1,000 students could withdraw from St. Clair College following 5-week strike
There's a final-day dash to the registrar's office at St. Clair College to meet Tuesday's withdrawal deadline for programs and still receive a full tuition refund due to the five week faculty strike this fall.
An official with the college said that by mid-day, 875 full-time students have withdrawn.
Benjie Dagoose is one of the students who visited the registrar's office to withdraw from his program.
He went back to classes for his Border Services diploma after the strike, but found making up for lost time was becoming too stressful.
"Tried it for a bit, like two or three days, but you have all of these things coming at you," said Dagoose. "Instead of one midterm or assignment every week you're having three in one week just to catch up."
He said getting a tuition refund made his decision easier.
"I'm going to try to do what's best for me and best for my education," said Dagoose, showing his pink withdrawal form.
Other students in line also told CBC News they found the course load too much to handle when they returned to school following the strike.
An official with St. Clair College said the school won't have a final count until Thursday morning of how many students withdrew from their program.
100 students have been withdrawing each day
About 200 to 300 students withdraw from their programs in an average fall semester, according to the college's registrar, Michael Silvaggi.
"We've been averaging about 100 a day [since the strike]," he added, explaining he expects more than 1,000 students to withdraw from the college before the deadline.
Silvaggi said anyone who withdraws will be accepted into their program the next time it's offered by the school — if they choose to return for a "fresh start."
Silvaggi also encouraged students who miss the deadline and would still like to withdraw from the program with a full tuition refund to visit the registrar's office.
"We'll have the conversation with them," he said. "There's all kinds of extenuating circumstances and we certainly always look at extenuating circumstances."
