On November 29, 2013, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities Released its “ Differentiation Policy Framework .” This document is the finalized version of the framework that was leaked in September and then made public on the Ministry’s website. It lays out the principles, components, and metrics that will guide the Ministry’s differentiation policy going forward, and is intended to inform the Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs) currently being […]
The newest issue of Academic Matters is now available online and in faculty mailboxes across Ontario. The magazine is OCUFA’s flagship publication, dedicated to exploring ideas and controversies that matter to academics and academia. In this issue, we’re trying to get to grips with the changing world of graduate education and we’ve assembled an impressive group of contributors […]
Contract Academic Staff at Wilfrid Laurier University reached a tentative deal last Tuesday after a mediation session with William Kaplan. The ratification vote is scheduled for Monday, December 2, 2013 and will run until December 6th. OCUFA Report will have more details after the vote is complete. As part of the bargaining strategy, the faculty association […]
The term “program prioritization” has been making headlines recently, as several Ontario universities have begun this controversial rationalization process. Program prioritization involves ranking every academic and administrative program according to set criteria, and then directing more resources to highly ranked programs while marking poor performers for cuts and closure. Program prioritization is based on a […]
On Friday, November 29, 2013, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) released its policy framework for differentiation in Ontario’s university and college sector . According to the document, MTCU views differentiation as “a primary policy driver for the system.” As such, the framework will be used to inform the Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA) process and on-campus initiatives like program prioritization. The document lays […]
Listening to the pundits, you’d think there is an employment crisis for university graduates in Ontario. In fact, our grads are doing just fine despite the negative effects of the financial crisis. The Council of Ontario Universities recently released the results of the 2012 Graduate Survey . According to the report, 92 per cent of those graduating in […]
On November 22, 2013, OCUFA held a university finance workshop. The goal was to provide tools to faculty associations to hold their administrations to account on financial issues. Faculty association representatives from across Ontario listened to presentations on how to interpret, challenge, and communicate about institutional budgets. Speakers included CCPA economist Hugh MacKenzie, Toronto City Councillor […]
On November 14, 2013, the magazine Fast Company published a remarkable article . A profile of Udacity founder and Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) evangelist Sebastian Thrun, it contains a stunning revelation: even those closest to the MOOC industry have serious doubts about their quality and educational impact. As Thrun states: “We were on the front pages of newspapers and magazines, and […]
On Thursday, November 14, 2013, contract staff at Wilfrid Laurier University voted in favour of a strike. Of those who voted, 90.6 per cent supported the strike mandate. A date for mediation has been set for November 26th. The 376 contract faculty at Laurier are represented by the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association (WLUFA). As reported in […]
On November 7, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa presented the government’s Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review to the Ontario Legislature. The fall economic statement allows the government to signal its fiscal priorities between budgets, and Minister Sousa’s November 7 statement indicated a new direction for the provincial government. Under the leadership of Premier Kathleen Wynne, the […]
OCUFA is pleased to announce our 2014 Conference, “Future U: Creating the Universities We Want”. The event will be held from February 27-28, 2014 in Toronto. The Future U conference will look at current trends and the possibility of alternatives for the future of higher education. Our goal is to allow professors, librarians, administrators, students and […]
Contract faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University are holding a strike vote this week. The Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association (WLUFA), who represent part-time faculty, filed for a no-board last Thursday after two unsuccessful days of conciliation. The contract faculty unit continues to push for job security and benefits, in an attempt to improve their precarious […]
It might be overstating the case for the Globe and Mail’s Konrad Yakabuski to “ blame business ” for Canada’s poor showing in research and development (R&D). But it is also becoming increasingly clear it makes little sense to demand universities and university researchers to become more business-like and pick up the entrepreneurial slack. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the […]
On October 23rd, the Government of Ontario announced that it was giving universities and other broader public sector pensions plans an additional three years of help to put their pension plans on a sustainable track. Without this regulatory measure, a number of universities would have been required to put large amounts of additional money into their […]
Much has been made about the supposed Canadian “skills gap”, or the mismatch between the skills needed to fill vacant jobs and the skills actually possessed by workers. But new research by TD Economics suggests that the “gap” is largely a myth. The study, Jobs in Canada , finds that concerns about the skills gap are unsupported by […]