The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union reported that 58 non-teaching staff members were terminated at Saskatchewan Polytechnic since January, in addition to the 66 faculty members who also lost their jobs at the institution this year.
Deb Zawada, a provincial bargaining chair for the union and a media technician at Sask Polytech’s Prince Albert campus, stated that 48 of the non-teaching layoffs occurred since August.
Zawada mentioned that the morale of her colleagues on campus has shifted to feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, and hopelessness, with concerns about potential future layoffs.
Various roles were affected by the recent layoffs, including bookstore employees, counselors, and procurement specialists.
The union is currently devising strategies to raise awareness and determine appropriate actions in response to the terminations.
According to Zawada, the full impact of the situation was not known until this week, and it has been substantial, as confirmed in internal emails shared with CBC.
Sask Polytech attributed the job cuts to a significant drop of about 40% in international student enrollment, leading to a considerable revenue deficit for the ongoing academic year.
Post-secondary institutions nationwide are facing a substantial decrease in international student enrollment due to adjustments in federal immigration policies, as stated by Sask Polytech.
As per the official census for the academic year 2024-25, Saskatchewan Polytechnic has 4,604 students on international visas, representing 23% of total enrollment.
The school’s international student population has grown significantly in recent years, with only 710 students on student visas reported in the 2017-18 year, accounting for 4% of the student body.
Changes in Student Services
In an internal communication, Alison Pickrell, the school’s associate vice-president of student services, announced the reorganization of counseling services and layoffs of several employees at Sask Polytech.
The institution will transition to a “stepped care” model for student counseling and phase out the contact center for student services.
Pickrell noted that as service expectations and technologies evolve, educational institutions are shifting towards technology-based approaches for student services, necessitating this change.
As part of the transition, the school will recruit five student services “outreach and success navigators” to assist students with essential services, such as connections to resources, aid applications, and coping strategies.
This shift will enable educational counselors to focus on more complex student needs and individual sessions, resulting in a reduction of educational counselor positions from 14 to five due to the decreased frequency of use.
The closure of the contact center follows the sudden shutdown of school bookstores at the Moose Jaw and Prince Albert campuses on October 10.
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