Posts from October 2015

OCUFA has been working on a variety of initiatives at Queen’s Park. In September, the legislature resumed and MPP Peggy Sattler, the NDP critic for Training, Colleges and Universities, brought the issues of senior university administration salaries to the legislature, following recent high-profile cases of high and inappropriate compensation. Sattler raised the issue in Question […]

Librarians and archivists at McMaster University and Western University have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike mandates in their ongoing negotiations with their respective employers. The mandates authorize their leadership to call a strike if an equitable deal cannot be reached at the bargaining table. At McMaster, a 92 per cent turnout yielded a 100 per cent vote in favour of a strike mandate . The employer is attempting to remove the […]

On October 15, 2015, the University of British Columbia released the results of the inquiry into allegations that Chair of the Board of Governors John Montalbano interfered with the academic freedom of Prof. Jennifer Berdahl. The report revealed that while no provisions of the UBC collective agreement had been violated, through the “the combined acts and omissions of Mr. Montalbano, the […]

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our 2016 conference, “Confronting precarious academic work.” The growing number of university faculty hired on a contract basis – and the insecure working conditions they face – has far reaching implications for everyone who works and learns […]

On October 8, 2015, the Government of Ontario announced the launch of eCampus Ontario . This is an initiative of the Ontario Online Learning Consortium (OOLC), a web portal where students can find online courses offered by colleges and universities across the province. The OOLC is funded by the government and jointly administered by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and Colleges Ontario (CO). […]

After two days of conciliation, the Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) regrets that talks have broken down. “We are very disappointed in the Employer’s lack of vision for the future of the university. Our faculty would rather be in the classroom teaching than walking a picket line,” says NUFA President Susan Srigley. However, NUFA decided […]

Too often faculty who speak out on matters of public interest and participate in policy debates have found themselves silenced by lawsuits. New provincial legislation is being considered in Ontario to better protect public participation by allowing defendants to seek prompt dismissal of unfounded proceedings against them. On October 1, Sylvain Schetagne of CAUT and […]

Now that the academic year has begun in earnest, bargaining is again heating up on Ontario campuses. Faculty associations at Nipissing and Western, have conciliation dates scheduled in October, while Toronto was in mediation this past weekend. Several associations are heading to the table this month to begin their negotiations. Nipissing has two conciliation dates […]