Dear fellow York community members,
York’s Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) has recently sent a letter to all graduate Program Directors (GPDs) stating that there are to be changes to the system of funding graduate students at York University. Significant among these will be the abolishment of the minimum funding guarantee that is currently the norm for all incoming students with an entering average of B+ or higher. The justification provided for this change is that it will provide more “flexibility” for programs in assigning funding to incoming graduate students. The letter also states that “no decision has yet been reached as to the levels of funding that will be provided next year [2010-2011]”.
This letter marks the continuation of a program begun in 2007, when FGS put a restructuring plan on the table—a plan that was roundly rejected by Graduate Studies faculty members and by graduate students across campus. While York professor Dr. George Fallis has recenly released a second report detailing student and faculty responses more formally, the FGS letter has
been sent in advance of the public release of Fallis’ report, and appears to be an announcement of a decision already made.
The lack of information provided by FGS thus far is a cause for serious concern, especially considering the upcoming winter break and the short period before offers will need to be sent out to students who have applied for York’s graduate programs. At this late stage, GPDs should not have to speculate about what York will be able to offer its next incoming class of MAs and PhDs; other universities will already have their offers on the
table, and York’s competitiveness will further decrease in the face of such uncertainty.
Worse than the short-term confusion are the potential long-term implications of the changes FGS is announcing. It is likely that York will try to increase the numbers of graduate students. This is seen as a way of building the university’s prestige and as such, it feeds into York’s goal to be classified as a ‘research-intensive institution’. It is likely that under the new arrangements proposed, graduate students will be added without
additional funding support, and without appropriate numbers of new tenure-track faculty hires. This will lower the quality of the university experience for everyone, since the additional students will place a strain on existing institutional resources (especially already-overburdened faculty). Undergraduates may suffer even more than they already do from the lack of contact with faculty, and the vicious hiring cycle involving under-employed contract faculty will continue as York attempts to ‘cut costs’ while continually expanding.
The nature of graduate study at York University could change drastically if these changes are implemented. There would be different funding packages provided for students judged to be more or less valuable to the university and its mission. This would mean tiers of graduate students, some of whom
would have funding, and some who would not. Historically under-served and under-privileged students would continue to suffer under a stratified system. And *all* new graduate students will require institutional resources, so any increase to their numbers will still have a serious impact, potentially causing increased faculty work-loads, ballooning class sizes, and increased attrition rates.
York’s claims are that they want this university to become a highly-ranked, competitive research-oriented institution. But they cannot compete with other universities for the best graduate students if there is no way to make offers that are comparable to those at other universities, or provide a
learning environment that is of the highest quality, or ensure access to the resources necessary for students to fulfill their highest potential.
Please take the time to send an email to York’s administrators, letting them know that stable graduate funding is a prerequisite for achieving York’s mission and stated goals, and is vital for maintaining and building the university’s reputation for quality graduate and undergraduate education.
Here are the contact emails for some of the relevant administrators (when you email, please cc us at *grad_funding@yugsa.ca*):*
*Dean Doug Peers, Faculty of Graduate Studies: fgsdean@yorku.ca, phone x55329*
**Associate Dean Susan Warwick, **Faculty of Graduate Studies**: swarwick@yorku.ca, phone x22249*
**President and Vice-Chancellor, Mamdouh Shoukri: presidnt@yorku.ca, phone x55200*
**Vice-President Academic & Provost, Patrick J. Monahan: provost@yorku.ca, phone x55280*
If the proposed changes are to be prevented, we will need to combine and coordinate our efforts to work against their implementation. To this end, the GSA would also like to invite all concerned members of the York community to attend a coalition meeting that will be held on *Monday, November 30th* *at 6PM* in the *GSA Conference Room, room 430 in the Student Centre*. Refreshments will be served! Looking forward to seeing you there.
