Reimbursements for students in strike affected courses

To MSVU students,

Students in courses that were affected by the recent strike will be receiving reimbursements based on the university’s net savings from faculty salaries and benefits during the work stoppage.

Reimbursements will be $175 per affected course for domestic students and $350 per affected course for international students. The reimbursements will apply to both undergraduate and graduate courses. These reimbursements will not affect scholarship or bursary standing. Since this is a reimbursement of tuition paid, students whose tuition is waived (e.g. students in the Post Care Tuition Waiver Program, Presidential Scholars, etc.) will not receive this payment. For sponsored students, the payment will be handled in accordance with the terms of their sponsorship.

Payments will be allocated to student accounts by the end of the day Monday, March 25, 2024. Returning students or students with outstanding balances will have their payments credited to their account. Students leaving MSVU, including those graduating this spring, may request a student refund of any credit balance using the Student Online Refund Request Form (will require you to login to myMount).

Thank you for your patience as we worked through the details of this reimbursement.

If you have any questions, please send them to Financial.Services@msvu.ca.

Isabelle

Isabelle Nault
Vice-President Administration
Mount Saint Vincent University

Assignments in Suspended Courses (February 29, 2024)

Dear MSVU Community,

I have been hearing from students that there is some confusion about what work should be done in courses that are suspended during the strike. In some of these courses, there has been content posted on Moodle and assignments set with new due dates since the strike began.

To be clear, all classes taught by full-time faculty are suspended. Students are not required to review any materials on Moodle or submit any assignments in those courses that were due after noon on February 12th. All assignment due dates will be adjusted after the end of the strike. Students who have not submitted assignments that were due after noon on February 12th will not be penalized. Once the strike is over, all course outlines and deadlines will be adjusted to complete the term.

We know the disruption in courses is stressful for many students, and we remind you that we have many on-campus resources available for support and advising.

As always, please be in touch if there’s anything we can do to help you through this time. You can reach the Office of Student Experience at ose@msvu.ca.

Take care,

Keltie

Keltie Jones, JD, DBA (she/her)
Associate Vice-President, Student Experience
Mount Saint Vincent University

Support and Activities for students (February 27, 2024)

With the MSVUFA strike continuing, we are getting in touch to remind you that the University remains open and we are here to support you.

Classes taught by full-time faculty, librarians and lab instructors are suspended during the strike, but you’re encouraged to keep up with your studies to the greatest extent you can. For these suspended courses only: the deadlines for assignments due during the strike do not have to be met; as well, midterms, tests, quizzes, etc. that are scheduled during the strike will be rescheduled. When the strike ends, there will be new dates set for assignments and exams.

Almost all classes taught by part-time faculty continue. In these classes, assignments are due and tests are running as scheduled.

We aim to ensure students complete this semester. If you are on track to graduate this spring, our goal is that you can graduate as planned.

The University is considering remedies for students in response to the classes missed due to the MSVUFA strike. More information on this topic will follow once the strike has ended.

Student services

All student services remain operational. You can continue to visit the Library, Bookstore, Fitness Centre, Kina’masuti aqq Apognamasuti (the Indigenous Student Centre), and Black Student Support Office, to name just a few. And the team in the Centre for Academic Advising and Student Success is available in-person and online:

  • The Writing Centre is open regular hours, including drop-in hours;
  • MSVU’s Learning Strategist offers one-on-one appointments to help with study skills, exam prep and more; and
  • The Academic Advising team is available to help with all kinds of academic matters from your first to final year of studies.

Confidential counselling is available at no cost to MSVU students via the MSVU Counselling Services office: counselling@msvu.ca or 902-457-6567. Students may also access free, confidential support through the Good2Talk program. You can reach them 24/7 by calling 1-833-292-3698 or texting GOOD2TALKNS to 686868.

Events this week

The Student Experience team and MSVUSU have a number of events planned this week.

  • MSVU MSA Women’s Basketball: Tuesday, February 27, 1 to 2 p.m., A. Garnet Brown Gymnasium. Students must have an All-Access Membership to the Mount Fitness Centre to participate.
  • Major vs. Major Trivia, Tuesday, February 27, 7 p.m. in The Rook
  • Lunch and learn workshop for international students: Plagiarism trivia and academic culture, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, February 29 in the International Education Centre. There will be prizes!
  • Collage Drop-In: Unwind with some crafty self-care with Counselling Services. Every Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. (until April 4), the collage drop-in is FREE with no registration required, McCain 106
  • Y2K Night, Thursday, February 29, 9 p.m. to midnight at The Rook
  • A free tax clinic for international students begins Friday, March 1. Sign-up is required for the tax clinic.
  • Find Your Summer Job and Volunteer: An online summer job/volunteer planning session for students, hosted by Career Services. 1 p.m. on Friday, March 1, 2024.

As always, please be in touch if there’s anything we can do to help you through this time. You can reach the Office of Student Experience at ose@msvu.ca.

Take care,

Keltie

Dr. Keltie Jones
Associate Vice-President, Student Experience
Mount Saint Vincent University

Update for students (February 14, 2024)

I’m writing today to connect regarding the strike by full-time faculty, librarians, and lab instructors and highlight some supports available.

I know that MSVU students are concerned about the impact of the strike on their studies. I am too. Although we cannot make particular guarantees on when the strike might be over right now, the university will explore a variety of options to support you in completing the semester. It is of note that other universities in the region have experienced faculty strikes in the past several years and, in all those cases, students were able to complete their semesters.

The fact there hasn’t yet been an agreement reached does not mean that the Board and administration don’t value MSVUFA members. It just means that the collective bargaining process, up to this point, hasn’t yet resulted in an agreement. Progress was made towards a resolution this past weekend. The Board’s bargaining team’s offer of Sunday past was not accepted, and a strike was initiated by the MSVUFA. Last evening (Tuesday, February 13), the Board’s bargaining team received a proposal from the MSVUFA and today they responded. We are pleased to see the exchange of proposals resume.

We have been receiving questions about what the strike is about and so have posted some additional information online. In particular, you can find information about equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, as well as decolonization, in the context of bargaining with the MSVUFA here (see bargaining update dated February 14).

Services and supports for students

All campus buildings are open as normal. Classes taught by part-time faculty continue, while classes taught by full-time faculty, librarians, and lab instructors are paused. Not sure if your course is affected? Check the list of impacted classes here (and please take note of your class section number as sometimes certain sections of a course may be paused while others are going ahead).

All student services are operational, with the exception of some library services (but the Library remains open and available for student support).

The fitness centre, health office, and bookstore are also all open as usual.

Confidential counselling is available at no cost to MSVU students via the MSVU Counselling Services office: counselling@msvu.ca or 902-457-6567. Students may also access free, confidential support through the Good2Talk program. You can reach them 24/7 by calling 1-833-292-3698 or texting GOOD2TALKNS to 686868.

As well, the Centre for Academic Advising and Student Success (CAASS) offers a number of services to support student learning, including a Writing Centre, Mount 101 and Learning Strategist – learn more about CAASS services.

Where to find more information

Remember to check the FAQ for answers to common questions; we’re adding more as questions arise. If you have a question not answered there, please email feedback@msvu.ca.

We’ll continue to share updates with you as more information becomes available.

Please stay tuned.

Take care,

Keltie

Dr. Keltie Jones
Associate Vice-President, Student Experience
Mount Saint Vincent University