Consequences of strike being felt

MONTREAL - The consequences of the protracted student strike are starting to be felt at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Students are starting to see that there will be no reimbursements for dropped classes, and that classes may be cancelled which could result in a failure for students and could also mean not being reimbursed for a course that will then have to be retaken.

Students had to decide by Apr. 20 if they were going to drop a class, which is one way of avoiding having a failure on their transcript, said Jenny Desrochers, interim director of media relations at UQAM.

“Mention of a failure on your transcript is really not good,” she said. However, she said the university doesn’t yet know how many students have made this move.

“If they drop a course, they can retake it next year but they will have to pay again,” she said.

The problem, according to Justine Boulanger of the Association facultaire des étudiants et étudiantes en arts, is that the offer to drop the classes came a bit prematurely and before some students were ready to position themselves.

“The concept might seem fair but there are circumstances for students and it’s too soon for some to make the decision,” she said. She said students have been asking to prolong that period.

Benoît Lépine, of the political science and law student association, said he believed the university might offer an additional period to drop a class when the strike is settled. But he doesn’t believe it is something the majority of students will choose.

Desrochers said the period to drop classes was made to give students a chance to avoid a failing grade. But everything in the UQAM plan, including the extension of the semester to June 22, is contingent on students returning to class by May 7. If they don’t, everything will be re-evaluated on May 8.

Usually the period to drop a class is in the first 10 days, and that’s when students can do it without penalty.

There will a shortened summer session this year, too, and Desrochers said the decision to cancel classes will be made on a case-by-case basis. For example, if the class can’t get lab time or have teaching assistants available in the extended period, it may result in a cancellation which could mean a failure for students who have been on strike.

Of the university’s 40,000 students, 27,000 students have been boycotting classes.

Original Article
Source: montreal gazette
Author: KAREN SEIDMAN