U of W forced to implement hiring freeze after international student cap sinks revenues

Faculty members at the University of Winnipeg may have to rewrite their plans for the winter semester, as budgetary constraints stemming from a federal cap on international student enrolment may halt the hiring of teaching and research assistants.

Peter Miller, president of the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association, said the new hiring freeze creates challenges for faculty members who relied on hiring help to support their teaching and grading of students.

"There are only so many hours in the day." 

For "someone like myself, teaching three courses — I have maybe 260 students — I don't think that I can necessarily have the same types of assignments I would have had in mind without some sort of marking support."

His colleagues, he imagines, may redesign courses, with simpler evaluation metrics, "but that's only possible in some disciplines."

"You can't do that in English — essay-writing is the core of the whole business they do."

Miller said the mood among faculty members is "pretty grim" at the prospect of no teaching assistants in the upcoming winter semester, and perhaps fewer hiring opportunities for faculty positions next year, as the university is projecting between $4 to $5 million in lost tuition revenue because Ottawa has limited new international student arrivals.

The federal government imposed the restrictions earlier this year to try to stop small private colleges from taking advantage of international arrivals and to bring relief to the country's crowded housing market, particularly in Canada's biggest cities. 

As of Nov. 1, enrolment of first-year international students at the U of W dropped 34 per cent from the previous year. The university didn't provide the number of students this represents, but it taught more than 1,500 international students last year.

According to meeting minutes, U of W president Todd Mondor told a September senate meeting there's a "significant financial impact" to fewer international students, "as international students pay higher tuition" — around three or four times the rate of domestic students.

The university has responded by not filling vacant positions and "a delay on hiring decisions," spokesperson Caleb Zimmerman said by email.

A recent memo to faculty and staff said all university departments must cut their non-salary budgetary lines by seven per cent for the remainder of the financial year.

It is also indefinitely suspending employees' ability to expense meals and refreshments at work meetings.

Miller said students are also hurt by a hiring freeze and limits on non-salary spending because "it all comes down to what we do in the classroom, on campus, campus life," he said.