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 staff and contract faculty will have a negative effect on the quality of learning at Nipissing. OCUFA is urging the administration to abandon this harmful course of action, and preserve existing positions. We are also working closely with our colleagues at the Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) to monitor, and respond to, the proposed layoffs.
Nipissing’s administration claims that the layoffs are needed to cope with a budget deficit created by, among other things, the Government of Ontario’s cuts to teacher training programs. While this policy was ill-advised and has removed significant public funding from the institution, it remains an administrative choice to pursue layoffs. OCUFA continues to call for the restoration of education funding at the provincial level.