Pandemic Risks and Anxieties for Faculty: Eduvation Insider June 15 2020

I hope your weekend gave you plenty of time to relax and recharge. (I know from the autoresponses that many of you are taking Fridays off this summer…)

This morning I’ve got a plethora of campus updates about summer returns to campus, plans for the Fall term, and most impactfully, budget challenges and approaches. But first, let’s take a deeper dive into the stresses and uncertainties facing academic staff… from formal policy positions to the anxieties revealed in particularly dark humour.

Academic Labour Relations

In the past few weeks, a great deal has been written by and about higher ed faculty during and after the pandemic. Around the world, there are growing concerns about equity, precarity, intellectual property, physical and mental health, and collegial governance. 

Myriad Faculty Concerns

In a new policy brief, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations expresses concern about faculty workloads, grading, student evaluations of teaching, research projects, tenure files, sabbatical leave, mental health and job security for contract faculty in a time of ongoing remote teaching – and observes that collegial governance and collective bargaining suffer when consultation is superficial or nonexistent. Women and racialized or Indigenous staff are disproportionately impacted by caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, underlying conditions, or limited internet access. OCUFA urges the ON government to replace lost international tuition and cancel the SMA3, with metrics that are “a useless and potentially destructive distraction from the important work universities must do coming out of the pandemic.” They also recommend tuition waivers for graduate students, and the elimination of the “student choice initiative,” so that student associations can be fully funded. OCUFA

Intellectual Property Rights

In the rush to emergency remote instruction, as faculty have put lectures and other course materials online, they generally retain intellectual property rights – at least for now. Under US law, classroom professors have generally been exempted from “work for hire” terms, but if institutions want to scale up online courses this may change. Purdue, for example, adopted a controversial new IP standard in October specifically covering courseware and online modules. The line between remote coursework and online courses is getting more blurred. IHE

Job Security Anxieties

The US higher ed workforce is feeling strain over COVID19. Particularly at public colleges, jobs are at risk: >250 job actions have been announced, particularly for furloughs (58%) or layoffs (35%).  More than 30% of PSE employees are over age 55 and therefore more vulnerable. More than half of non-tenure-track instructors have no access to paid sick leave. Risk is calculated as higher for faculty in Nursing, Drama, Music and Architecture than in lecture-based disciplines. Chronicle

Coerced to Risk their Health

Although the majority of US colleges are insistent that they will return to in-person instruction this Fall, some faculty members are concerned about health risks. At Notre Dame, 140 signed a petition demanding the right to make their own decisions about teaching in-person. “Faculty members are not soldiers. Faculty members are… civilians with basic civil rights to protect their lives and their health in the workplace.” Reasonable accommodations are available to at-risk populations, with medical documentation, but critics say the process is “coercive,” particularly for contract faculty. Grad students, who often lead small labs and seminars, and are comparatively young, are most likely to be put at risk in a return to campus. Chronicle

Minority Academics Bear the Brunt

If UK universities face financial struggles, the pain will be felt most amongst Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic faculty (BAME). Already an underrepresented group in the academy, and disproportionately impacted by the health effects of the pandemic, BAME staff are typically at the most junior levels, on fixed-term contracts, and therefore most vulnerable to layoff or non-renewal. BAME academics also disproportionately work for teaching-intensive institutions which will struggle most with declining enrolment – and are getting the least pandemic funding from government. The momentum of #BlackLivesMatter and decolonization of the curriculum will be lost if a generation of BAME scholars disappear. The Guardian

Worst-Case Scenarios

If the pandemic continues into 2021, futurist Bryan Alexander anticipates layoffs and furloughs may mean heavier teaching loads for the faculty members who remain. Class sizes may expand in subjects like Nursing and Gerontology, while support for research unrelated to COVID19 may wane. Budgets will be tight for library acquisitions, staffing, and conference travel, and some students may continue to prefer remote participation in hyflex courses. Traditional governance may be supplemented through some form of emergency management body. Faculty will need to work more closely than ever before with IT staff, mental health counsellors, residence life staff, instructional designers and more. Chronicle

Nervous Laughter

Dark humour has also taken note of campus labour relations. A satirical memo from a fictional VP Academic thanks everyone for their cooperation “during the unprecedented crisis of this past semester,” before observing that “our adjuncts were euthanized in an orderly fashion,” and “as predicted, a new crop of unemployed PhDs is already applying to take their places.” Most darkly, he observes that “by a happy coincidence, the population of our highest-paid faculty overlaps with the demographics of those most at risk for COVID-19,” and therefore the institution will not be instituting any social distancing precautions this Fall. McSweeney’s

Budget Updates

uAlberta held a virtual town hall on Jun 2 (it just took me this long to find an hour to watch it) in which president-elect Bill Flanagan outlined his proposed structural changes to address a $110 M budget cut (although the province has since softened that a bit). “I did not take this job to manage… the decline of a great university.” There is already an “incredible sense of loss” at the university over the layoffs of >1,000 employees. Flanagan proposes a restructuring to save $120 M by streamlining the 18 faculties by spring, reducing low-enrolment courses, and rationalizing and centralizing services. Data suggests UofA should rank higher, considering its research budget, and he believes redirecting administrative costs and encouraging more interdisciplinarity could address that. 57% of staff are administrative and 43% of those are generalists. UofA has a 50% larger physical footprint than its Canadian comparators, driving up maintenance costs. He proposes UofA exit some leased premises to reduce that footprint. YouTube

Brandon U president David Docherty wrote staff on Friday to assure them that they will not be asked to take pay cuts or unpaid days off, despite a 1% budget cut from the province. The budget has reportedly found savings “that don’t involve people.” So far, Fall enrolments look promising, although first-year is down slightly. Brandon Sun

Fall Updates

Acadia U will push back the start of classes until Sep 21, to allow time for students to self-isolate upon arrival, and to undertake preparatory programming to ensure their success in a virtual/hybrid model. Acadia

Algoma U announced that classes will be online this Fall, due to concerns of a possible second wave of COVID19. In-class instruction will be delayed until the Winter term at the earliest. Domestic enrolments are up this year, and particularly from local students. Overall enrolment is expected to decline due to border and travel restrictions: international enrolment is currently down 7%. Campus housing will operate at 50% capacity. Sault Star

BCIT president Kathy Kinloch’s Friday update explained 3 key themes to retaining and recruiting students: academic quality, clarity about delivery, and confidence in health and safety. Recruiters are active in virtual information sessions, recruitment fairs, extended phone hours, and chat technology. YouTube

Capilano U is making progress on its plans for Fall, and details of the 4 modes of delivery for courses (Online, In-person, Mixed, or Off-site) will be published when course registration opens Jul 6. CapU

UBC president Santa Ono shared his weekly update, indicating that details regarding orientation, residences, and academic course delivery will be shared soon. YouTube

StFX will be announcing its plans for Fall on Friday, Jun 19. StFX

St Lawrence College published program details for this Fall. A quick review of Kingston programming suggests that one-third of programs will include on-campus components, and about 5% have not yet been confirmed to be active. SLC

uWindsor administration hosted a one-hour virtual town hall last week, outlining plans for virtual Welcome Week activities, a 4-phase return to campus, and the “zone and flow analysis” to prepare for it. uWindsor is currently forecasting a $20M shortfall, and developing budget measures and reviewing HR needs to ensure a balanced budget. The hope is that it may be possible to switch from “primarily online with rare exceptions F2F” in the Fall term, to “primarily F2F with rare exceptions online” in the Winter term – depending on the PHO, of course. YouTube

Returning to Campus

McMaster U is preparing to allow faculty and instructors to return to campus to prepare for online lectures, in a phased approach over the next few months. A booking system launched last week, to ensure physical distancing. Access to offices for purposes other than research or course preparation is not yet available. McMaster

Memorial U is poised to welcome individual faculty to return tomorrow to the Science, Chemistry/Physics, and Arts & Administration buildings. Doors remain secured, Deans are monitoring density, the return to campus is at the discretion of individual faculty, and WFH continues to be encouraged where possible. MUN

Mohawk College reports that 1,100 students will have the option to return to campus in July and August, to complete the practical portion of their courses. Mohawk

Red River College interim president Christine Watson announced Friday plans for a 4-phase “re-entry” to campus, moving through restricted access, limited access, and ultimately full access. The Academic Re-entry Team (ART) will work with each program individually, with a priority on stranded students and critical industry training and research. At all RRC campuses, directional signage, floor markings, physical barriers, designated entrances and more will be in place by the end of June. Where’s Watson?

UNBC advises that some student services employees will return to campus in September, but people are expected to continue working remotely wherever possible. UNBC

UPEI begins Stage 2 of its operational ease-back plan today. Campus operating hours are extended to 8am-5pm, meetings of up to 15 people are again permitted (with physical distancing), and employees with individual offices or adequate space can return to work on campus. Campus fitness centre and summer campus will also be opening shortly. More students will return for research and clinical practice. Details on fall course delivery, which will be hybrid, will also be shared later today. UPEI

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Ken Steele is Canada's leading higher ed futurist and strategic consultant, through his company Eduvation. He delivers virtual presentations and facilitates virtual retreats or workshops centred on emerging trends, enrolment management, pedagogical innovation, and strategic planning. 

Ken has developed 9 new topics specifically to help institutions cope with the post-COVID19 “new normal.”

For more information, please reach out to ken@eduvation.ca