Mohawk College slammed after shuttering one-of-a-kind Accessible Media Production program

Mohawk College is facing criticism over its move to shutter its Accessible Media Production program — a one-of-a-kind program geared toward making the country more accessible to people with disabilities.

The eight month, online, post graduation certificate program teaches students how to create accessible content, like captions and described video, as well as delving into disability legislation and inclusive writing. It also includes a capstone project.

While the school in Hamilton says the program will be replaced by micro-credentials and no content will be lost, the program's creator, who is also the lead on developing the micro-credentials, is skeptical.

The full-time college program is the only of its kind in Canada and critics say the college's decision will have a huge impact.

"Accessibility and disability must be a higher priority for the college than meeting enrolment targets and the suspension of this program cannot simply be viewed through the lens of "business decision", but rather, as a decision impacting disability human rights and Disability Justice goals," reads an open letter to the college from concerned students and community members.

Mohawk College's Chief Operating Officer, Paul Armstrong, told CBC Hamilton the full-time program won't be reinstated anytime soon.

He said he disagrees with the idea that there will be an impact on the industry by ending the full-time program.

He said the school is moving away from the full-time program because of enrolment numbers.

Since fall 2017 he said there have been just 41 graduates — 30 from the full-time post-graduate program and 11 through part-time studies.

"Enrolment in this delivery format has been a challenge right since we started," he said.

Armstrong said since 2017, the college has spent $85,000 to $100,000 a year to keep the program running. 

Some critics have pointed out the employment rate for graduates of the program is 91 per cent and say the problem is in the school's marketing efforts.

Armstrong said the program was nearly suspended in 2020 for the same reason and said the school has tried advertising but enrolment levels haven't changed.

"It's not from lack of effort on anyone's part to try and recruit students," he said.