We’re pleased to announce several exciting new names for the 2012 OCUFA Ensuring Student Success conference. These thinkers, leaders, and innovators will critically explore the idea of student success by unpacking the meaning of the term, examining the various ideas advanced to improve the student experience, and highlighting the structural realities that may help or […]
They say no news is good news. But where this week’s Throne Speech and Economic Update is concerned, no news is just no news. Tuesday’s Throne speech reiterated the Liberal Government’s higher education campaign pledges – 60,000 new student places at colleges and universities, three new ‘undergraduate campuses’ and a tuition rebate. We have some […]
Last month, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) released Public Education for the Public Good: A National Vision for Canada’s Post-Secondary Education System. Some of its finding: Since the late 1990s, full-time enrolment at colleges and universities has increased 25 per cent. Enrolment in graduate studies soared 42 per cent between 1998 and 2008. But federal funding for […]
The pace of bargaining appears to have slowed at Wilfrid Laurier University in the negotiations covering full-time professors and librarians. Faculty association negotiators have presented a full package of proposals, including monetary, to their administration counterparts but have not received responses to the monetary issues. Meantime, the pace of meetings has slowed. At the University […]
Universities continue to be strong contributors to research and development in Canada. According to Statistics Canada , Ontario’s higher education sector spent almost $4.6 billion dollars on R&D in 2009-10. Higher education in fact is the largest single source of R&D funding, accounting for almost half. The federal government was the source of one-quarter of funding for […]
Passed in 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires faculty associations with one or more employees to make every effort to insure their services are accessible to those with disabilities. In addition accommodating their employees who have disabilities, faculty associations are responsible for providing accessible services to faculty association members who have disabilities. Moreover, all employees and volunteers must […]
OCUFA President Constance Adamson wrote an Op-Ed that is featured in today’s Toronto Star. The article takes issue with the recent attempt to pin declining university quality on professors. This is a bit of an absurdity, and Adamson skewers it well: The decline in per-student funding has had a variety of negative effects. Universities have […]
Statistics Canada’s report on unionization shows a positive relationship between unionization and earnings and hours. In Ontario, average hourly earnings for unionized full-time employees were 21 per cent higher in 2010 than for their non-union counterparts. And union members worked an average of three per cent fewer hours per week. For unionized part-time employees the wage advantage was […]
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine Faculty Academic Staff Union (NOSMFSA 1, OPSEU 677) bargaining unit reached a tentative agreement November 2 at 3:30 in the morning. Details of the new contract will be made public after ratification. A ratification meeting is expected next week. This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report . To receive stories […]
OCUFA is looking for a Policy Analyst – Community and Government Relations. Working under the supervision of the Executive Director, the successful candidate will help to promote OCUFA’s advocacy initiatives through: developing and maintaining contacts in the Ontario government and relevant government agencies, with the opposition parties and organizations in the postsecondary education sector critically […]
Early bird savings expire on November 15, 2011 for the 2012 OCUFA Ensuring Student Success conference. Our program of diverse and interesting speakers will critically explore the idea of student success by unpacking the meaning of the term, examining the various ideas advanced to improve the student experience, and highlighting the structural realities that may […]
The proportion of Canadian employees who were union members in the first six months of 2011 remained virtually unchanged from the same period the year before, according to StatsCanada data. Unionization in the education sector, however, rose noticeably, particularly amongst teachers and professors. Nearly 30 per cent of Canadians belong to a union, compared to […]
Linda Jeffrey (Brampton-Springdale) has been appointed the Ontario Government’s Minister of Labour and Seniors. Elected in 2003, she has served as Minister of Natural Resources. Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox-Addington), a former electrician, is the Progressive Conservative labour critic. The NDP labour critic is Taras Natyshak (Essex), who, before his election this year, was director of training […]
