Volume 13, Issue 1
- Message from the President
- International Students: Fact and Fiction
- Have you been following the latest on international student capacity Issues in the News?
- Important dates:
Message from the President
To faculty and counsellors:
Fleming College president Maureen Adamson sent out an email about federal government changes that will influence our international student enrollment. On Wednesday, Maureen invited both local union presidents to meet briefly to ensure we understood the college’s response to the federal government announcements.
I reminded Maureen that it was only four years ago that the college system faced a crisis with COVID and the public health restrictions that significantly impacted how we had always done business and shaped the future of learning in a post-secondary environment. In March 2020, Maureen sent a clear message to both local union presidents that in order to build Fleming’s future both during and post COVID, the college would work collaboratively with faculty as partners at the leadership table.
Because of Maureen’s directive and the unwavering commitment of faculty and support staff, we pivoted curriculum, created multiple boot camp delivery options, embraced new technology and committed to a quality online educational experience which ensured students had every opportunity to graduate. In 2020, faculty expertise in academic leadership (academic freedom) was recognized, valued, and acted upon.
This email is not intended to start a debate as to whether the Federal government decision is right, or whether it will lead to the demise of private for-profit colleges; however, the provincial government’s refusal to adequately fund public education has and will continue to significantly impact Ontario colleges.
Communicating a message from a place of fear and gloom does not create confidence in the future of our college; messaging with excessive and unrealistic enthusiasm (toxic positivity) does not instill trust and authenticity. Finding the balance between the two is challenging; however, I have been at the college for over 30 years and know that we are entering another challenge. Committed, experienced faculty can ensure that whatever the situation, our programs will be of the highest quality and our students will graduate ready to enter the workforce.
I have been asked: what will happen next? While this may sound cliché: we don’t know what the future will bring; however, faculty and counsellors have the expertise to shape and build the future of Fleming College, whatever that future may be. Your union local is sending a clear message: we want to build the future with the college leadership rather than having changes done to us. In short, Nothing about us without us!
Students come to Fleming College because of our reputation for quality programs, experienced and qualified faculty and counsellors, and the support staff who provide student supports. These are the ONLY reasons students come to Fleming; therefore, faculty, counsellors, and support staff must be the drivers in creating the future of Fleming College.
Maureen has committed to ongoing discussions, walking tours and town hall meetings and we will hold her to that commitment. Other senior leaders have committed to ongoing discussions at the Academic Union College (AUCC) and Employment Stability Committees (CESC) and again, we will hold them to these commitments. Faculty teams must continue talking about future opportunities, new programs, rebranding, dual diplomas, and cross school/program/campus collaboration.
As we have done through thick and thin in the past, faculty are the right people to be building the future of Fleming College.
Recently, the union local celebrated full time service milestones. Of our 204 FT faculty and counsellors, over 30 celebrated service of 20 years or greater. Professor Alex Smith celebrated 37 years of full time service at Fleming. An additional 60 faculty and counsellors celebrated greater than 10 years of full-time service. Other than support staff, what employee group can boast this level of commitment to the college?
We stand united, ready to tackle what comes our way in a spirit of collaboration.
Nothing about us without us.
Liz Mathewson, President L352
International Students: Fact and Fiction
The struggles of international students now in the media are old news to faculty, librarians and counselors have known these students—not as statistics or income units but as people—for years. We have been privy to their triumphs and disappointments for a long time.
Ontario bet the farm on a gravy train the federal visa cap just derailed. As we juggle conflicting narratives and face an unknown future, it’s important not to panic. Let’s revisit what we know.
Fact: Ontario underfunds education. The government’s own hand-picked panel notes that “the financial sustainability of Ontario’s postsecondary sector is ‘at serious risk,’ and requires a significant cash infusion from the provincial government” (University Affairs, 2023).
Fact: Ontario funds colleges at 57% of what other provinces pay per student (CBC News, 2023). The de facto privatization / offshoring of funding to international students is a conscious strategy. It’s a failure of imagination and ethics to see this as inevitable. Time for other choices.
Fact: The average Punjabi family works 74 years to afford one year of college here (How Recruiters in India Use False Promises to Lure Students to Canada, 2022). Canada brings in 21 billion dollars a year from such students (Government of Canada, 2021). This transfer of wealth from the Global South to the Global North is neither equitable nor inclusive. It’s colonialism.
Orwellian Fiction: It’s disingenuous for the college to claim international students fill employment gaps in food services. Fleming cancelled its culinary program.
Fact: There is a housing crisis. Increased numbers of international students are not easily housed. We know this from what our students tell us.
Fiction: The-housing-crisis-is-caused-by-international-students. False! It’s caused by policies that result from the Ontario government’s refusal to properly fund education.
Fact: Vulnerable people in poor countries pay shady operators to get them abroad, “a bait and switch system where people are called to show up under the promise of getting permanent residency, but end up walking through a minefield of labor abuse, immense stress and exploitation” (Calugay-Casuga, 2022), possible visa fraud, hunger, and homelessness to become what the immigration minister calls “cheap labour,” only 30% getting permanent residency within ten years (CBC News, 2022). Does this sound like a stable college funding model or institutionalized human trafficking? Think about it.
Fact: We are justifiably frightened. These are scary times.
Fact: We need to plan and engage with the future, not the past. Responsible governments the world over fund public education.
Managers and politicians seize the confusion of a crisis, as Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine notes, to cut positions and privatize even more. We must resist this. Privatization is not the solution.
Don’t be caught up in management doublespeak and panic.
None of this is easy, but maybe we can focus (like we once did) on domestic enrollment as well as international enrollment on a human scale. We’ve done it before. We can do it again.
Have you been following the latest on international student capacity Issues in the News?
Here is some of what has caught our eyes recently:
Some of latest takes from Alex Usher – Higher Education Strategy Associates
- The New International Student Regime (January 23, 2024)
- How bad is it going to get in Ontario? Really Bad. (January 30, 2024)
What have you been reading or thinking about the latest announcements?
Important dates:
We have added a calendar to our website homepage and will attempt to keep it updated over the upcoming year with dates of union meetings, training and deadlines associated with the bargaining cycles.
Here is a list of some important dates coming up over the next month:
February 1: Deadline to complete the Workload Survey (link in work email)
February 2: Deadline to complete Demand Setting Survey (link in personal email)
February 5: Local Executive Meeting. 5-7pm. First Monday every month. Send your questions/concerns to a steward to have them added to the agenda.
February 13: Contract Faculty Recognition. Elections for Region 3 Meeting, Provincial Demand Setting and OPSEU convention. 3-5pm
February 15: Academic Union-College Committee Meeting (AUCC). 1-3pm. Third Thursday of every month.
February 26: Local Demand Setting Meeting. Time TBA
Fleming Faculty Union 
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