1,200 students cut their losses after strike
Vancouver Island University has issued at least $1 million in tuition refunds to compensate students for a faculty strike that lasted four weeks. VIU spokesperson Toni O’keefe told the Nanaimo Daily News that around 1,200 students requested a full, or partial, reimbursement. “If you turn it to full-time equivalents, it’s the equivalent of 250 students,” she said. “We might have to look at collapsing (subject) sections into each other.” O’keefe also suggested faculty layoffs may be required to recoup those costs. The faculty association disputes the university’s claim that the strike would be to blame for layoffs.