Posts from February 2019

The Queen’s University Faculty Association has ratified a three-year agreement with the Queen’s University administration. Members of QUFA also voted yes in the consent vote for the conversion of the pension plan to the University Pension Plan. If the UPP is created, the expiry of the Collective Agreement will move from April 30 to June […]

On Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10, OCUFA held its second Board of Directors meeting of the 2018-19 academic year. Over the weekend, board members discussed the organization’s current priorities – good jobs, university funding, and capacity building – with a focus on challenges to the postsecondary sector under the current government. During a […]

Mark your calendars! On Tuesday, March 19th, 2019, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, the Center for the Study of Canadian and International Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-University of Toronto, the Ryerson School of Journalism, Inside Higher Ed, and University World News will be hosting the fifth annual Worldviews […]

On Monday, February 11, faculty, staff, students, and community members across Ontario participated in OCUFA’s annual social media day of action in support of fairness for contract faculty. The day was a tremendous success. The hashtag #Fairness4CF was heavily used by community members to voice their support for fairness for contract faculty. This year’s social media […]

On Tuesday, February 19, OCUFA participated in a press conference organized by the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario at Queen’s Park. OCUFA Vice-President Rahul Sapra joined a panel of speakers including Nour Alideeb, Chairperson of CFS-Ontario; Sam Hammond, President of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and RM Kennedy, Chair of the College Academic Division of […]

The report of the OCUFA Working Group on Student Questionnaires on Courses and Teaching (SQCT) has now been released. Prompted by increasing reports of the misuse of results and the harassment of faculty through anonymous comments, and by suggestions in the policy community that SQCT scores be used as university “performance” metrics, OCUFA established the […]

The Ryerson Faculty Association has been awarded a two-year contract extension by Arbitrator William Kaplan with an expiry of June 30, 2020. The arbitrator’s award included sector comparable salary increases. The arbitrator also awarded the faculty association funds for the provision of retirement benefits and to address the gender pay gap, as well as a […]

The Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario has launched a letter writing campaign to tell Doug Ford, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Merrilee Fullerton, and MPPs that the government’s attack on students’ unions and student rights does not represent the interests of students or faculty. This campaign is in response to the Ford government’s decision to […]

OCUFA is proud to celebrate outstanding achievement in teaching and academic librarianship at Ontario universities. Anyone within the university community can nominate a faculty member or librarian. Award recipients are selected by an independent OCUFA committee made up of faculty, librarians, and student representatives. Deadline for nominations for the 2018-2019 awards is May 24, 2019. […]

TORONTO, February 8, 2019 – Lianne Leddy, an assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, has won the 2018 Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction, presented by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). The award, sponsored by OCUFA’s Equity and Social Justice Committee, recognizes faculty whose work has improved the lives and […]

TORONTO, February 8, 2019 – Susan Hillock, an associate professor at Trent University, has won the 2018 Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction, presented by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). The award, sponsored by OCUFA’s Equity and Social Justice Committee, recognizes faculty whose work has improved the lives and working […]

TORONTO, February 8, 2019 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce that St. Jerome’s University professor Steven Bednarski is the recipient of the 2018 Lorimer Award. This honour recognizes individuals who have worked to protect and promote the interests of Ontario’s academic staff through collective bargaining. “Steven fought tirelessly […]

TORONTO, February 6, 2019 – A new report published by a working group of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations exposes substantial issues with student questionnaires on courses and teaching (SQCTs), including endemic bias and systemic discrimination. These end-of-term student questionnaires are common practice at universities across Canada. The report finds that student questionnaire […]

On Monday, February 11, faculty, staff, and students from across Ontario will participate in OCUFA’s annual social media day of action in support of fairness for contract faculty. Tenure-stream faculty and contract faculty issues are two sides of the same coin. Many contract faculty have to reapply for their jobs every twelve weeks, are hired […]