Algonquin College extends classes into late December as strike drags on

Algonquin College has decided to extend classes into late December as a province-widefaculty strike approaches the one-month mark.

In a letter to students,Claude Brul, the college's senior vice-president academic, announced the current term's classes willcontinue until at leastDec.22.

Final exams, which were originally scheduled to run from Dec. 9 to Dec. 16, will be postponed to allow for the completion of the term, Brul said.

• Algonquin College students frustrated as strike drags on

More than 12,000 faculty members have been walking the picket line since mid-October, over issues that include job security, academic freedom, and hiring enough part-time staff to match the number of full-time positions.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has scheduled a vote next week on what college employers are calling their final contract offer.

Spring break also at risk

Brul also shared other strike-related details in Friday morning's letter:

• The due date for students to pay winter term feeshas been extended to Dec. 8.
• OSAP payments for the winter term, as of now, will not be delayed.
• The college could reschedule classes, clinical placements, or labs during the February 2018 break, and students are being urged not to go on vacation during that week.

The work stoppage has affected more than 500,000 students across Ontario, some of whom have calledfor their tuition fees to be refunded.

In his letter, Brulsaid the college is still waiting fordirection from Ontario's Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development as to how any refund program would work.