Michael Brown

Calgary – University of Calgary students are finished their classes and writing their exams but don’t yet know what the next few months hold for them as they prepare for the summer. Many students work through the summer to save money for tuition, textbooks, and their living expenses. However, this year the pandemic and a lack of support from the provincial government once again means many won’t find work and will go further into debt.

Last summer nearly one-third of UCalgary students surveyed said they couldn’t find work at all, with another twelve per cent saying they had opportunities cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic. This scenario is very likely to repeat itself this summer unless the UCP government steps up.

“In less than two weeks students will be done exams. Students want to work and we know many employers want to hire, both sides just need a little help. At a time when students are paying more thanks to provincial cuts and resulting skyrocketing tuition, students are also being left out in the cold when it comes to finding a job.” – Frank Finley, SU President

For the last year, the Students’ Union has called on the provincial government to implement a student-focused job program to support both students and employers. These calls have fallen on deaf ears. No provincial support for students was identified in the Alberta budget and federal support for student jobs is very limited. Many employers simply can’t afford to hire summer students or new grads thanks to the pandemic, but that could change with provincial financial support.

The Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) was cancelled by the UCP government in 2019. STEP provided a wage subsidy to employers to incentivize the hiring of students or new grads for the summer months. This program supported thousands of students to work, pay their bills, and gain skills and work experience they need for after graduation.

The SU has called for STEP to be re-implemented or a similar program created. The SU has called on both Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping and Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to bring in a program.

The SU renews its call on the UCP government to take action on the student jobs crisis. Students can’t afford two consecutive summers without work.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Mike Brown

External Communications Specialist

University of Calgary Students’ Union

Cell: 403-560-0577

Email: Michael.brown1@ucalgary.ca

SU President Frank Finley and VP Operations and Finance Mohammad Ali met with university administration yesterday evening on the topic of the privatization of the campus bookstore.

Going into the meeting, the SU was concerned about increased costs on students not only for textbooks but for supplies and apparel that are sold at the bookstore. In addition, programs like the Book Loan Program and even student ability to shop around to find the best price on textbooks could be at risk.

The university informed the SU that they are considering all options. However, when asked about considering a partnership with the SU or allowing the SU to run the bookstore itself, university administration said they would not consider this option, despite the SU successfully running Bound & Copied and several other Mac Hall businesses.

However, the SU did receive several important verbal commitments from the university:

• Students will not be forced to purchase from the bookstore
• Students will be able to purchase second-hand books from Bound & Copied or elsewhere
• The Book Loan Program and the Book Buyback Program will be maintained
• Costs for other materials sold at the bookstore will not rise unreasonably

The university has previously committed to not allow textbook markups to increase and will include that in any contract signed with Follett or another vendor.

While this is positive, it remains unclear how the university would enforce these commitments and it’s worth asking why this hasn’t occurred at other institutions with Follett bookstores. In many cases, other institutions realize very quickly that making a deal with Follett is a mistake and try to exit the contract. By this point, however, the damage is done.

It still remains unclear at this point what will happen to current bookstore staff, including student employees who work there. This is concerning.

The university is planning to survey students and the university community. The university did not commit to share the survey results with the SU or make them public. In order to understand student concerns better, the SU will be putting out a survey on the bookstore as soon as possible.

The SU will continue to hold the university to account and press the university to demonstrate the benefit to the institution but also, more importantly, how students will benefit from any agreement with Follett or another provider.

Students stood up and the university took notice. Today the university has agreed to meet with SU representatives to discuss the bookstore and will be launching a survey on the bookstore in the coming days. This is thanks to unrelenting student pressure since the bookstore privatization plan broke nearly two weeks ago.

While this is good news, the fight is not over.

SU President Frank Finley and Operations and Finance VP Mohammad Ali will meet with university VP Finance and Services Linda Dalgetty tomorrow, April 15.

In a public statement today, Ms. Dalgetty confirmed that the university will not sell the bookstore but are still considering privatization of operations with Follett or another company. While this privatization will include university oversight, questions remain. The statement also committed to no increase in the current markup of textbooks.

This is good news. After first declining a meeting with student leaders until a path had been chosen, the university is sitting down with the SU sooner than expected. The university actively seeking student feedback through a survey is also a new development and is unlikely to have happened without student pressure on the university.

There is still much more work to do if we are to save the bookstore from privatization and inevitable increased costs on students. While textbooks may not increase in mark-up, what does this mean for other products the bookstore sells like apparel and school supplies such as notebooks, pens, and pencils? Will students still be able to purchase textbooks from wherever they want including online or second hand?

A number of questions remain and these will be asked of Ms. Dalgetty at this meeting. The SU does not believe that an institution that considers itself an entrepreneurial university should throw up its hands and outsource operations to a billion-dollar American company. What risk to the university’s reputation does such a decision carry with it?

These concerns will be raised at this meeting and students can expect a further update from the SU on Friday.

The SU continued its advocacy efforts at the university level and provincially throughout March. In March the Minister of Advanced Education put out a statement expecting post-secondary institutions to return to in-person classes for September. This was unexpected and came with few details. The province did not outline how it expected institutions to do this nor did they provide any funding to support UCalgary and other institutions to cover additional costs associated with re-entry, such as cleaning. The SU put out a statement and spoke to media about the need for a detailed plan from the Minister or from Alberta Health. You can read that statement here.

More recently, the SU learned that the university was in discussions with Follett to privatize the campus bookstore. The SU firmly believes that this would be a bad move for students. Follett has a history of increasing textbook prices and restricting student choice on where to buy textbooks. The SU is disappointed that the university has chosen not to consult with students over any potential change to bookstore operations.

Since the bookstore story broke, the SU has requested a meeting with the senior university officials involved in the privatization discussion. Those requests have been declined with the university only agreeing to meet after a decision on the path forward has been finalized.

This is not acceptable. The SU feels strongly that student concerns and voices should inform that path forward and not be excluded from the decision-making process. In addition, if the university feels they cannot sustainably run the bookstore then the SU is interested in entering into discussions with the university to operate the bookstore on a cost-recovery model.

The SU met with City Councillor Jeff Davison on what the City can do to keep students and young people in Calgary. Many young people are looking to leave the city and the province given the poor job climate combined with annual deep cuts to post-secondary education on the part of the provincial government.

The SU advocacy team also met with MLA Rachel Notley and NDP Advanced Education Critic David Eggen to discuss the fallout of the provincial budget and other student issues.

Later in March, the SU VP External, Marley Gillies, attended the virtual AGM of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). CASA is the federal student advocacy group and supports student associations when it comes to advocating to the federal government on student issues. Discussion centred around the federal budget coming out next week as well as plans for GOTV in case of a federal election later this year.

The SU has continued its institutional advocacy on issues around the USRI and a permanent credit received option. A new Provost has been hired to replace Dru Marshall and we look forward to building a new relationship with the new Provost and continue our work on these issues.

Recently the SU found out that the university was in some level of discussion with an American company, Follett, to privatize the campus bookstore. These discussions were only brought our attention by bookstore staff who were told about the looming changes to bookstore operations. Students were not consulted whatsoever on potential changes.

Follett has a negative reputation on many campuses where it operates bookstores. It has raised the cost of textbooks on students while also often decreasing student choice on where to purchase books by having students pay for books up front when they pay their tuition. The bookstore currently sells textbooks as close to cost as possible and maintains a book loan program. The SU is concerned that this is at risk if the university pushes forward on privatization.

While a final decision on the future of the bookstore hasn’t yet been made, the Students’ Union has repeatedly asked for meetings to get an understanding of the status of discussions with Follett or any other company involved. The SU has also asked for a meeting to present student concerns on this issue. These meetings have been declined. The university has refused to meet with student leaders until after a decision on the path forward has been made.

This is unacceptable.

Students deserve the opportunity to present their feedback for administrators to consider in their decision-making process on the bookstore. It makes little sense to solicit feedback only after a decision has been made.

Bookstore privatization may not seem like a big deal but it could further increase student costs at a time where many students are looking at paying 22.5% more in tuition than when they began their studies.

If the university is serious about ensuring affordability, then it should scrap its risky privatization plan and it should certainly ask for student feedback and ideas. If the university feels it cannot sustainably run the bookstore, the SU would be happy to enter into discussions with the university to take over operations on a cost-recovery model.

However, at the very least students deserve a voice before any decisions are made. The SU calls on UCalgary administration to sit down with students while they are still exploring options rather than after a decision has been made.