Langara cuts markers, tells faculty to “get creative”

By AJ WATT

Langara is eliminating markers who help instructors grade writing-heavy assignments, and faculty say the administration’s only guidance has been to “get creative.”

The college is cutting marker funding April 1 as part of an effort to address a financial crisis following a federal cap on international students in 2024.

In an emailed statement to the Voice, David Anderson, interim provost and vice-president, academic, said marker budgets “have been removed as part of broader efforts to manage costs responsibly.”

Greater load on faculty

Instructors were told about the cuts mid-semester, after they had already planned their courses with markers in mind, said Erfan Rezaie, a physics and astronomy instructor and Langara Faculty Association board member-at-large.

“They told us … there’s not going to be any more money for markers, even though instructors had already planned their semester, their syllabus, their course outlines, all their assessments,” he said.

When faculty asked administration how to manage the added workload, they were told the ‘get creative,’ Rezaie said. He said the response showed college administrators “have no idea what we do and they don’t really seem to care.”

Simon Rolston, an English instructor, said markers make a big difference in writing-heavy departments like English, where instructors read five-page essays line by line.

He said he doesn’t know what “get creative” means, nor does he think it’s helpful.

“[It’s] not a great way of supporting staff and supporting students,” Rolston said. “The thing with instructors is that we care about students and students’ work.

“So of course we’re going to get creative in order to be able to give students the kind of help and support that we think that they need, given the resources we have.”

The departments most affected by the cuts are humanities, social sciences and science, said Spencer Dane, division chair of creative arts and industries, in an email to the Voice.

No alternative support

The Langara Faculty Association says it has been given no indication the college plans to reduce class sizes or offer alternative supports to offset the loss of markers, said Raged Anwar, a vice-president of college relations for the LFA, in an email to the Voice. Langara has the largest class caps in the sector in the province, he said, with the college setting class sizes at 29 students “but in practice some classes are much larger and others are smaller.”

Andrea van Deijck, a professional marker at Langara and Douglas College, marked 4,500 papers last year. She said markers offer a perspective instructors don’t have time for.

“I can pick out very quickly whether something sounds like AI or not. Patterns emerge,” said van Deijck.

She said while Langara only paid markers minimum wage, Douglas College, which still uses markers, pays her $25 an hour.

The Voice reached out to the college communications department on Tuesday to ask how many markers were employed and how much they were paid, but did not hear back by publication time.

Rolston said markers are not simply an “added benefit.”

“It actually has an effect on our ability to support students in their own learning,” he said.