as students who should have failed their courses were passed. This means they are not entirely qualified to be entering the work force and they are not meeting the industry standard the college system has set.
Bolf said that “if a student gets a failing grade it’s because they have earned a failing grade.”