Students who face barriers to access education are about to be hit even
harder. The Transitional Year Programme (TYP), a 40-year-old access program,
is about to face drastic changes that will inevitably destroy it. These
changes include taking away TYP's autonomy by putting it under Woodsworth
College, taking away TYP's independent space, reducing teaching and support
staff, and slashing the TYP budget.
We need your support on Wednesday October 21. On these
dates university bodies will be voting to decide the fate of the program. We
need a mass turnout of people to stop this committee from rubber-stamping
these heinous changes.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21 4:30-6pm
Woodsworth College Council
Woodsworth Residence, Waters Lounge
321 Bloor Street (Bloor and St. George)
The University has told students that they are not closing TYP. However, TYP
will be unable to serve its mandate and support its students under the
proposed move to Woodsworth. Reducing staff, faculty and funding limits the
ability of the program to meet the needs of its students. Taking away our
space by moving us into a few rooms at Woodsworth further marginalizes us by
removing the supportive environment that our home at 49 St. George provides.
TYP may exist in name after these changes, but the marginalized students it
serves will no longer be around. The central administration says they are
committed to access and equity. The budget cut last year translated into
half of our operating budget. This cut occurred before the economic crisis.
How does this indicate the University's commitment to access? The University
has priorities it pours millions of dollars into – access and equity must be
one of these priorities.
The University and TYP administration have been repeatedly asked to consult
students through this process. After a battle, the TYP administration began
meeting with the Transitional Year Programme Preservation Alliance, sharing
limited information and calling it consultation. Never have students or the
communities TYP serves been allowed input into the process.
The future of these marginalized students is in your hands. Please join us
in asking the University of Toronto to reconsider shutting the doors on this
essential program.
