UCA professors call for the closure of commissions and the loss of lesson hours

A group of professors from the Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA) are calling for the closure of commissions in different faculties of the institution. Faced with the start of the next school year, the house of studies is carrying out a “reconfiguration of courses” which has caused teachers to lose class hours and, consequently, their salaries have been affected.

In the past few hours, professors from the Faculty of Social Sciences have sent a letter to Dean Roberto Aras, who has just taken office. We are writing to you to express our refusal and astonishment at the registration system of students which leads to the closure of commissions, with which many professors lose their teaching hours, which in some cases represents a large part or all of their work at the University, just before the start of the first semester 2023, with the consequences economic crisis and the mental health that this implies, as well as the work environment in general. It is important to emphasize that these chairs are our source of work and the sustainability of many families is harmed, ”says the text.

as he learned GlobeLiveMedia, the situation goes beyond social and also reaches other faculties. It’s part of a “transformation process” the university began last year on the recommendation of a consultant, who suggested reviewing the amount of commissions at majors.

“Each year, the university proceeds with a process of reconfiguration of the commissions which depends on the flow of students received by each chair. There is nothing extraordinary. What is no longer done is to open commissions with one or two students because it does not make pedagogical sense, ”they said from the university.

Classes at UCA will begin next week. According to the first figures, the enrollment has even more students than last year. “We are going through a process of transformation, reviewing all our administrative, academic and organizational practices,” they explained.

Within the community, this process of change has generated a certain disgust. Professors, like most private universities, charge for class time and their savings suffer when a commission they head is closed.

“At the start of this school year, two commissions (2nd A and 3rd D) were closed in the Political Science and International Relations career, leaving teachers no possibility of reassigning themselves to another professional activity”, underlines the letter from the teachers. social.

The teachers denounced that there is a change in the registration system. They observe that the minimum number of students per class has been increased in such a way that many of them are forced to lose class hours. In turn, the remaining courses will multiply their students, which would also hamper the teaching-learning process.

“We understand that in general, a decrease in student numbers can cause boards to close, but the current registration system leaves teachers, at the start of each semester, at the mercy of volatile student body elections. and in a distressing state of uncertainty,” the letter continues.

In the same text, the teachers conclude by affirming that the process of transformation leads to a more “entrepreneurial” vision of education. “Consciously or unconsciously, a commercial and economic logic of the University is promoted, in which the professors look like “sellers” of a product (the specific knowledge contained in each discipline), where the student or the “customer” chooses its “product”, according to criteria which, in certain cases, are governed by conveniences of a different nature”.

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