Posts from February 2012

The Drummond Report claims that it “protects annual growth in postsecondary funding at a time when many other public services will be rationalized.” True, it does recommend that postsecondary expenditures continue to increase by 1.5 per cent per year. But a quick look at the data reveals the truth: Drummond actually recommending a severe cut […]

After reviewing the final report of the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services, faculty and academic librarians are unimpressed. Drummond has provided Ontario with a poor plan for ‘transforming’ our public services, and is essentially a plan for huge cuts to public spending hiding behind a screen of poorly costed and ill-considered recommendations […]

A recent Statistics Canada look at women and education shows that postsecondary attainment amongst Canadian women and men has increased markedly since 1990. The increase in the proportion of people with a postsecondary diploma or certificate was roughly the same for women and men. When it comes to university degrees, however, women’s attainment rates grew much faster than […]

At the February meeting of the OCUFA Board of Directors, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray spoke and took questions from faculty associations representatives from across Ontario. The Minister again outlined his interest in accelerated three-year undergraduate degrees, all-year instruction at universities, and increased reliance on online education.   As was made clear […]

After five unsuccessful conciliation sessions, the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association (WLUFA) requested a no-Board report on February 9, 2012. The parties remain apart on a number of key issues, including compensation and pensions, and continue to work on several key non-monetary issues such as professional teaching positions. The Executive of WLUFA has been authorized […]

OCUFA is criticizing the report of the Drummond Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services for being long on cuts and short on insights. Taken together, Drummond’s recommendations would continue the erosion of educational quality at Ontario’s universities and colleges. “Drummond recognizes that higher education is severely underfunded. He also recognizes that universities and colleges […]

Former OCUFA President Mark Langer debated former Carleton University President Richard Van Loon on the virtues of establishing new ‘teaching-only’ universities in Ontario. Van Loon, co-author of the book Academic Reform , is an advocate for these new institutions, suggesting that they are a way to accommodate growing university enrolment in Ontario at a lower per-student cost. […]

Recently, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report comparing what students pay for their degrees with the public cost of providing undergraduate education in British Columbia. It found that university graduates, as a group, pay out considerably more in fees and taxes than the total cost of their education.   A four-year undergraduate degree costs the […]

On February 1, 2012, the Canadian Federation of Students held a nation-wide protest against the high cost of higher education in Canada. OCUFA President Constance Adamson wrote a letter of support to Ontario Chairperson Sandy Hudson, and OCUFA was a featured speaker at the press conference launching the Ontario event.   In her letter, Adamson […]

Since 1973, the Teaching & Academic Librarianship Awards have recognized professors and librarians who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality of university education in Ontario. Any member of an OCUFA member faculty association is eligible to be nominated, and nominations can be made by anyone. The deadline is May 21, 2012, and the […]

University enrolments continue to increase in Canada. If community colleges that recently were given university status and denominational institutions are included, the total number of students attending universities outside Ontario went up by five per cent between 2010 and 2011 reports the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada . The number of students at older publicly funded universities rose by almost three per […]

On January 23, 2012, OCUFA President Constance Adamson met with the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray. Among other issues, Adamson spoke of the urgent need for faculty hiring and quality investments in the university sector.   For his part, the Minister highlighted the province’s fiscal challenges, as well as his early plans […]