Mount Allison full-time profs could strike as early as Monday

After seven months of negotiating, full-time professors and librarians at Mount Allison University have voted to strike as early as Monday if a new collective agreement can't be reached.

Matt Litvak, president of the Mount Allison Faculty Association, said the top issue is the number of faculty members there are to deliver programs.

"Over the past ten years we've seen a drop in the number of full-time faculty and an increase in part-time faculty and this creates pressure for delivering programs."

Litvak pointed to the number of independent studies offered by professors as part of the reason for the growing pressure.

It's our hope that … we can avoid a strike and continue to deliver programs for the students that, quite frankly, our faculty and librarians care deeply about.- Matt Litvak, Mount Allison faculty association

"We were gobsmacked to find out that 250 courses are offered that are outside of class courses at our institution," he said.

Litvak also said there aren't enough faculty hired to replace retiring professors, or those on sabbatical.

Students in Litvak's classes are concerned, he told Information Morning Moncton.

"It's our hope that … we can avoid a strike and continue to deliver programs for the students that, quite frankly, our faculty and librarians care deeply about."

University also hopes to reach agreement

In response to the union's assertion that more professors need to be hired, university spokesperson Rob Hiscock said the university doesn't think there's an issue.

"As enrolment ebbs and flows, the number of faculty is going to ebb and flow as well," he said. "We have maintained one of the lowest faculty to student ratios of any university in Canada."

Hiscock added that over the past three to four years, close to 90 per cent of teaching hours have been delivered by full-time faculty members.

While Hiscock hopes an agreement will be reached during negotiations scheduled for Thursday and Friday, he is most concerned about "the uncertainty" families and students are feeling.

"In our view we're still negotiating and the university is not in favour of a work stoppage and will not initiate one. We want to continue to negotiate."