Stop the Tuition Increase!
Emily Carr University's administration has moved the tuition increase vote four months early. We need you to join the fight to stop the increase!
100 Students at Every Meeting
We have four key moments to intervene, plus a student walkout protest. Our goal is to have 100 students show up at every meeting. Will you be there?
Tuition Talk with University President: Tuesday, Nov 22, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm (Reliance Theatre, also Zoom) UPDATE: We had 300+ in attendance, thank you!Senate Meeting: Wednesday, Nov 23 9 am - 10:15 am (Students' Union for Zoom screening of meeting, C3255 in person) UPDATE: We had 70-100 in attendance!Sit-In During Special Meeting for Board of Governors: Thursday, Nov 24 4 pm - 5:30 pm (outside president's office) UPDATE: We had 200+ in attendance!Senate Meeting, Part 2: Wednesday, Nov 30 9 am - 10:15 am (Students' Union for Zoom screening of meeting, we'll have pastries! Also in person at Main Boardroom)STUDENT WALKOUT rescheduled for to weather: Thursday 11 am-1 pm No More Tuition Protest + Media Event (sun: main entrance steps, rain: east door skateboard plaza) Bring cold weather gear! We'll have lentil soup!Final Vote for Tuition Increase: Thursday, Dec 1 3:30 - 5 pm (Boardroom and on Zoom)
Online via Zoom webinar:
https://emilycarru.zoom.us/j/67607436777?pwd=bGFjbGZ0dm1HK2hqNlFwZXp aSGxsUT09
Webinar ID: 676 0743 6777
Passcode: 058063
Actions to Take
1. Attend as many of these 4 meetings as possible. Our original goal was 100 students in each meeting. We've BLOWN this out of the water. We've had 300+, 100, and 200+ at the events thus far.
2. Tell your friends! Direct messages and invitations to participate work best. Send this site and info to everyone you know.
3. Need flyers? Visit Students' Union to help distribute flyers to more students.
4. Art making: Visit Students' Union to help make signs to protest at the meetings. We're making protest art on Wednesday, Nov 16 from 11:30-12:30 and Wednesday, Nov 23 from 11:30-12:30. But come by anytime Students' Union is open if you're looking for ways to get involved.
What's Next?: The executive leadership continues to withhold information about the exact tuition increase amounts, despite previous promises to share those numbers with students and with Senate. Now that Board of Governors has had their first meeting to review the numbers, we're expecting the tuition increase amounts in the next couple days.There is now a second Senate Budget meeting, where Student Senators will once again try to delay the vote / change the terms for Board of Governors. But we need students to continue applying collective pressure to the institution.What the university leaders are doing is wrong. But the show of community building and organizing among students has been incredible. Keep showing up and let's fight for fairness!!
Boilerplate Text
You can use this boilerplate text to send this info to your friends:
Hey ____! Emily Carr just pushed the tuition increase votes 4 months early. This vote normally happens in the spring but is now happening Dec 1. This will likely be the highest tuition increase in ECU history. It will most heavily impact international students. But it will also fundamentally restructure university funding in a way that hurts domestic students and the financial future of the school.There are 4 meetings where students can intervene. Here is a flyer and website with the info. Would you please send this to other students as well? Our goal is 100 students at every meeting to hold ECU leadership accountable.https://nomoretuition.carrd.co/
Q&A
How much is the increase?
There is no available info yet on how high the increase will be. But Emily Carr leadership have referenced OCAD for comparison, citing that OCAD's tuition is 39% higher for domestic students and 43% higher for international students, implying that any increase under that amount is justified. Comparable universities have proposed increases between 8-15%.
The tuition increase will most heavily impact international students. Domestic rates are capped at 2% annually whereas there are no limits on increases for international students.
How will this impact domestic students?
In essence, the main reason that Emily Carr is increasing tuition so drastically for international students is because the government has been reducing funding support not just for Emily Carr but across all universities for decades. There is a growing push to privatize universities so universities depend increasingly upon rising tuition costs to stay afloat.If a vote to drastically increase international tuition passes, it will solidify Emily Carr's reliance on tuition revenue. This plays into the long term agenda to privatize universities and reduce government support, which also makes education inaccessible to domestic students.Finally, increasing tuition on international students is bad for the university's health in the long-term. University leaders have already stated that charging more to international students will not be enough to recover the budget deficit. It will only build further unfairness into the structure of ECU and hurt the university's ability to build a sound budget in the future.How could ECU close the budget gap?Instead of pushing the university's financial troubles onto students, they should be aligning with students to pressure the province to increase governmental support for universities to keep education more equitable.
Why is this vote happening again so soon?
Normally, the budget meetings happen over the course of months and the vote on tuition is in the spring.This December meeting is specifically a tuition increase vote. In a meeting with the Students' Union, ECU leadership confirmed that they have separated the tuition increase vote from the rest of the budget plan. Their goal is to pass the tuition increase first, and then figure out the rest of the budget based on that. In other words, if the vote passes, it will make international tuition a structural part of Emily Carr's budget for years to come.
Fight for Equity in Education
Want to get more involved? Visit Students' Union to learn how.