Thread by @LaurieAdkin

A university is not a business. A university is part of the public education system. It does not compete for clients. The role of the PSE system is, firstly, to offer Albertans the educational opportunities they need. 1/ #abpse #abpoli @uasupresident
thegatewayonline.ca/2021/10/editor…

When politicians and their board appointees get this into their heads, they will stop increasing tuition fees on the lame grounds that @UAlberta needs to "compete" or that PSEIs should not be government-funded. 2/

For what, or whom, are we supposedly competing? Can any of the board members who voted for the fee increases answer that question? Can the president--who uses such language frequently--answer this question? 3/

For students? Hasn't the president told us himself that he expects a big jump in demand for places in PSE to occur soon in Alberta? How will all those young people pay for their education? 4/

How will the necessity to take extra jobs to pay for PSE affect the quality of the education that students obtain? As a teacher, I can tell you. 5/

The will cut classes, do the minimum necessary to pass, drop classes, get sick six weeks into the term, and generally get only a fraction of the educational experience they have paid for. 6/

Universities are, in this sense, being run as a money-making business, rather than educational institutions focused on the learning experience. 7/

This is why faculty get angry when administrators say that the uni can tighten the screws on students and still claim to be offering some kind of world-competitive educational "product." We know it's a farce. 8/

We know that we can't do our jobs under these conditions and that students can't do their jobs. We didn't become professors to produce widgets and students don't come here to be treated like widgets. 9/

This system is making everyone sick--quite literally. The rate of mental illness and health crises among students is awful. What in god's name are we doing in the name of competition? Competition has nothing to do with education--or treating humans with care and respect. 10/