The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), an advocacy group that represents faculty and librarians at universities across the province, found in a recent survey that COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on the quality of postsecondary education.
“The new poll of Ontario students, faculty, and academic librarians shows the move to online learning, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a decline in education quality,” summarized Rahul Sapra, President of OCUFA, in an email to The Varsity.
The survey itself was conducted by Navigator, a public relations and communications firm. The sample included more than 2,700 Ontario students and academic staff. André Turcotte, the associate principal of Navigator, wrote in an email to The Varsity that faculty members accounted for more than 2,000 of the responses.
Educational impacts
A strong majority — 62 per cent of students and 76 per cent of academic staff — indicated that COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on the quality and experience of postsecondary education in Ontario.
The top reasons for the negative impact on the students’ education experience were isolation and insufficient communication with professors. Moreover, many students found online learning to be harder than in-person learning and reported having increased difficulty focusing when off campus.
Online learning overall has affected students, as 77 per cent of students feel that their ability to learn course materials at universities has been negatively impacted.
Three quarters of academic staff feel that the quality of teaching has greatly decreased. As the primary reason, they reported that it has been tough to teach effectively and have engaging student-teacher interactions during the pandemic. The second highest reason that faculty felt that the quality of teaching has decreased is that they have an increased workload or that online teaching requires more time.
Student and faculty life declines
The impact of the pandemic on mental health and other aspects of the university experience was also included in the survey. Managing non-academic responsibilities and struggling with social isolation and stress are issues that threaten the mental health of universities’ professors, librarians, and other academic staff as well as students. Sapra wrote that the pandemic has “significantly increased student and faculty stress levels.”
The majority of faculty had concerns about adequately teaching and supporting students and maintaining professional development. Sapra notes that the survey also reported that many faculty members and academic librarians had concerns about their “financial security, care demands, and struggles to maintain work-life balance.”
Results showed that the pandemic has caused challenges to students’ lives, including financial strain for a majority of students, mental health concerns, and pressures to maintain responsibilities outside of school.
There were similar results in another survey conducted by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU). The UTSU survey revealed that 75 per cent of surveyed U of T students had a more challenging time creating relationships with classmates in an online format.
Future improvements
Although neither university students nor academic staff have an easy time with online learning, it may be present for the long run. Some changes that OCUFA suggested to address the concerns it has found include reducing class size, lowering tuition fees, and investing in better technological resources.
Sapra also called upon the provincial government to take more measures to support and fund Ontario’s universities, which he claims will subsequently improve educational experience for students and faculty. “Without immediate action, it is likely that education quality, students, and faculty will continue to suffer,” cautioned Sapra.
