A recent ranking of the top Canadian research universities saw Queen’s University fall from the top 15.
The ranking pulls data from 2022, and is based on the overall sponsored research income of an institution – coming from grants, contracts or contributions from any external source.
Given the university closes for the holidays as of Friday, a spokesperson said they would be unable to comment in time for publication.
Queen’s is still listed as a member of the U15 Canada Association, but it’s unclear if they may be excluded from that group in future as their research income takes them just outside the top 15 country wide.
Justyna Szewczyk-El Jassem, a history student and the president of PSAC 901, said she thinks the university putting too much on the plates of grad student workers is contributing to a decline in research income and quality.
She says for grad student workers, both research and teaching assistant (TA) work is suffering due to the university spreading them to thin.
“We did notice there’s a cut in TA hours but the workload remains the same,” Szewczyk-El Jassem said.
“The number of students is the same or higher and the number of hours dedicated to grading an undergraduate student, how this undergraduate student is supposed to improve their work? And the university is counting on our dedication to our undergraduate students, which we are dedicated and very often doing it at the expense of our time for research.”
Szewczyk-El Jassem says based on massive cuts that the university says are necessary over the next two school years, the problem is only going to get worse.
She says Queen’s looks like it will rely even further upon grad student workers, impacting the quality of education and potentially deterring prospective students.
“I would definitely have second, third and fourth thoughts about it because as a prospective student, what I would be facing is large classes,” Szewczyk-El Jassem said.
“So less specialized, less trained, tailored type of teaching, more teaching done by grad students… We’re good at what we do, but we can’t take the brunt of teaching… At the end of the day for us, it’s a professional development opportunity, it’s not our primary task as graduate student workers.”
In total, the ranking says Queen’s generated $182,607 in 2022, down roughly $45,000 from 2021 where the school ranked 13th.
