This week, OCUFA released its response to the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities discussion paper, Strengthening Ontario’s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge . Our submission, titled Growing Ontario’s Universities for the Future, was officially launched at a press conference this morning alongside responses from the Canadian Federation of Students , The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) . The OCUFA response highlights our concerns with […]
The following message is an urgent call for assistance from Scott Prudham, President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA). Dear colleagues, I am writing to alert you concerning the breakdown in negotiations for a first contract for faculty and librarians at the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC), a certified unit of the […]
Despite the claims of some observers, Ontario’s professors are teaching as many students as they did a decade ago, and face mounting workload pressure. Claims that faculty members are teaching less – made by a small collection of policy merchants — are based more on anecdote than observation. More to the point, they are misdirected. The […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are disappointed that Dalton McGuinty has once again broken his promise to respect collective bargaining by imposing legislation on the province’s broader public sector workers that attacks their constitutional rights. “A year ago, Premier McGuinty said he would respect the rights of hard-working Ontarians,” said Constance Adamson, President of the […]
An established salary grid that provides for an annual salary increase is budget neutral. This may seem counter-intuitive to claim, but it is a fact. The reason for the difference between intuition and reality is because the amount of money tied up in an established salary grid is constant, and it is only individual positions […]
In the wake of the McGuinty government’s imposition of a salary freeze on Ontario’s elementary and secondary teachers, the government has now indicated that it will extend this freeze to the broader public sector. Such a freeze would apply to university sector, including professors and academic librarians. Yesterday, the Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan announced a freeze of executive salaries in the broader public sector . During […]
OCUFA is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards. Since 1973, these awards have recognized exceptional contributions to the quality of higher education in Ontario. “The teaching awards honour the outstanding teaching accomplishments of this year’s five worthy recipients,” said OCUFA President Constance Adamson. “ As in past years, […]
A new study by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) suggests that three year degrees are not the productivity fix that many politicians think they are. In The Three Year Bachelor’s Degree: Reform Measure or Red Herring ?, the AASCU argues that the three year option does not meet student needs and is not likely to prove a popular educational option. In […]
Video of the July 19, 2012 consultation sessions at Fanshawe College have emerged online. The two videos, of the morning and afternoon sessions, provide an accurate sample of the kinds of discussion and comments made during the roundtables. The Minister of Training. Colleges, and Universities, Glen Murray’s afternoon comments are particulary interesting. They run from […]
When it comes to an employee’s progress through a salary grid, the answer is “always.” This is a hard truth that the Government of Ontario has now forced on elementary and secondary teachers. The estimated 40% of Ontario teachers who have not yet reached the maximum level of their salary grid, and who forego their grid-steps for […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are questioning why Ontario has one of the least affordable university systems in Canada, as revealed in a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The report, Eduflation and the High Cost of Learning , compares university affordability for students across Canada. “This study shows that students and families have been asked to […]
Four years after the beginning of the financial crisis, restrained public funding and domestic income means American students are looking for ways to reduce their educational spending and increase their in-study income, according to a new poll. Inflation-adjusted tuition and mandatory fees at four-year public universities for in-state, domestic students has risen by nine per […]
On Wednesday, August 29, 2012, OCUFA President Constance Adamson met with Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Glen Murray. The purpose of the meeting was to follow-up on the recently completed consultations around the discussion paper, Strengthening Ontario’s Centres of Creativity, Innovation, and Knowledge . The Minister indicated that the government hopes to announce its plans for higher education in later fall […]
It should come as no surprise that, in a recent BMO survey , more post-secondary students identified paying for their education as a greater source of stress than their academic success or job prospects. With Ontario leading the way, average tuition increases in Canada have outstripped inflation and the share of university operating funding coming from the pockets […]
Last week, OCUFA representatives participated in Government of Ontario consultations at Algonquin College in Ottawa, and at UOIT in Oshawa. The Ottawa session was a full day, and covered a variety of themes. The UOIT session focused on “experiential and entrepreneurial learning”. As with the other roundtables discussions, there was wide agreement on the […]