At OCUFA’s May Board Meeting, members adopted an official policy on collegial university governance. The policy statement, developed by OCUFA’s University Governance Committee, puts forward a set of principles to guide collegial governance at Ontario universities. The guidelines are informed by a comprehensive review of relevant research and the 2018 OCUFA university governance survey completed by every university faculty association in Ontario.
Over the past few years, Ontario faculty associations have been reporting various barriers to collegial governance for faculty, a lack of meaningful input in university decisions, and frustration with controversial decisions being made by increasingly corporatized Boards of Governors. Coupled with the chronic underfunding of universities and their increased reliance on precariously employed professors who are generally left out of the decision-making processes, the failure to implement collegial governance has led universities in Ontario to function much less collaboratively than they have in the past.
The policy statement outlines key principles around representation on governance bodies, processes and practices of governance, and procedures regarding senior administrator searches and appointments. In addition to establishing OCUFA’s position on university governance, this statement is meant to be a resource for faculty and administrators at Ontario universities working to ensure collegial governance is respected at their institutions.
Download and read the policy statement on collegial university governance.
For any inquiries regarding this policy document, please contact Mina Rajabi Paak at mrajabi@ocufa.on.ca.