I am a student at Athabasca University and have been since 2020.  This year in the news we were informed that our degrees are in jeopardy as the Alberta government is making threats to pull our schools 3.4 million dollars a month in funding. All because they want to play chicken with the school to see who concedes first in a battle of demands. Athabasca University has been moving towards a near virtual environment and provides education to tens of thousands of students not only across Canada but worldwide, who would otherwise not be able to obtain a degree for various reasons, as in-class schooling is not possible for them. The Alberta government does not like the universities shift to a near virtual environment which includes allowing staff to live anywhere as they would work from home. This also means the school is able to hire the best so that students have the best experience rather than being limited to those who live in the rural community of Athabasca Alberta. The Alberta government wants the University to have majority of it staff living in the small rural community. This is not feasible and is not good for the school or the students.  This demand means the school will have to pay to relocate hundreds of staff out of student dollars. We have already had our tuition increased nearly 21% over the last 3 years due to this government removing the cap on tuition, we cannot afford any more increases. Our tuition is already one of the highest in the country and our courses do not reflect this in quality. We are continuously told that things will get better once we move to the near virtual environment but now the Alberta government wants to stop this from happening. Our degrees and we as students are not pawns in a game. We are voting adults who's very livelihood is being threatened.  Thousands of students rely on student loans to support their families and pay their bills while going to school here. If the government decides to pull funding by the end of August as they are threatening, the school will not be able to function for more than one additional month. This means that students will not be able to partake in courses and will lose access to their student loans. This could potentially cause not only massive repercussions for the school itself but for the students as inflation has people living so close to losing everything.  We want the Alberta government to know that we do not agree with this game of chicken. That we are not pawns in this game and we will not be treated this way. We will not stand for this bullying and intimidation tactic by the Alberta government towards our school. We are voting members and we will ensure that our votes will be in favor of an alternate party if the government continues in this tirade . We have signed this petition to inform you of our concerns and hope that you take it seriously.

When signing this petition please include your location and details as to whether you are a student or someone who will be affected by this. Please let the Alberta government know how this will affect you personally and how you will be dealing with this come election time in the comment part of the petition.  If you are not a student and are simply a supporter of our school and our student body please include that information as well so that the Alberta government can see that it's not just the students that this is affecting and that there are other people in this province who will not stand for it. If you do not live in Alberta please sign this petition as well especially if you are student who this is affecting. It is important that they understand that we are not only in Alberta or even Canada but we are united as one. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/province-threatens-funding-cuts-to-athabasca-university-over-virtual-campus-plan-1.6539085