Mursal Abrahimi and Cedra Natafjie arrived at their student advisor appointments at the Faculty of Health Sciences this morning only to find them cancelled.
The two first-year Practical Nursing students explained they made appointments to sort out their class schedules.
Abrahimi had been trying to book an appointment with her student advisor for months before she finally got one. After a three-hour commute from Scarborough, she says she received a cancellation email two hours before her appointment.
”It’s frustrating because we’re here trying to do our studies, we’re trying to do something, we’re trying to make ourselves better, but they’re not helping us,” Abrahimi says.
The cancellation of student advisor appointments is connected to the full-time support staff strike.
An email from Durham College (DC) to students said services such as technical support, admissions and student services will be disrupted by the work stoppage.
Additionally, full-time support staff have begun to picket at entrances to the college campus.
Some students say they have already been affected by the picketing impeding traffic flow to the campus.
Emily Cross, a first-year Sports Management student, says it was difficult for her to get to class on time this morning as only three cars were allowed into the parking lot at a time.
She says the sounds of whistles and car horns could be heard from her class in the Student Services Building. She says the sounds were a distraction as she tried to pay attention to her lesson.
“They have the right to strike, it’s up to them, but it does become a pain especially when it is interrupting students trying to get into class,” Cross says.
Although the college says classes and activities will continue as scheduled, students says they are left to navigate through the uncertainty which leaves them with fewer of the support resources they require for success.
“I understand that they’re going through a lot, but we’re also going through a lot,” Abrahimi says. “Maybe the students should go on strike at this point, because it’s just not fair.”