Meric Gertler, the dean of Arts and Science, bluntly told U of T’s Business Board last month that students would intensify their course loads in order to get their money’s worth. In addition, he said, the introduction of a program fee will provide an incentive for students to complete their studies within four years or less and start earning income.
As the Program Fee Implementation Committee did not conduct quantitative analysis to investigate the relationship between course load and resultant GPA, it is not known for certain how flat fees will affect academic performance.
However, students on campus have been speculating for themselves about how flat fees might change the quality of university life.
One of these students is Innis College’s Webnesh Haile. Having devoted much of her time to the Innis College Student Society and the Innis College Council, Haile has learned a thing or two about the relationship between campus involvement and academic achievement. Now finishing up her last year at the university, Haile looks unfavourably on the imposition of flat fees.
“Being heavily involved with these extracurricular activities was a fantastic learning experience, but meant that I had much less time and energy to focus on schoolwork or on other aspects of [my] personal life,” she says.
This year Haile’s extracurricular involvement was much lower than in previous years, because she felt the need to focus on academic achievement. As a result her GPA was almost half a point higher.
“It’s not unreasonable to expect that people who wish to make significant contributions to nonacademic causes will need to take fewer courses in order to do well,” said Haile.
“I don’t see how increasing the number of courses a student takes per year can enrich the learning experience, especially outside the classroom,” she said. “This initiative appears to exacerbate the mentality of education as tool to be acquired quickly and painfully rather than a journey of growth—isn’t this contradictory to the spirit of higher learning?”
According to Gertler, the upshot of any increase in the number of courses students take per year will result in a parallel increase in government grants to the university. The plan is for this revenue to be funneled back into enriching the learning experience.
Victoria College student Ige Egal disagrees. “I think it’s going to take away from the character of the school because the reasons for introducing flat fees are so academic. It provides a financial incentive for you to focus only on academics, and the value of extracurricular activities or jobs is not taken into consideration.”
Ige has spent much of his time as an undergraduate playing soccer for his college team and refereeing for intramural soccer teams. In addition to athletic pursuits he serves as a residence don and a research assistant for an African Studies professor. This year he had to drop a course, because between school and other activities he found there was just too much to do.
He predicts student life will have difficulty engaging students on campus with the introduction of flat fees, as they would have to go against a financial barrier that is institutionally supported.
Qualms over the quality of the student experience are hardly new to the University of Toronto, since the National Survey of Student Engagement gave U of T failing marks on student-faculty interaction and support services in 2004. David Farrar, then deputy provost, blamed the abysmal ranking on a decade of under-funding and initiated the Stepping Up plan. Since its inauguration, the plan has sought, among other things, to enhance the student experience at the university.
Corrine Aberdeen, a Victoria College student and a recipient of U of T’s Gordon Cressy award for student leadership, feels flat fees will profoundly worsen U of T students’ lives.
“If tuition is not based on courses it would make more sense to sacrifice everything for a shorter period of time, struggle, finish with a mediocre GPA, and no debt,” said Aberdeen. “Rather than finish with a fantastic GPA and participate in campus life, have a lifetime of debt and enter an uncertain work world with an Hon. BA that may get you a job at an American Apparel or Starbucks, if you’re lucky.”
Faculty members on the dissenting side of the flat fee camp argue students often take a reduced course load to improve their academic lot.
“I feel a tremendous amount of respect for the integrity and the intelligence of our students who are taking the lead on this issue,” said Judith Taylor, the undergraduate coordinator for the Institute for Women and Gender Studies. Taylor has filed a statement against the university in a lawsuit brought by students to block the imposition of flat fees. The case is due to be heard in court on July 10.
“What we need is more pie, not more students looking for a piece,” summed up Webnesh Haile. “It’s no wonder that the university sought to sneak this initiative through during spring exams, when students are least able to grasp the implications and fight against the proposed changes.”
