Letter of the Week: Is Motive Power losing its steam?

Dear Editor;

I returned to Fanshawe College for the second level of automotive service technician training in September 2005. This is a very intense course. A lot of information is covered in an eight-week period. I have been told several times by my instructors that students cannot miss any class or lab time due to this fact. I was surprised to find out that the college had not hired an instructor for the steering, suspension and brakes portion of the course. After going for a week without an instructor or any explanation, a couple of my classmates and I decided to try and find out what was happening. We went to see the program director Rod Cameron who ensured us that a new instructor was hired for the following week and that any class time that was missed would be made up. Knowing that the instructor had one weekend to prepare for teaching the course, we had no choice but to accept Mr. Cameron's response.

On the following Monday I returned to school to find out that our schedule had been changed due to a high number of students in the class. At this point one eighth of the course had passed by. We had already begun labs with partners who were no longer in the same class and were told that we would have to start the labs over again. No extra time would be provided to do these labs. Also the class time we missed due to having no instructor the first week would not be made up.

At this point, several crucial components of the course have been missed in an already fully loaded program. No time will be made up. Although this course is for the most part paid for by the ministry of colleges and training, all of my class mates and I pay taxes and paid a fee to the college. If you go to a store and purchase a bucket and go home to find it leaking, don't you take it back and get one that doesn't. I guess some people have no choice but to drink less water.

With too many students paying and not enough teachers to pay, it is only fair to give the programs co-ordinator a promotion. Congratulations to the new Dean of Technology Rod Cameron.

Jonathan Tate

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.