The U of A is implementing a hiring freeze in the new year. What this could mean for students

December 18, 2024 Canuck

The University of Alberta will implement a hiring freeze next year due to economic constraints, according to an email sent out to staff members.

The decision means that the institution’s hiring process will require more steps, including approval from faculty leadership prior to a job posting.

Current hiring processes that have not reached a verbal offer by Dec. 31 will be forced to pause.

“It is expected that hiring managers and their leaders review each proposed hire with a critical lens, and prior to requesting approval, consider opportunities to rebalance workload, redistribute accountabilities, or put non-urgent tasks and projects on hold or even cancel that work altogether,” the email read.

Quality of education at risk, staff say

Staff members are worried about what this could mean for the quality of education and services going forward.

Gordon Swaters is the president of the Association of Academic Staff with the University of Alberta.

Gordon Swaters is the president of the Association of Academic Staff with the university. (Submitted by Gordon Swaters)

He said many of the staff are already facing workload difficulties.

“The existing workload, which has already been increased because of the previous budget cuts, is going to be further heightened,” he said in an interview with the CBC.

“That will result in a diminished university experience for the students that attend here.”

Currently, the university ranks as one of the top five post-secondary institutions in Canada.

For Swaters, this won’t be true if the university continues to understaff and underserve its frontline educators and researchers.

“That’s put in jeopardy when the university does not properly fill the positions required to give the high quality learning experience and research opportunities that we’ve been able to give up until now,” he said.

‘Ambitious’ enrolment increase could be affected

Last year, the university launched a campaign to increase enrolment numbers to 60,000 by 2033. This is around a 26 per cent increase from current enrolment numbers.

Quinn Benders, the president of the Non-Academic Staff Association with the university thinks this freeze could get in the way.

“With that ambitious goal, we won’t be able to make sure that students and faculty have the support they need,” he said.

Quinn said students will feel the brunt of dwindling resources.

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Abdul Abbasi is the students’ union’s external vice-president and a criminology major. He says it’s not only the quality of education, but support resources that students rely on for guidance.

“[The hiring freeze] is a blunt instrument that will damage essential functions of the university and our students,” he said. “Being a student right now is more of a privilege instead of a right.”

Abbasi says students are already struggling with tuition hikes and access to resources like academic and career advising — and the freeze could exacerbate the issue.

Need for more government involvement

For Benders, this decision is an indication of years of improper support for post-secondary education.

“This relates back to the provincial government’s underfunding of the university,” said Benders.

“The university is very limited in the options it can take, whether that’s increasing enrolment to bring in tuition dollars, having things like hiring freezes, or the fact that we went through massive layoffs.”

Since 2020, the university has been forced to eliminate over 1,000 positions.

Earlier this year, the university’s president, Bill Flanagan, said in a statement that operation funding would remain at $436.6 million for the 2024-25 school year.

This is the same amount the university received the last two years, even with an inflation increase of over 10 per cent.

Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney established a panel to assess the competitiveness of Alberta’s post-secondary education system. The review of its findings will be released next year.

In the meantime, the decision comes with some exceptions, which include positions required by legislation, or positions funded externally, like grants, scholarships and fellowships.

In a statement to the CBC, U of A spokesperson Michael Brown said this was “a proactive step” to address budget constraints next year.

The hiring freeze will go into effect Jan. 1, remaining in place until further notice.

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