YUFA
Equity
Support
for the CST
23 March 2001
Sheila
Embleton
Vice-President (Academic Affairs)
Ross Building
Dear
Professor Embleton,
As
members of the YUFA Equity Committee, we have been following the
developments related to the proposed process for restructuring the Centre
for Support of Teaching along with other units that support technology in
learning (oTEL, CAWC, and the ATSG). We are very concerned about the
potential for this merger to result in, on the one hand, a reduction in
commitment to important issues of teaching and learning in the university
and, on the other hand, a turn towards technologically-driven, as opposed
to pedagogically-driven, initiatives. We will outline the reasons for our
concerns before presenting our views on the implications should our fears
be realized.
As
far as we have been able to understand, the proposed restructuring is
proceeding in the absence of a vision that clearly and unequivocally
demonstrates its commitment to York’s academic mission, which places
teaching and research and a deep concern for critical thinking,
creativity, and equity at the core of its activities. Indeed, the decision
to appoint someone external to the units involved and to reject the offer
of the current Director of CST to lead the CST during the restructuring
process creates the appearance of open disregard not only for the value
and legitimacy of collegial process but also for the opportunity to
enhance and strengthen York’s commitment to innovative and inclusive
teaching even under the duress of shrinking resources. In our view, the
mandate of CST along with its record of achievement and the high regard it
has earned among faculty members and graduate students positions it as the
logical fulcrum of restructuring efforts, not as merely one participant.
Even
in these lean and difficult times, we are all still obligated to consider
how restructuring will affect our academic mission. Unfortunately, as we
miss chance after chance to become collectively and creatively involved in
efforts to consider how to deal with shrinking resources, we also miss
opportunities to theorize our experience in ways that contribute not only
to our own well-being but also to our research and teaching mission. We
are not advocating an anti-technological stance, but we are very wary of
the uncritical implementation of technological solutions to problems
arising from fiscal realities and from ongoing efforts to increase access
in meaningful ways to a broad spectrum of students. We are well aware of
instances within our own institution and elsewhere in which technological
innovation has been very expensive at the front end and almost equally
disappointing in terms of results, with the additional frustration of
creating new and unwanted conditions that are virtually impossible to
reverse.
Certain
technological developments have been critical to improving equity in
education: familiar examples include the use of computer-assisted learning
for hearing- and visually-challenged students and faculty, the potential
of the internet to open up learning opportunities for those with limited
access to the university; the use of electronic conferencing to increase
discussion in large classes. At the same time, however, the use of
technology has also further entrenched some forms of inequality, some
close to home (such as gender bias) and others further afield (such as
global access and the dominance of English as the language of access).
Much remains to be done if the use of new media technologies are to be
framed by pedagogical and equity concerns and not merely by their
potential to draw new students or corporate funding sources.
Interdisciplinary research, collegial debate, collective decision-making
processes, and the interest we share in enhancing learning for all of our
students are key components in such work. We are convinced that neither
our teaching nor our scholarship mandate is well-served when a commitment
to these ideals ‘goes missing’ in administrative efforts to facilitate
restructuring efforts. As the proposal put forward by Assistant
Vice-President Webb now stands, such a commitment is indeed missing.
YUFA
Equity Committee
Deborah
Barndt
Peter Cole
Carl James
Joe Levy
David Mason
Ellie Perkins
Alice Pitt
Penni Stewart
Jody Warner
cc
L. Marsden, President, York University
R.
Webb, Associate Vice-President (Academic)
E. Watson, Chair, SCOTL
CST Advisory Board