MUN kicking back 10% tuition credit to students disrupted by faculty strike
Students' union wants other fees included in reimbursement
Memorial University will refund students around 10 per cent of their tuition fees for time lost to the labour dispute between administration and faculty earlier this year.
Acting president Neil Bose told CBC News the university recognizes the strike was a challenging period for students. Classes were disrupted for about two weeks.
"We also knew that there'd been payments not made to MUNFA faculty members during the course of the strike," he said.
"So the intent is to use the funds that were not spent on the salaries to reimburse, credit students with a certain level of funding to compensate for that challenging time."
But the refund won't be paid in cash for most. Instead, it'll go toward a credit for the students' next semester. Only students who are graduating will be paid out. The refund also doesn't apply to Marine Institute technical and diploma students or students in the faculty of medicine, whose course work continued during the strike.
A week ago, the university's official news site, The Gazette, reported reimbursements will be paid out to the tune of over $3 million.
The university also extended its deadline to drop undergraduate courses to the end of the semester, April 10.
Bose said students who drop a course before the deadline will receive 100 per cent of the course fee back.
"We don't know exactly the amount of students who fall into that category," he said.
"Normally the university knows that amount around three weeks into the semester."
What about the other fees?
Mary Feltham, president of the Grenfell Campus Student Union, said 10 per cent isn't enough.
"It's not what we've been asking for. We've been asking for a complete refund in tuition for the time missed, and the 10 per cent doesn't quite add up to that," Feltham said Tuesday.
"But it is reassuring that they are listening to students and are taking action based on what we are advocating for."
Feltham also said that while it's nice to know students will get a little bit of relief, their money remains in limbo until the fall, since many don't enrol in intersession courses between the winter and fall semesters.
"I'm sure it will benefit them in September when they return," she said.
"But some of the students won't be able to get immediate financial relief that they may need based on the time that they missed."
Feltham said compensation is crucial but there's been no discussion about refunding some of the other associated fees, such as the student services fee, $50, and campus renewal fee, $16.67 per credit-hour to a maximum of $250 per semester.
"It's only been tuition itself," she said. "It would be great to see rebates on those but, from what I understand, there hasn't been any commitment from the university on that."
With files from CBC Newfoundland Morning