The Ontario Ministry of Labour has issued a “no-board” notice for negotiations between the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC) and the University of Toronto Faculty Association. The no-board from the province means that if there is no agreement on a new collective agreement between the parties, a legal lockout or strike affecting faculty and […]
On January 20, 2015, the Ministry of Finance released draft pensions regulations governing the conversion of existing single employer pension plans (SEPPs) into Jointly Sponsored Pension Plans (JSPP). This release is important, as the regulations will have implications for OCUFA’s work on pension solutions in the university sector. OCUFA and the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) are currently engaged […]
Premier Kathleen Wynne stopped at the University of Waterloo on Tuesday, January 13 as part of her nine-day tour of Ontario universities. In addition to fielding questions at a student town-hall and sitting for an interview with the UW student newspaper, Wynne also made time to have a private meeting with four representatives of Waterloo’s […]
Registration is now open for the first annual Worldviews Lecture on Media and Higher Education. The lecture, a spinoff of the popular Worldviews conference, will feature Simon Marginson, Professor of International Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Prof. Marginson will deliver a lecture titled, “Universities, the plutocracy and the 99%: Is high participation in higher education […]
Professors and academic librarians and archivists at Western University met with Premier Kathleen Wynne on Monday evening, part of the Premier’s tour of Ontario campuses. Faculty leaders welcomed the meeting as an important opportunity to discuss issues facing those who teach and conduct research within the province’s universities. “We had an in-depth discussion about the […]
LONDON – Professors and academic librarians and archivists at Western University met with Premier Kathleen Wynne on Monday evening, part of the Premier’s tour of Ontario campuses. Faculty leaders welcomed the meeting as an important opportunity to discuss issues facing those who teach and conduct research within the province’s universities. “We had an in-depth discussion […]
The Wilfrid Laurier Faculty Association (WLUFA) has taken its fight against program prioritization public in the Waterloo Record. A January 2, 2015 article outlines growing faculty resistance to the Laurier admin’s prioritization process, called the “Internal Program and Resource Management” process, or IPRM. The majority of faculty councils have voted against the IPRM report, which calls for cuts or […]
On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 the unionized faculty and librarians of the University of St. Michael’s College (represented by the University of Toronto Faculty Association) voted 100% in favour of authorizing a strike, if necessary. Representatives of UTFA and USMC have been in bargaining since June 2014 and entered provincial conciliation in October. The outstanding […]
OCUFA is pleased to announce an upcoming workshop designed to help faculty members develop high-quality online courses while protecting academic freedom and intellectual property. The Faculty Leadership in E-Learning Workshop will be held on March 20, 2015 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. Join us for a day of discussion, skill-building, and action for […]
On December 8, 2014, Nipissing University completed “Phase 1” of its planned layoffs. Local media reported that 16 positions were lost, including 14 in senior management. The university administration is indicating that two more rounds of layoffs are imminent: one affecting unionized support staff, and a final one affecting faculty on teaching contracts. Layoffs of support […]
On December 8, 2014, the Government of Ontario announced that it would index maximum student levels to inflation . The government also announced a new program – the Ontario Student Loan Rehabilitation Program – that will allow borrowers in default to bring their loans back into good standing. Under the student aid changes, the maximum loan package available to students will […]
Program prioritization reports have now been released at York University (Nov. 13) and Wilfrid Laurier University (Nov. 28). Faculty at both institutions are preparing to push back against recommendations that violate the principles of good academic governance and the quality of education. At York, faculty in the the Faculty of Environmental Studies and the Faculty […]
On November 27th, students at the University of Guelph held a mock funeral to protest program cuts resulting from the university’s program prioritization process. Programs affected include women’s studies, environmental studies, Italian, and math. According to Sonali Menenzes, external affairs commission at Guelph’s Central Student Association, quoted in the Guelph Mercury : “The program prioritization process is […]
For several months, OCUFA has been working to protect faculty rights in regards to two new pieces of legislation – Bill 8, The Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014 and Bill 10, Amendments to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act. Bill 8 extends grants the Ontario Ombudsman authority to examine […]
Faculty at Western University have ratified their new contract with the administration, with 93 per cent voting in favour of the deal. The four year deal will run into 2018. A top priority this bargaining round for the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) was contract faculty job security. The new deal includes many […]