Cambrian College preparing for fewer students
Union says reduced enrolment hasn’t impacted jobs, but says status of part time staff unclear
Cambrian College in Sudbury is getting ready to start the school year with fewer students enrolled in programs.
The college says it will have 4,000 students this year instead of 5,000.
Paula Gouveia, the college's vice president of academic, says they expected to have fewer students enrol due to the ongoing pandemic.
She says 3,300 students have enrolled so far.
"Registration for our fall semester actually only officially started in terms of being able to access our registration portal in the early part of August," she said.
"So 3,300 have already registered and have seen their time tables … so we're excited about that."
She says the college anticipates more students will register before courses begin.
"So we're doing well toward our target, but it is smaller than what we had planned for last year," she said.
A spokesperson says all full-time instructors are back this year, while the fall intakes for three programs have been deferred until next semester for various reasons.
'Stressful state'
Neil Shyminsky president of OPSEU local 655 representing full-time faculty and some part-time workers. He says there are about 200 full-time faculty members.
No full time teachers have been laid off as a result of fewer students being enrolled.
And, "part time members work contract-to-contract," he said.
Shyminsky says instructors who need a space to do hands-on learning will be back on campus.
"Everybody who does not require that hands-on instruction … the expectation is that those classes will all be virtual."
Instructors will receive a workload list outlining what classes they are teaching and how many students will be in them. Those numbers have remained comparable to previous years, Shyminsky says, but added the college may not hire back as many part-time faculty members.
If there is a second wave of COVID-19, there will be an impact on Cambrian staff and students.
"We're preparing ourselves for the possibility that things could go sideways," he said.
"It's a stressful state to be in but I think everybody is in that boat. We're not unique."
With files from Kate Rutherford