The axe fell inexorably on Laurentian University. Due to the budget hole of about $300 million, 69 programs – 58 undergraduate and 11 graduate – that makeup about a third of the courses offered by the university have been eliminated.
The unprecedented series of cuts also saw a good number of teachers – about 80 even though an official count was not released by either the faculty union or the university – losing their jobs.
That the situation was on the brink was clear for some time: in February, the university declared a state of insolvency. And while the various levels of government have not moved a finger in the past two months, cuts to jobs and courses that are considered key aspects of restructuring have been negotiated behind closed doors, the first of its kind for a publicly funded university. It was with a group video call that professors and other staff learned that their jobs had been eliminated.
The changes are difficult but necessary and will require a period of adjustment, said the university’s president Robert Haché.
Political science, philosophy, physics, environmental science and entrepreneurship are just some of the courses cancelled. According to the university, about 10% of undergraduate students will be affected by the cuts, while 44% of graduate students will have to deal with the abolition of their courses. The University of Sudbury will continue to offer 107 courses for undergraduate and 33 graduate students.
Disappointment, sadness, bewilderment is how teachers and students – whose faculties will no longer find their place at Laurentian University – feel the day after receiving the news. But also anger. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations asked for the resignation of the Minister of Colleges and Universities. “If Ross Romano had done his job, there would have been none of these cuts – said Rahul Sapra, president of the organization – Romano and the Ford government had known for months, if not years, the seriousness of Laurentian’s financial difficulties”.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers has asked federal and provincial governments to help Laurentian University. “All this is devastating. A multitude of programs from a public institution are being cut (and others decimated). When will Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Doug Ford decide to step in?” his statement reads.
At the moment we have no information about the fate of the Department of Italian Studies, which is frequented by about 200 students and is a source of pride for the entire Italian community: we tried to reach Christine Sansalone, associate professor of the Italian Department of Modern Languages and Literatures but we have not received a response yet.
