With the deadline for Summer registration just a few days away (April 26, 2016), some international students continue to see their accounts blocked by York. This is in spite of the fact that many such students are owed money for tuition offset amounts won in arbitration April 4.
“Members who are owed over $10,000 by the university continue to be blocked and are scrambling to find money in the complete absence of information from the university,” says 3903 Grievance officer Sonja Killoran-McKibbin.
The employer maintains that affected individuals who are anticipated to receive tuition offset payments such that any remaining outstanding fees are at or below $1000 will have the block lifted. Students whose anticipated settlement amount will leave outstanding fees of up to $3500 will be invited to speak with FGS about repayment of fees in order to lift the registration block. There are a handful of students whose anticipated settlement amount will leave higher outstanding fees. This group will also be sent a communication indicating that they will need to discuss with FGS their plans for payment of the fees in order for the registration block to be lifted.
CUPE 3903 reps, however, find this unacceptable. As Killoran-McKibbin put it “after waiting two weeks, it’s completely inadequate to tell us that members may or may not have their block lifted (at some point) based on unfinished calculations that neither the member nor the union have access to. We’re now a couple days before the deadline with no plan to communicate to members, no concrete figures to justify your categorizations, and no way to address errors.”
If you are an international student affected by such blocks, please contact Killoran-McKibbin or 3903 staff representatives for more information or updates on this developing issue.