On Friday February 14 the university announced it will temporarily suspend new undergraduate admissions to 18 programs due to low enrollment and financial pressures.
These programs include:
Biomedical physics; Environmental biology; Spanish; Gender and women’s studies; Classics and classical studies; East Asian studies; German studies; Hellenic studies; Italian studies; Indigenous studies; Jewish studies; Portuguese and Brazilian studies; Religious studies; English (at Glendon College); Global history and justice (at Glendon College); Spanish and Latin American cultures (at Glendon College); Sociology (at Glendon College)
Here’s why this matters to students:
1. Quality of Education: Underfunding and financial mismanagement means fewer resources for your learning experience. This could translate into larger class sizes, reduced access to faculty, and fewer supports like mental health services, academic advising, and career counseling.
2. Rising Costs: While domestic tuition has been frozen, institutions are under pressure to find revenue elsewhere. This often means higher fees for ancillary services or increased costs for international students, which can create inequities and strain campus communities.
3. Job Market Implications: A weakened postsecondary system could affect the value of your degree. Employers rely on the reputation of Ontario’s institutions, and if the quality of education declines, it could impact how your credentials are perceived.
The bottom line is that even if you are not part of the programs affected, YOU WILL STILL BE IMPACTED. These suspensions, as part of York’s “Faculties for the Future” initiative, are the first of many changes that will affect our academic programming. Rather than spending more money on senior administrators’ salaries, why not allocate more funds towards classes? Towards student scholarships? Towards contract teachers and staff? Lay-offs are happening at York, with many of your professors on Limited Term Contracts who have been teaching for decades finding that their contracts have not been renewed. Is this the type of education that you signed up for?
We are all incredibly disappointed with York’s decision, as many of these programs are central to York’s Mission and Core Values, York University’s Academic Plan, and to the Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies Academic Plan.
Here’s what you can do:
Your voices matter and impact real policy!
Write to York’s senior leadership team and tell them to reverse the suspensions:
President Rhonda Lenton, president@yorku.ca
Provost David Peters, provost@yorku.ca
Consultant Lisa Phillipps, lphillipps@osgoode.yorku.ca
Dean JJ McMurtry, deanlaps@yorku.ca
Associate Dean Maggie Quirt, adprog@yorku.ca
Please consider including a CC to the York University Faculty Association yufa@yorku.ca as YUFA seeks to restore these suspended academic programs.
Here’s possible text you can use:
Dear President Lenton, Provost Peters, Professor Philips, Dean McMurtry, Associate Dean Quirt:
As a student at York University, I am dismayed by your decision to suspend undergraduate admissions into 18 programs. You need to reverse these cuts, not only because these cuts do not present a ‘cost-savings’ to the university, but also because these cuts signal that you do not prioritize our education. These cuts are also causing York University severe reputational damage, compromising the integrity of my York degree.
Sincerely,