They may not spend as much time in the classroom, but part-time students are an integral part of the University of Toronto.
That was the message Friday night at a Town Hall Forum on “Students Working for Social Change,” organized by the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS). Even though part-time students have advocated for many social issues and often had great success doing so, their achievements tend to be overlooked by the general student body, the forum organizers felt.
In order to fix this, they assembled a number of speakers to discuss some of the movements and issues part-time students have worked on.
Rebecca DuGuay spoke about their work to make Hart House coed in the early 1970s. APUS vice-president Sangeeta Kerai talked about Students Against Sweatshops, which works to stop the use of sweatshop labour in making University of Toronto merchandise. The organization had significant support from part-time students. Rob Hanks, Liason Officer for CUPE Local 3902, the Teaching Assistants Union, discussed the “vicious circle” which part-time students often find themselves in. When tuition keeps rising and they must work more outside of school to afford it, they have less time for academic work and fall behind, repeating the pattern the next year. Hanks said it was therefore especially important for part-time students to work towards a tuition freeze.
In a similar vein, Chris Ramsaroop encouraged everyone to participate in the National Student Day of Action on February 6, where protesters will be asking the provincial government to freeze or lower tuition fees. Forum organizer Chantal Sunderam said APUS will be active in the February 6 action. “There’s a really rich history of part-time students involved in this type of change,” she added on Friday evening. Even with all their accomplishments, part-time students still have battles to fight, said APUS president Emily Sadowski. “We’ll continue to advocate for issues that affect all students: accessibility, health care, family,” she said in an interview prior to the forum.
The forum was a kickoff for Saturday’s metro-wide conference on part-time student issues, also hosted by APUS. The conference will focus on helping part-time student associations across the country to work together. “I think as student unions, we don’t always get our message out collectively,” commented Frank Cappadocia, a representative from CESAR, the Continuing Education Students At Ryerson.
In any case, part-time studies can only get more important in the future. Says Sunderam: “Education is not just about getting a degree and leaving—it’s a lifelong pursuit.”
