Mahdis Habibinia | Contributor
Featured image: Despite the different effects from the labour disruption, similar rights apply to Osgoode students. | Courtesy of LSAC
While affecting most classes at York, the ongoing Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)—York local 3903—labour disruption has not affected Osgoode’s academics and administration in a similar way.
Similar to York, the Osgoode library, cafeterias, administrative offices, and computer labs are open, and all classes that can continue will do so.
While staff members associated with CUPE 3903 at Osgoode will be impacted, most classes are continuing as usual. This is because many of the school’s staff members are either full-time or adjunct faculty, and part of a different labour union than CUPE 3903, said Osgoode dean Lorne Sossin to Canadian Lawyer’s magazine.
The courses requiring teaching assistants at Osgoode are mostly first-year tutorials, but are suspended nonetheless.
The rights of York students apply to Osgoode students as well. Under section 2.2, subsection 2.2.1 of the Senate Policy, students from the school are exempt from academic penalty if they don’t want to cross the picket line to attend classes. They also have the right to reasonable extensions and alternative access to course materials, which includes class recordings.
One anonymous third-year Osgoode student commenting on the state of Osgoode classes says Some classes are poorly attended, while most are still in session, but are less crowded.
Another anonymous student, also a third-year student, explains: “Classes haven’t been disturbed. Classes in Osgoode are more lecture type, which are larger classes.
“The smaller seminars—some have been affected. [In] one of my courses, the professor decided to do online lecture instead. That was a bit more difficult,” they add.
On March 19, the Senate Executive Committee released a document outlining options for the completion of courses and finalization of grades for York classes. Osgoode will provide students with guidance on Credit/No Credit courses this week. Osgoode students in the Juris Doctor or Legum Magister programs cannot withdraw from a full-year or winter course on the last day of classes on the original or revised schedule for courses. This option only applies to York students.
All Osgoode students are entitled to non-academic supports and programs, specifically, the Student Success and Wellness team. There are expanded wellness and counselling services for the duration of the labour disruption.
There was a remediation framework posted for Osgoode students choosing to not attend classes or engage in academic activities. These students are required to notify the Programs & Records Office of their decision (via email to nsperling@osgoode.yorku.ca) by March 26 at 3:30 p.m., using the declaration form that appears at the end of the document, posted on MyOsgoode.
By doing so, students will be entitled to a remediation period, which is the time period following the end of the strike. This is where students who have submitted their declaration form will complete their terms. They are entitled to accommodations for their exams and assignments, but are still subject to the same grading rubric used in the regularly scheduled period.
Final grades for remediated students will not be a part of the grading curve applied to students continuing with their studies.
If a student does not send the declaration form by March 26, it will be presumed that they will continue with their academic activities. They will be expected to follow the normal class schedule, dates, and deadlines set out in their course syllabi.
The anonymous student says: “Before, we got the information that we do have the option to opt-in or opt-out. Professors did preemptively give us the opportunity to attend online courses if we did not want to cross the picket lines.”
Depending on how long the strike may lasts, if students who are not participating in academic activities do not finish their Osgoode program in time to begin their licensing and articling, they may need to delay any licensing exams. They will also need to notify any potential articling employers.
“As third-year law students, we are differentially impacted, as opposed to first or second-year law students, because the majority of the third-year law students will commence articling this year in August. It just makes sense logistically, for the third-year students to have written their bar examination before they start articling.
“Bar examinations will be held in June. That means third-year law students will have to start studying as soon as possible, as the final examination date is April 20,” they add.
The Osgoode library will continue sending overdue notices to students, but there will be no fines accumulating on any print material during the strike. Once the strike is over, fines will be accumulated after a one-day grace period.
