Intake suspension for U of G master’s program leaves applicants reeling

Chelsea McMullan was one of 198 applicants for the CFT program before student intake was suspended. CREDIT: CHELSEA MCMULLAN

The university’s sudden suspension of student intake for the CFT program has damaged the school’s reputation amongst some prospective students

ELENI KOPSAFTIS

Application season for MA programs is coming to an end, and students are starting to receive their response letters. After several hours spent perfecting resumes and toiling over cover letters, some individuals who applied to the University of Guelph’s Couples and Family Therapy (CFT) program were disappointed when they were rejected from the program.

For many, that feeling turned to frustration when they learned the university was no longer accepting new applicants in the first place.

The CFT program is managed under the department of family relations and applied nutrition, and it is one of only a few family and couples-specific therapy MA offered in and around the GTA area.

Ben Bradshaw is the U of G graduate department’s assistant vice president. His role is to ensure the integrity of the university’s graduate degree programs.

Bradshaw told The Ontarion that although the U of G had every intention of accepting new students into their CFT program when applications were sent in, the admissions department had to suspend its intake of new students for the fall 2022 semester.

“The department of family relations and applied nutrition very recently came to an unfortunate conclusion that it didn’t have the capacity to take in another cohort,” said Bradshaw. While he stated that he cannot provide details as to the reason why intake was suspended, he does say it is related to the pandemic.

“It’s such an intensive training program to become a counsellor with a huge amount of professional practice that’s built into that program, so that makes it very difficult to take in huge numbers.”

Students already in the program are continuing their studies, and the university plans to take in a new cohort in the fall of 2023.

Because the decision to suspend intake was not made until after applicants had submitted their documents and application fees to the university, most students were not informed of the situation. The 178 applicants who were reviewed and denied only received a standard rejection letter from the university. Meanwhile, 20 were told they would be shortlisted for an interview for the fall 2023 semester.

Because the suspension wasn’t implemented until after the department had created the shortlist, many students learned about the situation on GradCafe forums in mid-February, long before the university addressed it in March.

At the time, the only way anyone could learn anything about the suspension was through GradCafe or by emailing the U of G admissions office directly. This led to much confusion and frustration amongst those who submitted an application fee for a program that wouldn’t even be running.

Chelsea McMullan is a graduate student with a combined BA in English and psychology, neuroscience, and behaviour from McMaster University. She finished her studies with honours in 2014 before attending the paralegal program at Fanshawe College the following year. She has since been working at a legal clinic for the past six years.

Her psychology education and legal experience, along with a diagnosis of anxiety, fueled her desire to pursue the CFT program at U of G.

“With my own mental health struggles, I know firsthand the difference a therapist can make in the lives of their clients and I want to be able to do that for others,” said McMullan to The Ontarion.

“At the end of the day, I want to be able to help people who need it, especially those with low incomes, like I've been doing for the last half a decade but in a way that doesn't trigger my anxiety.”

In hopes of making it into the CFT program, McMullan submitted her required documents and paid the $120 application fee in November 2021. She ended up being rejected by the school only to later learn about the program’s suspension through other prospective students online.

“The rejection letter sent to applicants by the university simply states you were not accepted for Fall 2022 and does not mention that the program will not be run,” she said.

A refund for McMullan’s application fee was not offered in this letter.

“It's very frustrating to feel taken advantage of financially by a publicly-run university during a time when many families find their finances heavily impacted by the pandemic and the steadily rising cost of living.”

It wasn’t until March 14 that the university began issuing refunds to all 198 applicants.

According to Bradshaw, applicants were given the choice between a cheque, an Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) voucher that can be used to apply again next year to CFT or any other U of G program, or a Visa gift card.

Despite receiving a refund, McMullan says her experience with the program has been eye-opening, in a negative way.

“I'm glad they listened to us and are working on issuing refunds. However, I don't think it should have taken this level of advocacy for them to do the right thing. Refunds are being issued only because their reputation has been impacted,” said McMullan.

She also notes that those who apply to such programs often do so because they want to be able to help others, so the university’s handling of the situation felt ironically unempathetic.

“Despite the CFT program having been my top choice, I won't be applying to that program again, or to the University of Guelph for that matter. This has left such a bad taste in my mouth [that] I'd rather go to another university.”

While McMullan’s feelings towards the program have soured, other applicants agree that the problem should never have happened in the first place.

Another applicant, who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid potentially hurting their chances at getting into a different MA program, told The Ontarion that they saw the refund as the least the school could do by that point.

“They can’t do anything about … the time wasted for our references, the time we wasted on the application, getting it in by the deadline and all that,” they said.

The applicant had also learned about the intake issue on GradCafe. While users online were already discussing the suspension, their application status was still listed as ‘documents received.’ They needed to email the department of family relations and applied nutrition to confirm that there would be no new cohort that semester.

At the time, the department also informed them that they would not be reimbursed for the application fee.

The school’s decision to eventually issue refunds ultimately did not change their feelings about the situation.

“I would never apply again, and I would broadcast to anybody I know that’s trying to go into the field not to apply [to the CFT program at U of G]. They totally acted as if their program was going to happen, and that could easily happen again,” they said.

Overall, the experience left them feeling disappointed, unimpressed, and shocked. While they said that U of G was a good school, they no longer believe it is reliable.

The suspension of student intake at such a late stage in the application process was unprecedented, and unfortunately, it has left many individuals disheartened.

“I understand why people are frustrated,” said Bradshaw. “[The intake suspension is] not ideal, not what we’d like, but we're taking what I think are the right steps to rectify the situation.”

Ultimately, it is up to applicants to decide whether enough is being done to assuage the situation.