STATUS OF WOMEN COMMITTEE

I was appointed as the Status of Women Committee representative by the LFA Board in May, 2002. On the LFA’s behalf, I attended the CIEA Status of Women Committee meeting in November, 2002, and the CIEA Spring Conference on February 21 and 22, 2003. I have reported on these meetings in two of the FA newsletters, so I will not give a lengthy report here. What I will do is summarize the main issues that are prompting discussion and concern at colleges throughout the province.

  1. Reductions in government funding for education have resulted in program and service cuts at many institutions. Women, be they faculty, staff, or students have been particularly affected by cuts to day-care services and early childhood education programs.
  1. Many faculty members at other colleges are seeking more flexible working conditions in order to help them juggle family and workplace obligations. To further their efforts, members of the Status of Women committee developed a “Family-friendly workplace” survey to distribute at their locals.
  1. Recent government initiatives in the post-secondary sector are raising alarm ells because they suggest that the private sector is being favoured, in some instances, over the public sector. The management of BCCampus, for example, will be in the hands of government and industry, rather than faculty members. Furthermore, private post-secondary training institutions will be less closely monitored than in the past in order to, in the words of the Budget 2003 document, “provide a more level playing field.”
  1. The provincial government’s objective of reducing education funding is related to its increasing emphasis on the technology of Internet access to courses. A too-heavy reliance on the technology of distance education brings costs to those isolated communities that lack computers, and to those instructors who are replaced by mass delivery of on-line courses.

These, then, are some of the issues faculty across the province are dealing with. Fortunately, CIEA provides us a forum through which we can discuss, and attempt to address, common problems. I would like to thank the LFA Board for giving me the opportunity to connect with the larger community to which we all belong.

Respectfully submitted,

Wendie Nelson

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