Hi Mr. Petter and Dr. Driver,

I am a recent graduate of your University. I am writing this email to inform you that the recent updates following the ‘No’ vote to the SFU offer for the TSSU come as a huge disappointment to me as an alumna of SFU. In the four years that I have spent up at the Burnaby campus as an undergraduate, taking courses and conducting research, the guidance of graduate students – both as TAs and as mentors in the lab – has formed an integral part of my education. Several of my upper year courses would have been entirely incomprehensible had it not been for the extra time and effort put by the TAs to help students like me understand core concepts that the professor would run short on time to cover in class. On more than one occasion, TAs in my courses have actually scheduled extra office hours and study sessions (especially for the first year courses) - going above and beyond what was required of them - so as to assist students in getting a complete grasp of the material aimed for in the course outline.

The ability to ask an academic peer about actual research happening in a topic that one was studying about has been a massive value addition to all my undergrad courses. In fact, many conversations sparked during tutorials and TA office hours served as additional motivation for me to continue on in research and academia after my undergrad. Given this, I feel extremely letdown by the way the University has handled the issue of a new contract for these important members of the University’s teaching community.

In all honesty, I would probably not have had much reason to follow the issue so closely had it not escalated to grade withholding over the summer. Having interacted with professors and graduates of the University, it seemed to me that SFU would obviously put the interests of the students and academic staff above that of their own administrative power, and ultimately bring the issue of contract renewal to a speedy and objective settlement. However, since early summer, updates from both the University and the TSSU on this issue have rung out in sharp dissonance to each other – while the former kept on passing the buck, saying ‘it’s them, not us’ or ‘regrettably, despite our offer for reconciliation, they didn’t agree to our terms’, the TSSU took the trouble to inform their members (and those indirectly affected by the job action, like myself) of the proceedings from bargaining and mediation, and what it would mean if individual terms and statements were accepted (or rejected) by the members.

I feel that the University’s attitude has been nothing short of contempt for these people who add value to the University not just via their research, but also by helping the University fulfill its educational obligations towards its undergraduate population when the class size is 200+ and the Professor cannot be a personal mentor for every single student in the class. The manner in which the University has managed to twist around the job action and present it as an act induced solely by TSSU’s stubbornness to fight for their rights as employees, would be amusing if it weren’t so patronizing of the intellectual capabilities of the University’s student population. I cannot accept that mediation is continuously being stonewalled by the TSSU – especially when it is the TSSU people who are being open to conversation regarding the issue (CJSF Radio discussion, General Meetings).  SFU Labour Updates on the matter have started reading more and more like a standard cover letter instead of providing any legitimate details of the ongoing process and state of negotiation issues.

As an international student at SFU, I spent the better half of my degree shelling out exorbitant amounts of tuition (which, by the way, underwent hikes of 10% annually over the current and last two years, without any negotiation or discussion initiated with the international undergraduate student community by the University). I held my peace against such outright use of international students as cash cows, simply because of the high caliber of research and education that I have had to chance to receive at SFU – an education in which your TAs and sessional instructors have had a major role to play. However, the long drawn out battle for a new contract by the TSSU strikes a chord because it just reinforces this image of the SFU administration as an authoritarian entity that dictates terms to its students, instead of including their perspective and opinions in any policy decision.

I urge you to consider the reputation of SFU as an engaged University, and to keep the welfare of the University’s students (undergraduate and graduate) at the forefront as your committee continues to quibble with the TSSU. As I understand it, the University is not here to run a business, but to facilitate quality research and prepare the leaders of tomorrow. I fail to see how this can be achieved in the long term if the University continues to maintain such a dismissive attitude towards the needs of its teaching staff and students.

I look forward to news of a fair settlement between the University and the TSSU in the imminent future.

Best,

Jasleen Grewal

jkg21@sfu.ca

PhD Student,

University of British Columbia.

B.Sc. (SFU, 2015)