Posts from April 2016

On April 19, 2016, the provincial government released a summary of the Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee’s consultations . This Steering Committee was established last spring and tasked with developing recommendations for the creation of a strategy to close the gender wage gap in Ontario. A series of province wide consultations was the first step in this process. OCUFA participated in the consultation process […]

On April 11, 2016, the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) passed a motion of non-confidence in Carleton’s Board of Governors. The CUASA motion was joined by similar votes by grad students and administrative staff, and follows attempts by the Board to stifle discussion and criticism through restrictive new bylaws and attacks on critical members. […]

On April 13, 2016, OCUFA was very pleased to co-host the second annual Worldviews Lecture with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. This year’s lecture featured Rajani Naidoo, Chair in Higher Education Management and Director International Centre for Higher Education Management at the University of Bath. Professor Naidoo […]

A new study published in the Journal of Education Finance suggests that public two- and four-year higher education institutions might be reducing enrolment of low-income students due to punishment-based funding (PBF) regimes , where money is tied to specific performance indicators. This paper joins the growing body of research that demonstrates the ineffectiveness of PBF in improving student outcomes. Using data on all public American institutions in the […]

On Monday, April 4, 2016, OCUFA submitted a series of recommendations to the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU) on a proposed international education strategy. The recommendations are a response to a discussion paper issued by MTCU. The impetus for a new international strategy for Ontario’s colleges and universities appears to be to increase recruitment of international students, and building the […]

Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, passed on March 8, 2016. It will require universities to have campus policies addressing sexual violence, consider student input on those policies, and share information regarding sexual harassment and violence on campus with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Bill 132 also expands employer […]

On March 22, 2016, the members of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) ratified their new collective agreement with the employer. Here is the UOITFA statement on the deal. Last week on the final scheduled day of mediation prior to the UOITFA strike deadline, the UOITFA and UOIT reached a tentative […]