Radical ‘cash cow’ campus
Giovanna Di Sauro, Shanti Hadioetomo, and Wincy Li
Meet our friend, John*. He comes from a developing country, where university is quite expensive. Thus, he made the choice to try to come and study in Canada, to one of the “best comprehensive universities in the country.” Yes, he has to pay international fees, but they are low in comparison to other Western countries.
Years go by and fees increase. One day John realises he needs money to cover his tuition and the food bank to feed him. He decides to apply for financial aid, which is allowed to check his financial record. Honestly, John declares that his parents might still be able to cover some more expenses –– but who would not find a way instead of joining the homeless? John cannot work off-campus, and he believes SFU will recognise his real need. However, all he gets is $50 along with a kind invitation to write a thank-you letter. “Thank you, SFU, for my groceries this week. I will probably have to swallow my pride, borrow from friends, and make them wait for months before my parents can send me funds. Thanks. Where did all my tuition dollars go when I needed them? When I am lonely, who is there to support me? When those courses get filled up, will I have to pay for another one to keep my immigration papers straight? SFU, are you going to keep supplying those BMW yuppies who faked their financial aid applications with pocket money, because you did not really do a financial check on them?”
This is not a joke. If you look past the bubble tea and the Acuras, you will meet John and his friends. Most of the time they are a silent crowd, too busy surviving instead of telling you this story, hoping someone else will stand up for them. But John is tired of being considered a “cash cow” to read in a seriously West Coast paper that, yes, he should be exploited for coming here, because this is a country that defends minority rights and issues and where education is still publicly subsidised.
John’s research is contributing to a thriving academic community here, and he hopes he can make a difference as a world citizen, and not just be looked at as the 100th “fresh off the boat” to be exploited.
In the past few weeks, the majority of SFU’s community rebelled to the idea — defended and now approved by the SFU administration — to get IBT Education Ltd., a “corporate education company,” to resolve its “issues” with international students.
According to the Globe and Mail, and verified by John and his friends’ experience, international students have higher drop-out rates than local students. Imagine not being very fluent in English, having to pay stratospheric fees, and attending a university with non-existent International Student Services support. Is IBT going to allow international students a seat on the Board of Governors? Provide opportunities to work off-campus? Help fund research? Support cultural initiatives? Allow international students to move into residence early for a one-week orientation? Is IBT really going to improve international students’ English –– when they are not encouraged to mingle and only to find support among country mates?
Let us spare you the comparison with services for international students at UBC, and let us focus on what John’s peers are forced to do. First of all, they are definitely being trained to be self-reliant –– maybe this is SFU’s idea of preparing them for the workplace. Rather, international peers and allies are the only ones who are really providing targeted services. No, we are not speaking about visa advice and tax services. We are talking about activities, occasions to socialise and polish off rugged English, exchange ideas, and try to build an underfunded international community at SFU. For example, the International Lounge is the result of a long struggle by the international students’ group. Should any student paying unsubsidised education fees have to fight for some space? Or better yet, should any student have to fight for a student union building, for more representation, or for fairer financial treatment?
No. And that is why John and his peers came here, to a public university that used to be ranked among the best, and which is now focusing on student “dis-oriented” policies, such as a ruthless meal plan and residence contract for the new buildings, higher fees –– and of course, the now officially endorsed idea of handing out these international troublemakers to an Australian company.
Is it that SFU has no interest in John, or simply that the administration does not know how to do any better? Or is it that he is really, in the end, only being considered a cash cow? If this is the case, SFU can stay assured that its reputation is not going to get better. Word of mouth brought many international students here, and word of mouth is going to keep many more away.
Fly to Europe, my international friends. Fly to Australia, because for you, it is becoming worthless to travel halfway around the globe when you can get your college courses in any one of the numerous IBT colleges closer to home. Why bother going to a Canadian university that does not even provide you with decent, targeted support?
John, like many other internationals, advocate for publicly funded education, community involvement, and yes, he supports SFU –– a university that used to identify itself as radical, as an institution defending academic freedom and student activism. But John does not recognise that university anymore. The day SFU will make those values empty with its actions, its reputation will be undermined and so will its international recognition –– and respect. On March 6, 2006, SFU’s Senate formally passed the IBT proposal with a vote of 27 to 15. It really looks like that dreaded day is close.
*John is a fictional character created to represent international students and their struggle at SFU. Any resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
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