In the Heart of the City: George Brown College

On October 2nd I arrived at George Brown College in downtown Toronto to visit the members of OPSEU Local  556.  President Tom Tomassi and chief steward J.P. Hornick led a General Membership Meeting (GMM), and the faculty in attendance provided a number of insightful perspectives.

President Tomassi calls the meeting to order

President Tomassi has taught in the college system for over 20 years, and has seen tremendous change.  He noted that George Brown college began operation with approximately 7,000 students and 700 full time faculty.  Today, there are over 25,000 students and approximately 520 full time faculty.  As it has with other faculty locals, the difficulty of teaching more students with fewer full time professors has taken its toll, and professors at George Brown are increasingly concerned about job security.



Faculty get into the issues during the GMM

While they have seen their full time numbers shrink, older members of the LEC have also seen the George Brown management team swell to over twice its original size. Instead of money being invested in the classroom, it has been increasingly spent on marketing, promotion, and management salaries.  Ultimately, these trends reflect a disturbing shift in priorities within the entire college system. 

At my next stop I speak with another large metro college - Humber - and hear about their faculty's struggle to maintain control over course content and evaluation...