Posts from September 2012

The following message is an urgent call for assistance from Scott Prudham, President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA). Dear colleagues, I am writing to alert you concerning the breakdown in negotiations for a first contract for faculty and librarians at the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC), a certified unit of the […]

Despite the claims of some observers, Ontario’s professors are teaching as many students as they did a decade ago, and face mounting workload pressure. Claims that faculty members are teaching less – made by a small collection of policy merchants — are based more on anecdote than observation. More to the point, they are misdirected. The […]

Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are disappointed that Dalton McGuinty has once again broken his promise to respect collective bargaining by imposing legislation on the province’s broader public sector workers that attacks their constitutional rights. “A year ago, Premier McGuinty said he would respect the rights of hard-working Ontarians,” said Constance Adamson, President of the […]

In the wake of the McGuinty government’s imposition of a salary freeze on Ontario’s elementary and secondary teachers, the government has now indicated that it will extend this freeze to the broader public sector. Such a freeze would apply to university sector, including professors and academic librarians. Yesterday, the Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan announced a freeze of executive salaries in the broader public sector . During […]

OCUFA is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards. Since 1973, these awards have recognized exceptional contributions to the quality of higher education in Ontario. “The teaching awards honour the outstanding teaching accomplishments of this year’s five worthy recipients,” said OCUFA President Constance Adamson. “ As in past years, […]

A new study by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) suggests that three year degrees are not the productivity fix that many politicians think they are. In The Three Year Bachelor’s Degree: Reform Measure or Red Herring ?,  the AASCU argues that the three year option does not meet student needs and is not likely to prove a popular educational option. In […]

Video of the July 19, 2012 consultation sessions at Fanshawe College have emerged online. The two videos, of the morning and afternoon sessions, provide an accurate sample of the kinds of discussion and comments made during the roundtables. The Minister of Training. Colleges, and Universities, Glen Murray’s afternoon comments are particulary interesting. They run from […]

When it comes to an employee’s progress through a salary grid, the answer is “always.” This is a hard truth that the Government of Ontario has now forced on elementary and secondary teachers. The estimated 40% of Ontario teachers who have not yet reached the maximum level of their salary grid, and who forego their grid-steps for […]

Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are questioning why Ontario has one of the least affordable university systems in Canada, as revealed in a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The report, Eduflation and the High Cost of Learning , compares university affordability for students across Canada. “This study shows that students and families have been asked to […]

Four years after the beginning of the financial crisis, restrained public funding and domestic income means American students are looking for ways to reduce their educational spending and increase their in-study income, according to a new poll. Inflation-adjusted tuition and mandatory fees at four-year public universities for in-state, domestic students has risen by nine per […]