Farrar to Students: “You Like Bureaucracy Don’t You?”
The Cynic: The latest on how U of T Admin is screwing you
The issue:
U of T President David Naylor recently rejected the Macleans review and others that reflect dismal student satisfaction rates at U of T. At the same time, the Prez admits, during a Governing Council vote to raise tuition fees, that U of T needs more funds to avoid further decline in the student experience. Presumably in reaction to the massive bureaucratic inefficiencies that have resulted in this shortfall, David Farrar, Deputy Provost & Vice-Provost Students, has introduced a massive bureaucratic Restructuring Process that promises, well… more bureaucracy. Deteails on the depth and vigour of this screwjob after the jump…
The players:
Farrar is the top dog of the restructuring process, but you can be sure that he is engaging in a “consulatative process” with the “university community”. In Admin-speak this means that a few handpicked yes-men were included in giving their empty approval for this foregone conclusion. Staff and student representatives are included in working groups of the Administrative Task Force, but they were appointed and it’s unclear on what basis this was done (I have a few ideas and they all involve cronyism).
The spiel:
“Ultimately, the restructuring initiative will move us into a position where all of our central services and programs are working collaboratively together to plan and assess the learning outcomes associated with a University of Toronto student experience. The restructuring is needed to get us in the position where we can start that next phase of enhanced support for student learning.”
The screw-job:
While the restructuring process is meant to streamline the University’s activities, so far the result has only wasted more student funds on bureaucracy, bureaucrats and more bureaucratic processes.
The only tangible outcome of the Process so far is the creation of two bureaucratic posts, the Office of the Vice-Provost Students and the position of Assistant Vice-President, Student Life. So the University’s response to calls to reduce tuition fees and upgrade the student experience? “We’ll spend some money hiring some people to get back to you on that. Oh, and we’ll need almost $200 in additional tuition fees from each of you to make that happen. Things are tight over here, you know.”
The good news is that you can rant about how stupid this whole thing is to deaf ears all you want. According to the site “Comments, feedback, questions and advice concerning this restructuring process is very welcome.” Is very welcome?
Sound off and tell Admin that you want them to reduce tuition fees instead of wasting your money on their pointless busy work. While you at it, ask them why they aren’t looking for advice from the student unions that advocate for you:
Student Life Programs & Services Restructuring
Office of the Vice-President and Provost
University of Toronto
27 King’s College Circle, Simcoe Hall
Toronto, ON M5S 1A1
Fax: 416:946-0678
Email: [email protected]
May 4th, 2007 at 3:40 am
excellent article
Clarification: Students were not included in the working groups.
The Task Force that set up the working groups has two students on it:
Matto Mildenberger, Undergraduate Student
Mahadeo Sukhai, Graduate Student
But the other 40 people involved in this restructuring of STUDENT Services and STUDENT Affairs were not students.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Thanks for the correction and compliments.
In solidarity and cynicism,
Phyrecracker
May 8th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
There’s a town hall meeting where people can address their concerns:
TOWN HALL MEETING - MAY 11, 2007
Restructuring Town Hall Meeting
Friday, May 11th at 3:00 p.m.
Innis Town Hall, Innis College