Months after the Quebec government’s proposed tuition increases caused many CEGEP students to boycott classes, McGill is facing the need to accommodate over 150 students who were accepted before the cancellation of their CEGEP semester prevented the completion of their previous degree.
The student boycott, in response to the Québec government’s proposed tuition increases, meant that students in these schools did not, or could not, attend classes. This left some students a few credits short of a diploma.
In order to allow students to earn these lost credits, affected CEGEPs are holding make-up sessions that run from August to late September. Jean Beauchesne, president of the CEGEP Federation, said that these sessions are the last chance for students to earn their missing credits.
“There are no more alternatives after this,” he said in July. “There is no more room to manoeuvre after these makeup sessions. Beyond that, there will be failures.”
These make-up sessions, however, create problems for graduating CEGEP students. Those who planned to begin their studies at McGill this fall still face the need to complete their CEGEP degree. For students who attended CEGEP outside of Montreal, the problem of these missing credits is worsened because they cannot simultaneously finish their CEGEP classes while commencing their university courses.
Andre Costopoulos, associate dean of arts (student affairs), stated that of the 1,900 students admitted to the faculty of arts this year, only around 50 came from affected CEGEPs. According to Costopoulos, many of these affected students are entering French language and literature programs and, after academic consultation, have opted to start their term in January.
The situation is more difficult for students in programs such as economics and social work, which have year-long courses. In these circumstances, each department worked on a case-by-case basis, allowing students to make decisions based on their schedules and the number of remaining CEGEP courses they have to complete. Costopoulos also noted that there will be additional accommodations made available for social work students.
“Because of the larger number of students going into social work, those students will also be able to complete their CEGEP full-time during September, start two of the three mandatory courses part-time, and [the school of] Social Work will put on the final mandatory course in summer,” he said.
Costopoulos also stated that the measures taken to accommodate CEGEP students were chiefly McGill’s own initiatives.
“The provincial level hasn’t given any specific instructions … What they’ve said [under Bill 78] is that ‘these are the schedules of the CEGEP students. Accommodate them.’ ”
Due to the stringent nature of pre-requisites, the faculty of science opted to create four classes that target incoming CEGEP students affected by the strike, allowing them to fulfil normal requirements. These classes will begin in October, include condensed schedules, and require departmental approval. For example, the condensed course for BIOL 200 has space for 35 students—22 of which were filled as of Sept. 4.
“We will probably have a special orientation meeting for these students when they arrive,” Nicole Allard, director of advising services for the faculty of science, said.
Haley Dinel, the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) VP University Affairs, said that SSMU will make every effort to help late-arriving CEGEP students transition into campus life, although no special orientation or Frosh activities will be prepared, as those students were eligible to attend all events previously organized.
“When school starts, we will send out a message to all of these students, asking if they are encountering any issues and reassuring them that SSMU is available to help them for anything,” Dinel said. “We want to make sure that no one’s experience at McGill is hindered because their CEGEP was on strike.”
