C/O Markus Winkler, Unsplash
How social media has tampered with our perceptions of love and relationships
By: Ana Mamula, Contributor
Rom-coms are my favorite, especially The Notebook. I couldn’t even fathom a man writing me a letter every single day until we meet again, a man who would wait his whole life for me. Today, love is if he likes your Instagram picture, slides into your DMs and is your number one friend on Snapchat.
It’s matching on Tinder with strangers hoping for that Notebook kind of love. However, in actuality, love this way is superficial and impossible.. Love is non-existent today. Love is transactional; it's a like, a comment or a FaceTime. It’s getting jealous over your significant other liking another person’s picture, it’s cheating coming in so many different forms and becoming so accessible.
I hate it.
Love has turned into lust. Today, we are just focused on physical attraction rather than having a genuine relationship. Hookup culture is the norm and seeing someone just for their appearance is the norm due to social media. As a result of the media uprise, men and women have lost the acceptance of themselves today and feel they must live up to society’s expectations.
And maybe that's why I love rom-coms so much, and why girls love rom-coms so much. Rom-coms liberate us from regular concerns and dump us straight into that beautiful space, a fantasy featuring no real responsibility or risk.
Rom-coms liberate us from regular concerns and dump us straight into that beautiful space, a fantasy featuring no real responsibility or risk.
ANA MAMULA, CONTRIBUTOR
Then we have social media that dumps us into a space full of anxiety, jealousy, low self-esteem and so much more. It is so rare to actually meet someone out and about and just click and then start dating. Nowadays, a swipe right is all it takes. Individuals do not even look for relationships anymore. It starts and ends with a hookup and if it escalates into a relationship, well you’re in luck!
Social media has created such a toxic space for relationships that bring out the worst in us. Jealousy and self-esteem issues are on the rise and the accessibility to cheat is so much more pronounced. With Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, webcams and other such social media platforms, partners can carry on affairs from the comfort of their couch, illuminated by the light of their computer or smartphone screen.
Social media is meant to highlight the best parts of one’s life, including the positive aspects of their relationships. This restrictive positivity does not allow for a person’s negative aspects to be brought to the light until we get to know someone. We never truly know how someone is or what someone’s relationship is like until we see it in person.
We never truly know how someone is or what someone’s relationship is like until we see it in person.
ANA MAMULA, CONTRIBUTOR
All of these false representations of love, from rom-coms to modern dating on social media, make it difficult to understand what a relationship should look like due to our clouded judgments. The media has shown us such an unrealistic standard of love that we do not even know what to believe anymore — and that is scary to me.
What even is love anymore?
Yoohuyn Park/Production Coordinator
Do grades have to be everything?
By: Hadeeqa Aziz, Contributor
This one is for all the first years. So you’ve heard your grades will drop and you’re rather terrified of what the next couple of years will bring. And rightfully so, because according to data collected by the University of Waterloo, the average Ontario high school student’s grades will likely drop by a factor of 16 percent. Some of you may not worry too much because you’re confident in the way your high school conditioned and prepared you for post-secondary education.
After all, you’ve earned your way into your program, haven’t you? The feeling of accomplishment is even more incredible now, especially since admissions averages have been steadily increasing over the last few years. For example, according to student observations on r/OntarioUniversities, McMaster’s life sciences gateway program has seen an increase in cutoff averages since 2019, from high 80s to low 90s.
There’s nothing short of a plethora of reasons to explain these increases, from larger applicant pools to better overall student performances, especially in light of online learning. There’s one factor, however, that remains prominent — one that we all know exists but seldom find the courage to thoroughly talk about: grade inflation.
It’s a sensitive topic because implying the existence of grade inflation is an implication that not everyone sitting in your lecture hall has rightfully earned their way into their program. The onus, however, is not on the student, but seemingly on the high schools they come from.
All Ontario universities value grades when assessing high school seniors for undergraduate admissions, taking the form of an average of your top 6 courses in Grade 12. It appears to be the most plausible evaluation tool, as it’s supposedly designed to gauge your competence as an academic. Here’s a shocking revelation though: not all students have been to the same high school. What does this mean? It essentially implies that a 95 percent average at one school may not hold the same value as a 95 percent at another.
Grade inflation is often rooted in a decrease in academic standards or when faculty don’t have clear expectations of their students. This leads to grade inequality, meaning that equal qualities of work are assigned different grades across schools, departments or courses.
Many speak to the problematic nature of grade inflation, while others outright deny that it’s even a problem. When inflation leads to increased admissions averages, it sets grade standards to an all-time high, so much so that some career prospects may be taken away from students who fail to reach those standards.
The process of achieving the ridiculously high grade requirements for the University of Waterloo’s engineering programs, for instance, is not the same for all students. Those who don’t reap the benefits of grade inflation would have to work much harder than those who do. Here, universities risk being unfair to the students who have more rigorous marking standards. And we haven’t even touched upon other factors that contribute to student issues such as socioeconomics, race or geographics.
Entering university with inflated grades isn’t all that fun either. If inflation leads to misinterpretations of a student’s competence and studying habits, perhaps it can lead to similar misinterpretations on a student’s fitness for their program of entry. Students unprepared for the demands of university education may be more vulnerable to mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression.
In an attempt to be fairer to high school applicants, the University of Waterloo used data from their engineering program to develop a list of what they call “adjustment factors” for each high school. This factor uses a student’s admission average and their first-year average to gauge the effects of grade inflation by measuring the “gap” between the two grades. Essentially, the higher the gap, the higher possibility that the student’s grades were inflated in high school. The faculty supposedly take this adjustment factor into consideration during the admissions process.
Schools at the top of the list argue that Waterloo’s student sample is too small to reflect the hard work of their teachers and students. From their perspective, it’s quite difficult to collect robust data on inflation and adequately prove such a claim.
Instead, more individuals wish to see a discussion on whether or not standardized testing can play a role in the solution. Standardizing students, however, comes with its own set of issues and instead, I think most students would appreciate more individualized assessments of their accomplishments. If universities continue to treat grades as “everything,” they’re effectively missing the bigger picture.
C/O Matthew Ball, Unsplash
How our thirties will be the new twenties
By: Ana Mamula, Contributor
I remember being a kid and daydreaming of what it would be like being able to drive, have my own place, have kids and attend university. From such a young age, I was envious of those older women who seemed so much more independent than I was.
I remember saying to myself, “In my early twenties, I will definitely be married and by my mid-twenties, I’ll definitely have kids. Three exactly.”
Looking back, I laugh to myself. I’m currently a twenty-year old full-time university student and I am no way in hell getting married or having kids soon. Life moved so much faster than I expected, leaving me envious of that little girl who had no troubles in the world. While she longed for her twenties, she never had to deal with the stress of work, school, relationships, paying taxes and so much more. It’s as if we progressed from being driven to school in the backseat of our parents’ cars to driving our own in the blink of an eye.
Despite life moving so fast, leaving us with less than seconds to breathe, it carries many substantial events that form who we are. However, I believe one decade in particular holds the most importance for us. Our twenties.
Our twenties truly capture everything about who we are and who we are going to be. It is during our twenties that the most life-changing events in our lives occur. The start of this decade is a transformational moment, what with coming out of one’s teen years in the beginning and ending as a fully grown adult. Our twenties are when we make those friends we carry with us for the rest of our lives. They’re when we could meet our significant other, when we could receive that job we have always wanted and when we buy our first home.
Our twenties truly capture everything about who we are and who we are going to be.
Due to all of these life-changing events that society tells us we have to go through in our twenties, the pressure is beyond difficult to carry. Individuals often consider graduating from university and achieving financial stability as adult life’s most important milestones, according to a report from The Atlantic. Carrying the weight of both these monumental events only furthers the narrative of what everyone should be accomplishing in their twenties.
So how do you get through your twenties? How can you be successful at getting through these important years?
So how do you get through your twenties? How can you be successful at getting through these important years?
As cheesy as it is, my advice is to stop trying to meet society's deadlines of where you should be and how you should act in your twenties. Our twenties are the years we look back on as we age to realize how much we grow in life. And you do not have to get married or have kids to do that.
In fact, an article by The New York Times makes the comparison that your twenties are similar to stem cells, with a million possibilities and outcomes of what your life could be.
We are capable of doing whatever we please. As long as the path we are choosing to take is the one we want to take, not the one our parents or friends want us to take, not the one society wants us to take; that is when we are truly successful.
Graphic By: Yoohyun Park/Production Coordinator
A degree no longer guarantees a job, it’s time for universities to tell us why
By: Ardena Bašić, Contributor
A higher education is often touted as a means to working in higher-paying, more revered professions. However, students often end up in positions they neither expected nor desired after graduation. In fact, Forbes reports that individuals holding a bachelor's degree experience higher unemployment and underemployment rates. Specifically, a report from the New York Federal Reserve revealed that 33.8% of college graduates are underemployed, which means they are working jobs that do not even require a degree.
The COVID-19 crisis has not helped this issue, with Canada still steadily trying to regain the hundreds of thousands of jobs the pandemic eliminated from the country. Despite pouring thousands of dollars into their education, students are struggling to find reasonable work that connects to their degrees.
The solution to this issue is for universities to be more honest about what careers their programs can lead to, with an emphasis on professions that can be obtained without extra training or a graduate education. This will allow students to make a more informed decision on their post-secondary education and balance their expectations.
After graduation, it seems logical that one with a science-based degree would search for jobs in research or healthcare. Moreover, someone with a business degree might look for jobs in a field within the world of business. However, depending on the degree and the courses contained, some programs may not lead to jobs that seem to be common sense.
One reason this might be is that some programs focus on classroom learning, as opposed to exponential learning, like co-op. The lack of experience that comes with classroom-based programs has been shown to deter employers from hiring graduates from such programs.
The lack of experience that comes with classroom-based programs has been shown to deter employers from hiring graduates from such programs.
Other factors concern the idea of "prestige" that is associated with some programs or universities and a lack of networking skills integrated into programs. The former has even been formally studied, with results showing that students graduating from more reputable universities are 40% more likely to receive a positive response from employers. Any of these reasons could be justifiable for companies looking to hire. Thus, schools need to be honest about where they stand so students know what to expect when job-searching post-graduation.
Yet, the key to this transparency needs to be carefully articulated and prepared. Schools cannot simply state that an education in political science can lead to jobs in public service and likewise. Rather, they need to do empirical studies on alumni and graduates to be certain of the information they are conveying. Students will likely find information about the careers that alumni have followed to be more trustworthy than if they are to simply try and connect similar themes between programs and careers. Schools should begin conducting this type of research and perhaps even include alumni interviews or mentorships for students, both programs that will also be helpful in building a student’s resume.
Overall, choosing the right university and program is a pivotal step in beginning any career. Students should have all the information they could possibly need to make the right decision, including the profession they might consider in the future. Universities need to take steps now to ensure that students’ potential futures are transparent and accessible.
Ainsley Thurgood/Photo Assistant
Remember that you aren’t the only ones who live here though
By: Derek Elliott, Contributor
Every September, the areas of Ainslie Wood and Westdale welcome a new group of McMaster University students who are eager to participate in university life and enjoy living in the area. Truth be told, there really is a lot to enjoy. You will find as you settle into the area that it is a great place to live. It’s very walkable and very convenient, close to Cootes Paradise, with parks and playgrounds, miles of cycling trails nearby, the recently renovated Westdale Theatre, lots of bars and restaurants and of course all the facilities that the university has to offer. You can even hop on a quick bus or train to Toronto, but Westdale has everything one would need.
For those of us who live in this area, the presence of McMaster students adds a spark of life that it otherwise just wouldn’t have. We really do hope you enjoy the few years that you will be living among us.
As a long-time Westdale resident myself, there are a few things I’d ask you to keep in mind.
Please be aware of those around you. Westdale and Ainslie Wood houses not just students, but many families and elderly folks live in the area. Some folks have very young children and some are commuters who have to get up early to travel for work.
Have a good time and enjoy yourself but remember that you need to keep the noise down, especially after 11:00 p.m. Unfortunately the mix of large numbers of young, energetic people, alcohol and/or other stimulants can result in otherwise decent responsible people acting in irresponsible ways. This can make things challenging for the more “permanent” residents of the areas surrounding campus.
In the age of cell phones and social media, a small gathering of friends can quickly get out of control. It happens at least once a year around here. If you’re renting a house and it happens to you, don’t be afraid to call the police for help. If you don’t, be assured that somebody else will and you’ll get the blame for the loud party.
Along the same lines, residents take pride in keeping our yards clean and tidy. It’s part of what makes the neighbourhood a pleasant one to live in. If you’re renting, please keep your yard in a reasonable state — free from garbage and overgrown weeds. When it snows, the sooner you shovel your sidewalk, the easier it is to do. You may be lucky enough to live next door to someone who has a snow blower. Many of us who do just keep going down the sidewalk when we’ve finished our own. In Hamilton the temperature fluctuations cause freezing and thawing which can lead to really dangerous conditions on sidewalks. If someone is injured, the signatory in your house could be held legally liable.
Consider this — if your parents or guardians were living in this neighbourhood, how would you behave? I know you're here for a good time, but please respect those of us who are here for a long time.
Welcome to the neighbourhood and by following these suggestions, we can all live together safely, comfortably and happily.
Black McMaster students reflect on the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020
This article is a part of the Sil Time Capsule, a series that reflects on 2020 with the aim to draw attention to the ways in which it has affected our community as well as the wider world.
In the summer of 2020, sparked by the death of George Floyd, there was a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests spread across the United States and the world. Businesses and individuals, both with and without a history of supporting Black communities, began posting messages of solidarity on social media and pledged to do better.
In just over a month, it will be a year since George Floyd was murdered. In addition to the killings, we have also seen how Black folks have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. For Black folks around the world, this year has been exhausting and retraumatizing.
It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing to learn of more killings and what little action has taken place. It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing for our organizers and protesters, who have been met with police violence. It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing to field questions and concern from those in our lives who have never before cared about our Blackness.
It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing for Black students. All year, Black students, alumni, staff and faculty have been observing McMaster University's response to the resurgence and continuing to advocate for safe spaces and meaningful action.
So as this academic year comes to a close, it was important for me as a Black woman at McMaster to use one of my last articles at the Silhouette to discuss how Black students have been dealing with this tumultuous year.
Student activism in summer 2020
On May 25, 2020, in Minnesota, George Floyd was killed while in police custody, for which now-former police officer Derek Chauvin currently is standing on trial, charged with murder and manslaughter. The news and video of Floyd’s murder flooded traditional news and social media. In the days and weeks that followed, protesters took to the streets across the United States and the world.
While this wasn’t the first time a Black person had been unjustly killed, for many, Black and non-Black alike, the summer of 2020 felt different. There are many factors that influenced the increased response, chief among them the pandemic. Black folks, who have been disproportionately affected, were fed up with government neglect while non-Black people quarantining at home had no choice but to pay attention.
“People rioting and actually protesting and doing stuff like that was the reason people started talking about it more, because, essentially you had something for white people to debate about and to fight about . . . [T]hat eventually just made a chain of events so people were being like, “Why are black people rioting?” Okay, well, why are black people rioting and then people were actually looking at it,” said Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association.
“People rioting and actually protesting and doing stuff like that was the reason people started talking about it more, because, essentially you had something for white people to debate about and to fight about . . . ”
Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association
Black McMaster students were among those protesting both online and offline last summer, continuing the work that many have been doing for years. For instance, on June 17, 2020, McMaster student organizers held a protest to demand the removal of the special constables on campus and the dismissal of Director of Security and Parking Services Glenn De Caire, who has a history of supporting the highly controversial practice of carding. Students have been advocating for De Caire’s removal since 2016.
Black students also spent the summer further educating themselves and having difficult conversations with friends, peers and others in their life.
“I actually did summer school in June, July . . . Since I'm in political science, race [is] a topic, especially during this course. I feel like I tried, as a Black person, to educate some of my fellow peers about what we experience,” explained fourth-year student and Women and Gender Equity Network Research Coordinator, Shae Owen.
Online, many students responded to McMaster’s statements on Floyd’s death and anti-Black racism at the university with demands that they fire De Caire. Students were quick to point out that McMaster’s statements did little to address Black students’ concerns and calls for action.
Both current and former students took to social media to share their experiences of racism at McMaster. Canadian football player and former McMaster student, Fabion Foote, tweeted about the systemic racism he experienced at McMaster, which was met with support from other Black McMaster students, alumni and faculty.
However, while students were generally glad to see increased awareness, many worried that it was performative or fleeting.
“Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. However, reposting on social media is classified as hardly doing anything, because it lacks your personal tone and influence,” wrote the Silhouette Production Editor and Black Students Association Photographer Sybil Simpson in a June 2020 Silhouette article.
Effects on mental health and academics
While Black students were at the forefront of the activism, many also found the summer and current academic year overwhelming. Students didn’t get to take a break from their everyday lives to grieve, having to continue to work, attend summer school classes and study for tests.
“In Nigeria — this was in October — there were killings of peaceful protesters . . . and that was very close to home. Things don't necessarily slow down. When all of this is happening, it's not like school pauses. You still have deadlines. I used my MSAF for the first time in four years last semester, that's how much I just felt like everything was going on. I had to ask for extensions and I couldn't make deadlines,” explained Toni Makanjuola, a fourth-year student and director of logistics with Black Aspiring Physicians of McMaster.
For some students, these feelings of being overwhelmed were compounded by the physical and emotional isolation caused by the pandemic. Students who were not able to go home to see family often had to deal with the devastating news on their own.
“There's a lot going on with just COVID by itself. I couldn't see my family because of COVID and I was already planning to see them. I think I mentioned I'm an international student and my parents live abroad and my family's kind of dispersed. So it was definitely a lonely time,” said Makanjuola.
“There's a lot going on with just COVID by itself. I couldn't see my family because of COVID and I was already planning to see them. I think I mentioned I'm an international student and my parents live abroad and my family's kind of dispersed. So it was definitely a lonely time.”
Toni Makanjuola, director of logistics with Black Aspiring Physicians of McMaster
Moreover, Black students expressed how the summer of 2020 changed their relationships. Students reported that they got closer to Black family members and friends as well as non-Black allies. On the other hand, relationships fractured with those in their lives that failed to check-in or speak out.
“I found myself being like, “okay, I can't actually be friends with this person, even if they make a racist joke like here and there.” That’s now too much for me. It wasn't too much before, but now that everything's become more extreme, my barriers have to become more extreme,” said Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association.
Response to university initiatives
During the summer, McMaster put out several statements, some of which addressed how the university intends to tackle anti-Black racism on campus. While none of these intended actions included firing De Caire as students had demanded, some positive actions included the accelerated hiring of Black faculty, the hiring of an anti-Black racism education coordinator and the announcement of a Black student services office.
“In terms of the hiring, I think that was extremely needed because personally, I'm in my fourth year, and this was like the first year that I've had Black professors and that's because I'm taking history . . . I'm interested in research right so [when I found a potential Black supervisor], I emailed her. I was so excited because I knew she wasn't there before. I got to share a research idea with her. But I don't know that I would have felt as comfortable emailing someone else,” said Makanjuola.
“In terms of the hiring, I think that was extremely needed because personally, I'm in my fourth year, and this was like the first year that I've had Black professors and that's because I'm taking history . . .
TONI MAKANJUOLA, DIRECTOR OF LOGISTICS WITH BLACK ASPIRING PHYSICIANS OF MCMASTER
However, the fact that many plans were created without the input of Black students begs whether they’ll be helpful at all.
“What little they do give to Black students, it's not even involving Black students that often and then they just kind of surprise us as if it's a gift . . . They design whatever services they think that we want rather than actually actively involving us and actively asking us, “what do you want, what do you need, what are you looking for in a Black Student Services, what do you think will help?”,” explained Parry.
In response to Foote’s tweets, the university organized a Black student-athlete review, which was completed in October and revealed “a culture of systemic anti-Black racism within the department.” However, many students believe the review did not do enough.
Some of those who were involved in the review noted that internal politics played a role in what actually made it into the report and how what was included was worded.
“[W]e know that they have their agenda and it's not in the interest of Black students most of the time. It was definitely disheartening to know that I was a part of a project that was doing that,” said Parry, who was part of the review’s task force.
Many students wondered why the review was restricted only to athletics when many of the stories told are experienced by Black students across campus. Others were eager to know what comes next.
“[The positive changes] are, however, being done so very slowly and with caution; this is unchartered territory for Mac. However, I’m growing increasingly frustrated, not only with the immediate aftermath but with the contents of the review. How could they let this happen? How has it taken so long for someone to finally put their foot down? Moreover, where the heck do we go from here?” wrote McMaster rugby player Payton Shank in a December 2020 Silhouette article.
Creating safe spaces
Support for Black McMaster students this year didn’t come directly from the university, but through the actions of Black students, faculty and staff. For example, on June 11, 2020, Black staff members facilitated a Black student virtual check-in to give students a safe space to share their thoughts and experiences.
Black community members at McMaster took on this work for no pay on top of their work, school and personal lives. Many Black students at McMaster are executives on multiple Black-focused clubs while the African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster offers mentorship and events with no funding from the university. However, because of the importance of these spaces, Black students, staff and faculty feel an obligation to continue.
“We are going to help ourselves and our siblings because there's not a lot of us at McMaster. But it kind of brought us closer together, because during that time a lot of clubs had talks and chill sessions and discussions . . . I even made some new friends that way,” said Owen.
“We are going to help ourselves and our siblings because there's not a lot of us at McMaster. But it kind of brought us closer together, because during that time a lot of clubs had talks and chill sessions and discussions . . . I even made some new friends that way.”
Shae Owen, WGEN Research Coordinator
All year, Black students have been continuing or creating clubs and events to have important conversations and take a break from the constant stress. Some of these new clubs came from discussions among students that occurred last summer, such as the Black BHSc Association.
Established Black clubs used their platforms to empower Black students and support new Black clubs. For example, BAP-MAC chose the theme Black Resilience for their annual iRISE conference and had talks and workshops dedicated to medical racism and health advocacy. In November 2020, the Black Student Mentorship Program held an event for first-year students that focused on coping with loneliness and online school.
“[The summer] also made me a lot more conscious of other people's mental health and that was like one of the reasons [behind] the loneliness event idea. Because of what I was experiencing during the time, I just thought it would be nice to do something where people could speak out and be vulnerable and know that they aren't alone with that during the school year, especially first years,” said Makanjuola, who came up with the idea for the BSMP event.
However, in creating these safe spaces, Black students had to be wary of other students infiltrating these spaces. On Nov. 20, 2020, the Law Aspiring Black Students of McMaster experienced a racist attack during their Zoom LABS Chat. Since then, Black clubs have been trained on how to avoid Zoom bombing and have had to take special care to avoid similar incidents.
“I was shaking because I never expected something like this to happen at a university, especially because we can’t put a face to the name. We don’t know who these people are. So it’s like am I walking amongst people who feel this way, am I sitting in classes with people who could possibly infiltrate a chat?” said Maab Mahmoud, the vice-president of events for LABS, during diversity services’ podcast, Listen Up.
The incident served as a reminder of the importance of safe spaces, but also made it clear that Black students at McMaster are not safe among their peers. This was also seen in the reactions to Black student initiatives such as the new Black engineering student scholarship, where non-Black McMaster students complained that it gave Black students an unfair advantage.
“Mac did the exact same thing where they just go, yeah, here's the scholarship to help Black students. We're going to ignore all that shit about non-Black students attacking Black students . . . we're going to continually let you go to school with and live with your abusers, constantly,” said Parry.
Yet through it all, Black students have continued to be there for one another and create places where they can be seen and heard. We do not know what the future holds and if the university will become a safer space for Black students.
But I know that we are resilient. As I graduate this year, I have faith that the Black students, staff and faculty of tomorrow will continue to make McMaster a place where Black students can succeed.
How tenures detrimentally impact the student body’s satisfaction with their education
C/O Erol Ahmed
Imagine this: you just finished a gruelling midterm. Every part of you is sweating and it is taking every ounce of energy in you not to cry. Instead, you pool your remaining bodily resources in order to absorb the shock of what just happened.
You slug past the next couple of hours as you wait for the (inevitable) fury of students rushing towards the Mac subreddit to vent away their frustrations while folks in similar positions give their sympathies. You are an audience member to that subreddit and you wonder to yourself: how on Earth is *insert professor* employed?
For many new students in a challenging university like McMaster University, this thought surely has crossed students’ minds plenty of times with each evaluation season. Once you’ve been in the education system too long, it is easy to get desensitized towards just how odd this phenomenon is in post-secondary learning.
Despite the countless negative student evaluations and scathing Rate My Professor reviews, why does it appear that many faculty members appear to evade any consequences? After all, is it not the case everywhere else that if you do a bad job then you are bound to face the consequences?
Despite the countless negative student evaluations and scathing Rate My Professor reviews, why does it appear that many faculty members appear to evade any consequences?
One word: tenure.
It took me a while to really understand the concept. Essentially, tenures are the ultimate mode of job security an educational institution can possibly offer to its professors and is a process by which an academician can become a permanent faculty member of an institution without fear of reprisal due to their academic interests.
Since tenures are highly sought after, an academician must undergo a gruelling process to prove their worthiness and demonstrate why they deserve tenure to a larger committee.
Although being tenured may be an ideal position for an academic intellectual who has dedicated their life to pursuing a field of study, I strongly believe that the way tenure stands now serves to greatly disservice the student body.
While I am absolutely in favour of hardworking professors reaping the fruits of their labour and enriching our universities with their expertise, tenure can definitely be done in a manner that protects the professors from unjust treatment without compromising on taking student critique seriously.
While I am absolutely in favour of hardworking professors reaping the fruits of their labour and enriching our universities with their expertise, tenure can definitely be done in a manner that protects the professors from unjust treatment without compromising on taking student critique seriously.
I believe that addressing student opinion surrounding a faculty member should be done promptly and in a manner that makes student voices heard is the best way to change our places of learning for the better.
It is too often that students internalize the hopeless, long processes required to bring any matter to attention and instead bicker among themselves until there is a negative stigma around specific faculty members, departments and courses.
Tenures indirectly allow student criticism to increase and grow more and more severe against particulars of an institution throughout the years. This fosters an incredibly negative student opinion of certain faculties, which in turn allows for students’ perceptions of the reputation of the department and its members to supersede their passion for the subject.
If universities want to remain relevant as legitimate institutions of learning, we have a collective responsibility to change the culture of silencing student criticisms and adopting a student-first approach. It is students who drive it forward and if we wish to make progress in student satisfaction, it must start with a strong reevaluation of the outdated tenure system.
Virtual conferences have helped some students feel connected to the community during the pandemic
C/O Alexandra Koch on Pixabay
Each year McMaster University hosts at least half a dozen conferences, most of which are student-run. Most students are guaranteed to attend at least one of these conferences during their time at university. These events bring together like-minded and passionate individuals, offering them a chance to learn more about niche topics and network with a larger community.
As with all campus events this year, conferences have had to adjust their approach due to the pandemic and make the transition to the virtual environment. For many of these conferences — that typically occur during the latter half of the winter semester — planning has been well underway since the summer or early fall.
Similar to the conferences themselves, this planning took place exclusively in the virtual environment, through Zoom calls and group chats, as students sought out new ways to carry forward events that they had loved in past years in these strange times.
Unlike typical in-person conferences which often follow a similar format, each virtual conference this year looked slightly different, with organizers choosing the platform and structure that best suited their needs.
For example, the arts and science program’s New World of Work Forum used Microsoft Teams to host a week-long series of events as opposed to their typical one-day conference. On the other hand, McMaster Model UN used the platform Gatherly to allow delegates to interact in a manner more reminiscent of a typical conference.
“What was really great about [Gatherly] was that you're able to see everybody's faces and in a way you're able to have different floors. So comparing it to where the conference would have taken place, Gatherly had different floors that you could go through and I know delegates who really enjoyed that. So it wasn't like you had to leave a Zoom chat, and then join another one to go see your friends on another committee, you just go through the different floors. It was like a real Model UN conference,” explained Zahra Panju, one of the MacMUN executives.
"So comparing it to where the conference would have taken place, Gatherly had different floors that you could go through and I know delegates who really enjoyed that. So it wasn't like you had to leave a Zoom chat, and then join another one to go see your friends on another committee, you just go through the different floors. It was like a real Model UN conference."
Zahra Panju
MacMUN executive
McMaster Energy Association and McMaster Indigenous Health Movement both used Zoom to host their conferences, allowing students the flexibility to drop in for events.
“[The conference] usually runs from the morning around till 5 o'clock and this year it was on a drop-in basis. We just provided the same Zoom link for the whole day so no one was obligated to stay the whole time. No one really wants to stay in front of a computer from nine to five. We understood that and so we made it a drop-in basis,” Iyah Alideeb, one of the co-presidents of McMaster’s Energy Association.
Many groups also recorded their events so that if students couldn’t attend the live event, they would still be able to attend in a way.
While this flexibility is something that many students appreciated about virtual conferences, it also might have contributed to the lack of connection others felt. Typically, many of these conferences involve formal or informal networking events that allow students to connect with each other as well as professors and other community members. However, such events are difficult in the virtual environment.
“When you have that in-person experience, you're networking with so many people, you're basically surrounded by so many different people who have similar goals and interests to you . . . So that does build a sense of community. I guess that it was a bit harder this year just because not everyone has a camera and you can just drop in and drop out. There wasn't really a networking session, because it made it difficult to balance the professionalism of Zoom and using Zoom Webinar, versus a regular Zoom call that might not spotlight the speakers well enough,” said Alideeb.
When you have that in-person experience, you're networking with so many people, you're basically surrounded by so many different people who have similar goals and interests to you . . . So that does build a sense of community. I guess that it was a bit harder this year just because not everyone has a camera and you can just drop in and drop out.
Iyah Alideeb
co-president of McMaster’s Energy Association
Although networking in the traditional sense was difficult, some students noted that they appreciated the opportunity the virtual format provided to invite speakers from across the country or even around the world, who may not have been able to attend if the event was in person.
“We had a speaker from the Northwest Territories who was able to join us, who we probably wouldn't have been able to have at an in-person conference, just due to costs and travel and things like that. So that was a real positive of the Zoom format,” said Konrad Kucheran, one of the students behind the Indigenous Health Conference.
Furthermore, many students involved in organizing these events felt that they were able to form strong connections with students also on planning committees. There was not only a sense of solidarity as they navigated these new experiences together but also a sense of community and connection as they worked to make the events they cared for so passionately a reality.
“I think definitely within our team — we have a team of eight executive members plus a writing team — so I think it was definitely good community-building for us, facing the challenge together and all figuring out how to run an online conference,” explained Desmond Kennedy, co-president of McMaster Energy Association.
“I would say the conference and more specifically the club that put it on are really one of the only ways this year that I've managed to have that sense of community. Discussion posts in classes and things like that don't really cut it in terms of creating that connection to community and so on. So [the Indigenous Health Conference] has been great for developing community,” said Kucheran.
I would say the conference and more specifically the club that put it on are really one of the only ways this year that I've managed to have that sense of community.
Konrad Kucheran
Indigenous Health Conference Organizer
Students did note though that they were concerned this same sense of community might not have been felt by the conference attendees, for similar reasons as to why networking was difficult. The virtual environment demands a kind of proactive element to forming connections that just isn’t present when you are physically in the same space as others.
“I think, because it was purely online and certain friend groups had joined together, there was still a barrier, where it wasn't like you could just go and talk to them after [the conference] because everyone is just signing out the platform . . . you just left the platform and went on to do your own work,” said Panju.
Organizers also found it difficult to reach students, first-years in particular, noting that not everyone has social media or follows their particular accounts while almost everyone would have been able to view a poster put up in the McMaster University Student Centre.
It’s important to remember that even though it has been just over a year since the pandemic was officially declared, that these events are still new and that we’re all still learning. The hard work and care these students have done to ensure these conferences continued to run as best as possible are commendable. There certainly would have been much less to look forward to and many fewer opportunities to connect without them.
“Because even if you can't reach as many people, those that you do, it'll still have an impact on them. So I think still providing opportunities for people to get involved, even if it's not the year when people are able to as easily get involved, I think that is still an important thing to do,” emphasized Kennedy.
McMaster to shift student emails and calendars to Microsoft 365 starting in May
C/O Maxim Ilyahov on Unsplash
On March 8, McMaster University announced that all student email platforms will be changed from Gmail to Microsoft 365 cloud in May 2021.
On March 8, McMaster University announced that all student email platforms will be changed from Gmail to Microsoft 365 cloud in May 2021.
All faculty, staff, retirees, and medical students have already made this transition in 2020.
“The feedback that we've had so far from staff, faculty and our medical students has been extremely positive,” said Gayleen Gray, chief technology officer at McMaster.
This change comes from the McMaster IT strategic plan that was launched in 2019 to improve the digital tools that the institution uses.
“There's a number of initiatives to bring the institution forward into what we call a 21st-century university,” said Gray.
These initiatives include more modern digital toolsets, collaboration tools and projects that will help McMaster work, learn and teach. The overall goal is for the university to work more creatively and collaboratively.
“There's a number of initiatives to bring the institution forward into what we call a 21st-century university,” said Gray.
Although students already have access to Microsoft 365 products, the conversion to Microsoft will streamline communication and online collaborative tools to one platform.
“[University Technology Services] also learned that when people have their email and calendaring integrated into the Microsoft suite of tools, they tend to be a lot more curious, a lot more interested in and more embedded in the opportunities that are available there,” said Gray.
The change was partially made to improve the accessibility of the email and calendar systems. International students will have easier access to Microsoft than Gmail. According to the Office 365 Hub website, the university hopes to prepare students for professional environments through an early introduction to Microsoft 365, as the majority of workplaces utilize Microsoft services.
The email migration will occur in May 2021, after the winter 2021 semester is over. A communication plan and strategy will be announced in April 2021 to explain this process. The email migration will be managed by the project team and all existing emails, calendars and contacts will be copied to students’ Microsoft Exchange/Outlook account.
Students will have access to their Google Apps for Education environment, such as Google Drive, for both the fall 2021 and winter 2022 terms, according to Gray. Students will also be notified before their McMaster GSuite account is fully terminated in 2022, to allow them to manually back up and save any data they wish before this happens.
This change will allow the university to avoid the costs that they would have faced in 2022 due to the recent announcements of the changes to storage policy that would reduce the amount of storage available for institutions using Google for Education environments. The switch to Microsoft will allow McMaster to avoid costs in upgrading to additional storage
“We were looking at the opportunities and weighing them out and the reality is, it won't make sense for us to stay within that Google for Education environment, explained Gray.
Due to the high amount of data that students currently store, the transition was inevitable. Some McMaster students have expressed concerns anonymously on social media, while others have started a petition against this transition.
[#1131] mcmastsr switching from gmail to microsoft is a change no one asked for
Posted by Mac Confessions on Monday, March 8, 2021
This decision was made with the input of the IT student advisory committee and the multidisciplinary project steering committee. The project steering committee includes two undergraduate students, two graduate students, a faculty member, chief librarian, the McMaster Students Union president, along with the chief technology officer and a few other individuals.
“Our biggest goal is to ensure that this is as smooth a process as we possibly can make it. We're very interested in the feedback that we've been hearing because it's helping us to ensure that we're gearing the project to make it as smooth as possible,” said Gray.
[#1132] Wow. Genuinely angry that McMaster is switching to Microsoft 365. Gmail is just SO much better in my opinion. I...
Posted by Mac Confessions on Monday, March 8, 2021
“We've heard from students who had concerns and [who are] feeling uncertain about it . . . we're always happy to hear from students, we're taking that information and we'll use it to help us improve the way the project rolls out,” Gray explained.
For students that are unfamiliar with Microsoft 365 tools or want to learn more about them, training and one-on-one sessions will be held throughout the migration to provide support. These can be accessed through the Microsoft 365 Hub as the change occurs. They can also access the frequently asked questions list, which will be continually updated.
“We will have lots of time come the end of the semester to focus on this and to support students and answer all of their questions . . . rest easy and we've got your back,” said Gray.
Following a CHEM 1AA3 midterm, students have expressed privacy and security-related concerns use of Respondus Lockdown Browser
C/O Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities have had to adapt to online learning for the 2020-2021 school year. As a result, professors have faced unique challenges with respect to teaching and assessing students virtually.
One such challenge is ensuring academic integrity, which can be difficult in an online context because professors cannot monitor the test-taking process as easily. In response to this difficulty, many universities have relied on proctoring software to prevent cheating. At McMaster University, the most commonly used proctoring software is Respondus Lockdown Browser.
Though potentially valuable from an academic integrity standpoint, many people have raised privacy and security-related concerns about requiring students to download proctoring software. McMaster students appear to share these concerns, as many have voiced them on Reddit over the past few months.
Concerns about proctoring software have recently received a lot of attention from students, following the CHEM 1AA3 midterm on Feb. 6, 2021. The Silhouette discussed the CHEM 1AA3 midterm and the potential problems surrounding proctoring software with a student, who has been granted anonymity to ensure that they do not receive academic backlash for coming forward.
Concerns about proctoring software have recently received a lot of attention from students, following the CHEM 1AA3 midterm on Feb. 6, 2021.
This student reported that their laptop shut down directly after the CHEM 1AA3 midterm. They also said that they have been in contact with numerous other students who faced technical difficulties during and following the midterm, including computer lags, computer shutdowns, emails about compromised passwords and multiple contact attempts from unknown numbers.
The student added that, of the students who experienced technical difficulties of some kind, 16 have reached out to the chemistry department.
The student said that as the chemistry department was unable to solve the problem at all, their only response was telling students to report it to Avenue Support or to the Respondus company.
“It should have been [the chemistry department] taking responsibility,” the student added.
“It should have been [the chemistry department] taking responsibility,” the student added.
Jay Robb, manager of communications for the faculty of science, stated that the chemistry department took student concerns seriously.
“[The chemistry department] encouraged the students to reach out on technical issues and get answers around that,” Robb said.
According to Robb, the chemistry department plans to continue using Respondus Lockdown Browser and to give students an additional 30 minutes on exams, to account for any technical difficulties that might arise. Robb explained the chemistry department’s reasons for using proctoring software.
“We need to maintain the academic integrity and protect the value of every student’s credit,” Robb said.
CHEM 1AA3 students are not the only ones to have raised concerns about McMaster’s use of proctoring software over the past month. On Feb. 22, 2021, the Student Representative Assembly put out a statement in support of students’ concerns about McMaster’s use of Respondus Lockdown Browser.
In their statement, the Student Representative Assembly called on McMaster to respond to student concerns about privacy and security and to provide all students with alternative methods of assessment if they do not consent to the use of Respondus Lockdown Browser.
Christy Au-Yeung, a co-leader of the SRA’s science caucus, explained that it was a challenge to find information regarding the protection of student privacy on Respondus.
“The onus is on the university to do a better job of informing students [about Respondus] and giving them the option to protect their privacy,” said Simranjeet Singh, co-leader of the SRA’s science caucus.
According to Au-Yeung, the experiences that students had with the CHEM 1AA3 midterm were an integral factor in the SRA’s decision to release a statement.
“There were issues in that test, some caused by Respondus and some not, which caused the unfortunate scenario and motivated us to act,” Singh said.
“There were issues in that test, some caused by Respondus and some not, which caused the unfortunate scenario and motivated us to act.”
Simranjeet Singh
Singh noted that some unrelated technological issues faced by individual students may have been grouped together with concerns more directly related to Respondus.
However, he added, the additional pressure of Respondus on students’ internet may have been a factor, even for students who experienced difficulties unrelated to Respondus.
Au-Yeung and Singh both emphasized that the SRA wants student perspectives to be heard.
“Obviously [McMaster] can’t change what’s in the past, but moving forward [we hope that] students continue to be consulted,” Au-Yeung said.
