COLLEGE FACULTY IN UPROAR
The Okanagan College Faculty Association is lamenting the loss of the school’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.
The provincial government decided last week the program, which previously saw its first two years delivered at both Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan, would be consolidated at UBCO as of September.
A news release Wednesday from the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C. said staff were informed of the decision on Monday. The public, and students, were then told on Tuesday.
“We were shocked the college made this announcement that has stunned and devastated our nursing faculty. This is a very successful program that consistently transitions BSN nursing students into our province’s post-secondary registered nursing streams exactly as community colleges are supposed to do. The program has waitlists several times its capacity,” said Okanagan College Faculty Association president Sharon Mansiere.
“We have been actively bargaining in good faith with the college. There were specific items related to the BSN program discussed in negotiations. At a time when the province is recommitted to filling nursing vacancies and guaranteeing nurse-to-patient ratios coming out of the pandemic, it is puzzling why our college would lose this program.”
Mansiere said it’s also “incredibly discouraging” that the college made the announcement in advance of the process required by the union’s collective agreement. “Our collective agreement and Education Council are not inconveniences to be ignored by the province and college as they see fit. They are the legal contract our members should be able to count on in the employment relationship.”
In its announcement of the move on Tuesday, Okanagan College said it had been informed of the decision by the provincial government just last week. The changes will see an equal number of new nursing program seats created at UBCO, and all impacted students at the college will continue their studies at the university. The college has plans to expand other healthcare programs in place of the nursing program.
Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C. president Brent Calvert called the announcement “part of a pattern of our institutions and Post-Secondary Employers Association (PSEA) ignoring the letter and spirit of academic governance enshrined in our collective agreements and excluding the voice of faculty.”
