Economics professor under heat for concerning teaching methods
Recent petition circulates the internet after students express their dissatisfaction with U of T Professor Lee Bailey.

Recently, Professor Lee Bailey of the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) has been facing backlash from students expressing concerns about his teaching style. As a result, students are calling on UTM’s Economics department and executive committee to investigate this issue in greater detail. 

Bailey has been employed at U of T’s Mississauga and St. George campuses since 1997, when UTM was still known as Erindale College. Since then, he has taught nearly 200 courses and has been recognized on the U of T website for his love for teaching. 

However, some students have indicated the opposite by voicing their concerns on multiple platforms such as Reddit, Rate My Professors, and various social media platforms.

According to some individuals, Bailey demonstrates a “low level of commitment” within his courses and sets “unrealistic expectations” for his students. 

The aforementioned concerns include the following: outdated course content being assigned to students, a course structure that does not accommodate students with disabilities and learning disadvantages, eliminating the use of Zoom chats during lecture, preventing students to ask questions, inability to contact Bailey or course teaching assistants and more. The concerns are centered around Bailey’s teaching in ECO200Y5 (Microeconomic Theory).

Currently, a petition on Change.org is circulating on the internet where students are demanding for an investigation to be conducted. As of Sunday, November 21, the petition has more than 240 signatures with a goal of 500. 

Creator of the petition, Satoshi Nakamoto, writes a call to action directed at UTM within the description regarding Bailey’s lack of ability to deliver reliable teaching methods.

“We students are calling on UTM’s department of Economics to undergo an investigation into the course content and teaching by Professor Bailey. We wish for this to be a transparent process such that all students are aware of the metrics that Professor Bailey is being judged against and have anonymous input [and] course evaluations from students.”

In a brief interview via email, Nakamoto states, “This petition did not call for the firing of a professor, nor call for him to step down, but for UTM to make an example of how they will respect and adhere to the voices of their students in a fully transparent manner.” 

Nakamoto continues, “if the university decides to ignore and tuck-this-away so to speak, then there is no doubt that UTM’s ‘vested interest’ in its students is a charade.” 

Many from the university’s Mississauga and St. George campuses have revealed they endured stress, trauma, and frustration after being enrolled in Bailey’s classes.

Additionally, Bailey currently holds a 3.1 out of five rating on RateMyProfessors.com, a site that enables students to share reviews and insight on professors across Canada and the U.S.

One anonymous review posted late September of this year states, “avoid if you are triggered by verbal abuse, belittling or aggression.” However, not all reviews are negative. Another review posted early-May states, “I took the course and, honestly, it wasn’t as bad for me.”

In another email interview with The Medium, a second-year student, who chose to remain anonymous, shared their experience. Completing a specialist in Economics, the student writes, “I’ve had to bring more attention away from other courses just to keep up with what he’s saying, let alone try to perform well. The problem is that I have no other choice but to stick with Bailey. He’s the only one who teaches this class for some reason.”

Meanwhile, another anonymous source who is specializing in Management also shares their insight. “I hope the situation works out for the students. I want the university to be open about how they’re going to address this. It’s very clear to me that it has reached a breaking point with him after so many years and so I’m glad some have stepped up,” states the third-year student.

While many students are continuing to face challenges amid a year-long pandemic, it is up to faculty and staff to provide optimal support and guidance. Students at U of T are demanding action to be taken to address Bailey’s failure to appropriately accommodate individuals and the challenges he has imposed thus far.

News Editor (Volume 48 & 50) — May is in her final year of undergraduate studies and is on her way to graduating with a double major in Criminology and Sociology. With more than 50 published articles, May has a wealth of experience writing for The Medium. May has also served as News Editor in Volume 48. She believes that news journalism is not just a privilege, but an important responsibility to report the unbiased truth.

8 Comments

  1. 100% deserved, every single word of that petition is true, as someone who survived his eco100 and dropped his eco200 twice because of the absolutely insane expectations [and no, I’m not a lazy student]. I am a fifth year student, took tens upon tens of courses from all kinds of departments, I kid you not, Bailey is *the* worst of the worst, his class were always the least of the least enjoyable with the greatest amount of stress and pressure. Not trying to defame him, simply speaking the truth of my experience, which was absolutely horrid. This summer was the worst summer of my life because of eco200, as I had countless mental and nervous breakdowns, developed anxiety for the very first time in my life and felt as much pressure as I never felt before in my entire life.

    1. I feel you, I’m currently taking eco101 and this is the most stress I’ve ever experienced. And even if you keep up with all the work, its still stressful because we have to do the pencast, Mel, classroom, and tutorial quizzes before we have even learned the content which is very unfair. I have gotten to the point where I had breakdowns as well. I honestly can’t believe Bailey hasn’t been dealt with all this time. Is the department of economics really this oblivious to what’s going on with Bailey? Thank God for this petition. Action must be taken against Bailey.

    2. Bailey is the reason I didn’t double major in Economics when I was at UTM. I absolutely HATED his course. Dude doesn’t even use lecture slides, insists on using an old school blackboard which he erases quickly and often making it hell to take notes. Doesn’t like when you ask questions, isn’t very available to help and neither are his TA’s. Test material is based mostly on his horrendous lectures rather than the textbook. Just awful.

    3. Bailey is the WORST! He is the reason I did not do a double major in Economics when I was at UTM. He uses an old school blackboard which he erases quickly and frequently instead of lecture slides which should be available online. He covers material at lightning fast speed. He doesn’t like students asking questions. He isn’t available for help after class and neither are his TA’s. His tests are based on his insane lectures rather than the textbook. He just needlessly makes the material more difficult than it needs to be.

  2. It’s not just those who are in eco200 who are suffering. Those like me who are in eco101 are also suffering from his teaching methods and course structure.

  3. Hate to admit, I did slack off a bit. But, damn the course was beyond difficult. I know people who managed to pass, but the majority failed pretty miserably.

  4. The name is notorious among both UTSG and UTM communities, doesn’t this say something about this professor? Students tend to be treated and looked at as constant whiners and complainers in the eyes of *some specific* profs, but when the registrar nods with a brief smile when you tell them that you’re having an existential crisis in Bailey’s class, or that you’re failing the given class miserably and without hopes of recovery – that is telling of something.

  5. This has been going on for years! I took ECO100 about 3 years ago and I still remem6how my past teaching assistants would talk about how terrible Bailey was.

    He’s just…mean. like, it’s not even that his lecturing style is bad (I’ve had worse). He just makes you feel like crap.

    I’d recommend reaching out to last graduates. You’ll find that nearly every person has a horror story with Bailey.

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