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New articles from Academic Matters

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There is more to Academic Matters than just the print issue. New articles are being added to the Academic Matters website every week. Here are some recent articles you might find interesting:

The long fight against sexual assault and harassment at universities
“With the return to university campuses this fall, there have been disturbing reports of both sexual assaults and sexist incidents. At Western University, for example, four students reported being sexually assaulted and there was mass student mobilization following social media reports of numerous sexual assaults…”

The pandemic exposed the vulnerability of international students in Canada
“When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, students in Canadian universities and colleges faced many challenges. Classes moved online, students were asked to leave campus residences and many students lost jobs or faced reduced work hours. While some domestic students could return home…”

Early-career professors want changes in how tenure is evaluated in wake of pandemic effects on productivity
“After two years of living through a pandemic, thoughts of returning to normal have shifted to focus on establishing a “new normal.” The COVID-19 pandemic yielded profound changes to research activities and operations at universities. These have had impacts on the career progression, productivity…”

Universities: The often overlooked player in determining healthy democracies
“We’ve been hearing recently about the possibility that the United States — assumed to be a prime example of democracy — is in real peril of collapse. Coming into 2022, we find ourselves in the midst of a worldwide democratic recession. Democracy is vulnerable and fragile…”

International student numbers hit record highs in Canada, UK and US as falls continue in Australia and NZ
“International students are heading to Canada, the UK and the US in record numbers despite the pandemic, new research by the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University shows. But Australia and New Zealand continue to experience a dramatic drop in new international students…”

Banning non-disclosure agreements isn’t enough to stop unethical workplace leader behaviour
“Just weeks after Prince Edward Island became the first province in Canada to pass a bill restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) on Nov. 17, some harms of NDAs have been in the news. NDAs are contracts in which parties agree not to…”

Female faculty of colour do extra diversity work for no extra reward – here’s how to fix that
“College faculty members are critical in helping American colleges become more diverse, inclusive and equitable. Professors and instructors not only teach and advise students, they also help institutions make inroads toward equity goals such as improving graduation rates for underrepresented students by connecting with and…”

Universities should no longer ask students for anonymous feedback on their teachers
“Student evaluations, in the form of anonymous online surveys, are ubiquitous in Australian universities. Most students in most courses are offered the opportunity to rate the “quality” of their teachers and the course they take. The original intention of student surveys was to help improve…”

Universities need to focus on students—not teach to targets—to help them succeed
“The Office for Students, England’s higher education regulator, has outlined new proposals to ensure university students reach “acceptable outcomes” from their studies. The proposals, released as consultation documents, include numerical targets. For full-time students, 80% of those studying for their first degree should…”

Why universities are starting to re-evaluate their academics’ travel
“As New Zealand starts lifting travel restrictions at the end of this month, academics may feel the need to catch up on missed opportunities to attend conferences. But flights account for about a third of the tertiary sector’s emissions and universities will need to…”

Remaking Australian universities: notes from the sidelines of catastrophe
“Can we grieve not for a person but for an institution? Should we be angry over possibilities destroyed, young talents denied a chance to flourish? Is there any point in lamenting greed, short-sightedness, the brutality of power? As I write this, in September 2021…”

2 out of 3 members of Australian university governing bodies have no professional expertise in the sector. There’s the making of a crisis
“To say Australian universities are in crisis is to state the obvious. A common narrative suggests the most immediate cause of the current crisis is “reduced international student revenue and income from investments, such as dividends” during the pandemic. Some correlation is undeniable. However, many…”

UOITFA’s two-week strike achieves big gains on workload, equity, and benefits

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After months of negotiations, escalating pressure on the Ontario Tech administration, and a strike, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) has ratified a new three-year collective agreement that makes big gains on the faculty association’s workload, equity, and benefits priorities. This represents a hard-fought and well-deserved victory for the UOITFA.

The settlement follows months of action by the UOITFA and its allies. In the lead-up to the deal, the faculty association leveraged the strengths of its membership to demonstrate their collective resolve to holding the university administration accountable for supporting faculty and students. Multiple social media days of action, an email writing campaign that saw over 4,000 messages sent to Ontario Tech’s leadership, and the ongoing mobilization of members and supporters culminated in a two-week strike that confirmed the faculty association’s determination. Faculty were joined on the picket lines by students, labour allies, and even NDP Leader Andrea Horwath—all of whom called on the university administration to come back to the table with a fair deal that addressed faculty priorities.

Workload was a key priority for the UOITFA. In response, an LOU was signed with a “sunlight” clause on course load assignment, which will ensure that each faculty member and the faculty association receive a detailed course load report annually, including variations from maximum course load assignment, course releases, course enrolment, and average course load for all faculty. A working group will meet at least annually to discuss the results. Further, collegially elected faculty-level committees will be able make recommendations on credit for student supervision within each faculty.

With regards to equity, another priority for the UOITFA, hiring, tenure, and promotion processes now include “careful consideration of candidates from equity-seeking groups” and the definition of research in tenure-stream faculty responsibilities now includes “developing reciprocal relationships with historically marginalized communities.” An existing LOU on Employment Equity has been strengthened and renamed to include “Employment Equity and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigenization and Decolonization.” The LOU identifies employment equity as a strategic priority for the university and commits to eliminating or modifying policies and practices that result in discrimination. It sets out more equitable evaluation processes and provides faculty members from equity-seeking groups with access to additional resources and supports. Finally, the salary anomaly LOU from the previous agreement was renewed as an MOU with a commitment to a more timely implementation.

On compensation, the settlement provides one per cent increase for salaries, salary floors, stipends, and overload rates for all faculty in each year of the agreement. In addition, in each year of the agreement, tenured and tenure-stream faculty will receive a $3,600 Career Development Increment (CDI). Teaching faculty will receive a CDI of $2,700, $2,850, and $3,050 in each year of the agreement. CDI ceilings for both appointment types have been increased by one per cent. There is a $125 Professional Development Allowance increase each year for teaching-stream, tenure-track, and tenured faculty. A Bill 124 salary reopener was also agreed to under an LOU.

Benefits coverage has been extended to limited-term faculty members. Limited-term faculty with less than two years of employment or who opt out of benefit coverage will receive an HSA of $1,980 in the first year, $2,725 in the second year, and $2,775 in the third year of the agreement. The list of eligible mental health practitioners has been expanded to include psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, clinical counselors, and marriage and family therapists. The pooled coverage for mental health practitioners is now 80 per cent of $3,600 in year one, $3,650 in year two, and $5,600 in year three of the agreement.

Finally, the agreement contains a new retirement incentive package under which beneficiaries will receive a lump sum payment of four weeks salary for each full year of service to a maximum of 52 weeks. This payment can be spread over two years.

Reminder: Less than one week to apply for Equity award, and Mandelbaum/journalism fellowships

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Submission deadline: March 21, 2022

More information about the awards and fellowships

Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction: This award celebrates the outstanding contributions of OCUFA members whose work has contributed meaningfully to the advancement of professors, academic librarians, and other academic staff who are Indigenous, women, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, living with disabilities and/or belong to other historically marginalized groups. It honours and recognizes members whose leadership has improved the lives and working conditions of equity-seeking members of the university community.

Nominate someone for the Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction.

Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowships for Excellence in Social Sciences, Humanities, or Arts: Established in 2011 to honour former OCUFA Executive Director Henry Mandelbaum, the fellowship is awarded to two full-time graduate students (one master’s, one doctoral) at publicly funded Ontario universities. Candidates should have demonstrated academic excellence, provided significant community service, and shown exceptional academic promise in their university careers.

Apply for a Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowship for Excellence in Social Sciences, Humanities, or Arts.

Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism: This fellowship was established to help address the shortage of informed investigative reporting on Canadian higher education issues in the Canadian media. Open to full-time, part-time, and freelance journalists, including students, the fellowship is designed to support those wishing to pursue in-depth and innovative journalism on higher education.

Apply for the Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism.

University equity work must include job security, equal pay, and benefits for contract staff

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TORONTO, March 9, 2022 – Universities across Ontario have increased their focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in recent years. However, without commitments to improve job security, pay, and benefits for contract faculty and other precariously employed campus workers, these initiatives will fall short. Contract faculty, who routinely make less than their securely employed colleagues when doing work of equal value, are disproportionately women and individuals from equity-deserving groups.

“Today, university faculty, staff, and students from across Ontario will be making their voices heard and demanding fairness for contract faculty on social media,” said Sue Wurtele, OCUFA President. “University administrations must do more than proclaim their commitment to equity, they need to put an end to Ontario faculty working contract-to-contract with low pay and no benefits.”

It is one thing for university presidents to claim that equity is important, but it is a very different thing for university administrations to roll up their shirtsleeves and engage with the campus community to do the work needed to address the unfair treatment of so many campus workers.

These changes are broadly supported by Ontarians. Polls have shown that they believe universities should be model employers and improve working conditions for contract faculty by paying them fairly, expanding access to benefits, and providing them with better job security.

“We may be precariously employed, but term-after-term and contract-after-contract we show our commitment to our students and our universities in the work we do,” said Kimberly Ellis-Hale, Interim Chair of OCUFA’s Contract Faculty Committee. “If Ontario’s universities are committed to equity, they need to show that commitment to us—not with empty words but with action.”

An institutional commitment to equity means little if work is not being done to improve the working conditions of campus workers employed in short-term contracts. Ontario’s universities should take immediate steps to improve job security, pay, and benefits for contract faculty and their precariously employed colleagues.

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals in 31 member associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca

OCUFA united in solidarity with striking faculty at the Université Sainte-Anne

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TORONTO, March 9, 2022 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) extends a message of solidarity to the striking faculty and academic librarians at the Association des professeurs, professeures et bibliothécaires de l’Université Sainte-Anne (APPBUSA) in Nova Scotia. Members of the APPBUSA have been on strike since March 9 as they pressure the administration to negotiate an agreement that provides fair and equitable working conditions for professors and librarians, and which creates the conditions for a more constructive working relationship between the administration and the APPBUSA’s members.

“OCUFA and our 31 member associations, representing 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals across Ontario, extend our solidarity and support to our colleagues at the APPBUSA,” said Sue Wurtele, President of OCUFA. “The administration at Université Sainte-Anne should show its respect for faculty and academic librarians by negotiating an agreement that fosters a more collaborative working relationship and charts a path towards a vibrant future for the university.”

The Association des professeurs, professeures et bibliothécaires de l’Université Sainte-Anne deserve a fair and equitable agreement that embraces collegial governance and addresses faculty and academic librarian concerns about their working conditions. OCUFA calls on the Université Sainte-Anne administration to listen to faculty and academic librarian voices and find a way to move forward with a collective agreement that strengthens the university community.

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals in 31 member associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca

Access to Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario vital for both unionized and non-unionized workers

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TORONTO, March 8, 2022 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) believes that preventing unionized workers from taking claims of discrimination and harassment to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) will strip union members of fundamental rights and undermine work to build more equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplaces. Further, the exceptionally short time-frame that the HRTO provided for input on this important decision effectively excluded members of the public, including those members most likely to be impacted by the outcome, from having any input into the Tribunal’s deliberations.

“Access to a workplace free of harassment and discrimination is a fundamental human right,” said Sue Wurtele, President of OCUFA. “The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario should do the right thing and make sure all workers in Ontario, regardless of whether they belong to a union or not, are able to bring claims of mistreatment to the HRTO and put them on the public record.”

If the HRTO decides to exclude union members from being able to bring forward claims of discrimination and harassment, it will set back efforts to address processes, policies, and workplace behaviours that disproportionately harm women; those who are Black, Indigenous, racialized, or LGBTQS+; people with disabilities; and individuals from other marginalized groups. Providing only a week for public input sends the damaging signal that feedback from these communities is not valued.

“The HRTO has a duty to uphold the Human Rights Code of Ontario and combat the systemic discrimination that continues to pollute our workplaces,” said Wurtele. “The Tribunal is more important now than ever and must keep its doors open to all Ontarians.”

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals in 31 member associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca

It’s time to prioritize postsecondary education

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This election presents a valuable opportunity to put postsecondary education on the agenda and build a better future for Ontario. Each political party is making promises and proposals that will affect university faculty, students, our families, and our communities.

This election, OCUFA is focused on three advocacy priorities:

  • Fairness for contract faculty to ensure all faculty are treated with respect and shift Ontario universities away from their dependence on precarious contract labour.
  • Increase student financial assistance and replace OSAP loans with grants.
  • Strong public funding for universities is necessary to support excellence in teaching and research, especially at universities in Northern Ontario and those that offer Indigenous and bilingual programming.

Take action today. Send an email to the leaders of Ontario’s political parties to tell them it’s time to revitalize public postsecondary education in Ontario and to ask them to show their support for fairness for contract faculty, increased student aid, and robust public funding for Ontario’s universities.

On March 9, join contract faculty for a social media day of action

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OCUFA is holding its annual Social Media Day of Action for fairness for contract faculty on Wednesday, March 9. All interested in advocating for better working conditions for contract faculty and other precariously employed campus workers are welcome to participate.

OCUFA will be active on social media all day. We encourage you follow to us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn; share the day’s content with your friends and colleagues on social media; and post your own contributions.

This Sunday: Join the OFL’s Activist Assembly

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On Sunday, March 6, people from across Ontario will come together to take part in the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)’s Activist Assembly. The full-day event will provide opportunities for strategizing, skills building, and planning in preparation for the OFL’s province-wide day of action scheduled for May 1.

In the upcoming provincial election, the OFL will be advocating for important issues, including good jobs and decent work for all workers; a $20 minimum wage; high-quality affordable housing; accessible and well-funded health care, long term care, education, and other public services; justice for Indigenous Peoples and racialized communities; and climate justice.

RSVP for the OFL Activist Assembly and learn more on the OFL website.

University of Toronto Faculty Association settlement achieves benefit gains

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In a hard-earned three-year settlement, UTFA’s benefits coverage will be expanded in several areas. The mental health maximum will be increased to $5,000 (up from $3,000). Marriage therapists, family therapists, and addiction counsellors have been added to the eligible professionals under the psychologist group and the rates covered will be increased from “reasonable and customary amounts” to “no less than the Ontario Psychological Association’s recommended hourly rate.”

Vision care coverage will increase to $700 every 24 months (up from $450) and the costs of laser eye surgery for vision correction have been added as an eligible vision care expense. Major restorative dental will go up from $2,800 to $5,000. The annual combined cap for paramedical services will go up to $2,500 (up from $1,250), with chiropodists added to the list of paramedical services covered. Orthodontics coverage will increase to 75 per cent and a lifetime maximum of $5,000 (up from 50 per cent to a maximum of $2,500).

In salary and monetary gains, members received an across-the-board salary increase of one per cent for both July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021. Progress-the-ranks (PTR) increases paid on July 1, 2021 will be augmented with an additional payment to reflect a one per cent increase in breakpoints and increments. PTR for the 2021-22 assessment period will be paid on July 1, 2022, to reflect a one per cent increase in breakpoints and increments. Minimum Per Course Stipend and Overload Rates will increase from $17,895 to $18,255, effective on date of ratification.

All remaining issues in year 3 have been made subject to arbitration. Notably, UTFA is seeking important policy changes related to workload and an increase to the number of librarian research days.  UTFA has tabled additional benefit improvements for Year 3 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) and will continue to resist university administration proposals that would reduce health benefits for retirees.

Call for submissions: 2021-22 Annual OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards

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Each year, OCUFA is proud to celebrate outstanding achievement in teaching and academic librarianship at Ontario universities. Through the Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards, we recognize those individuals whose pedagogical leadership and support have made a positive and enduring difference to their students and colleagues.

Anyone within the university community can nominate a faculty member or academic librarian for an award, so long as the nominee is a member of an OCUFA affiliated faculty or academic librarian association. This year’s award guidelines include special nomination criteria for contract faculty to facilitate the nomination of historically marginalized members of the academy. Award recipients are selected by an independent OCUFA committee made up of faculty, librarians, and student representatives.

This year, the deadline for nominations is May 27, 2022. Guidelines for the award can be found here:

Teaching Awards Guidelines

Librarianship Awards Guidelines

Nomination packages should be saved as a single pdf file and submitted online at: https://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/teaching-and-academic-librarianship-awards/

$10,000 Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism now accepting applications

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The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations is excited to announce the fourth annual Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism.

Valued at $10,000, the Fellowship is intended to help address the lack of informed investigative reporting on Canadian higher education issues. It provides financial support to those wishing to pursue in-depth journalism in this area.

Two widely praised articles have already been published in The Walrus as a result of the Fellowship:

Nicholas Hune-Brown’s The Shadowy Business of International Education explores this growing international student recruitment industry in Canada. Through Hune-Brown’s incisive reporting, the article paints a fascinating, revealing, and concerning picture of an industry rife with exploitation.

“The story of the international student is complex and under-examined. It’s also vitally important. The financial support from the OCUFA Fellowship allowed me to stick with the story, eventually producing the most in-depth, closely reported story of my career.” – Nicholas Hune-Brown, 2019 fellowship recipient

Simon Lewsen and Chloë Ellingson’s Inside the Mental Health Crisis Facing College and University Students examines the mental health challenges facing postsecondary students, how institutional policies and structures exacerbate these challenges, and what institutions can do to improve supports for students in psychological distress.

“The OCUFA Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism gave us the time and resources to [research the mental health crisis on campus exhaustively] and, ultimately, to craft a piece of longform storytelling that is among the best we’ve done, individually or as a team.” – Simon Lewsen and Chloë Ellingson, 2020 fellowship recipients

The Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism is open to full-time, part-time, and freelance journalists (including students) who wish to pursue an investigative research project in the area of Canadian higher education. Applications focusing on any topic within this area are welcomed, including public policy, labour relations, the academic labour market, governance, financing, teaching, research, librarianship and information management, demographics, education quality, free speech and academic freedom, equity and diversity, Indigeneity, and reconciliation.

The deadline for applications is March 21, 2022. The Fellowship is valued at $10,000 and administered by OCUFA, with the first half payable at the start of the project and the second half upon completion. The winner will have to complete and publish and/or broadcast the project within a year of being granted the Fellowship. OCUFA will not exercise any editorial control or judgment over the work produced.

To learn more about the Fellowship and to apply, please visit: https://ocufa.on.ca/awards/journalismfellowship

If you have any questions about the Fellowship, the application process, or require further information, please contact Ben Lewis at communications@ocufa.on.ca.

New X/Ryerson Faculty Association collective agreement makes gains for Indigenous complement and librarians

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Members of the X/Ryerson Faculty Association (XRFA) have just ratified a three-year collective agreement that represents significant gains on equity, Indigenous complement, librarian rights, and benefits.

The university has allocated $500,000 dollars for salary anomalies, with $200,000 of that specifically for gender anomalies. A Joint Committee on Equity in Salary will be created to make recommendations on how to address the systemic roots of salary discrimination on a go-forward basis. Further, every hiring, tenure, and promotion committee is now required to include an Equity Advocate elected/selected to ensure that the process meets EDI goals.

The number of Indigenous faculty, professional counsellors, and librarians will be increased, with new language to facilitate increased hiring and improve the experiences of Indigenous faculty, professional counsellors, and librarians.

Librarians have achieved better recognition of their teaching duties and workload, clearer criteria for appointment ranks, and parity with faculty on sabbatical leaves and discipline, redundancy, financial exigency, and layoffs.

Benefits have increased by $322,000 in each year of the collective agreement and have been expanded to cover numerous new services and drugs. In addition, the university will administer a one-time fund of $40,000 for members who require additional funding for travel, accommodation, and/or other expenses related to gender affirmation surgery that are not already covered under the new gender affirmation benefit.

A One-time Voluntary Incentive Program, determined through an arbitration award in 2021, allowed members who met the eligibility requirements the option of retiring by August 31, 2021 with one year’s salary. Also, a phased-in retirement program for full-time faculty members, career professional counsellors, and career librarians will allow members to transition into retirement over a two-year period.

OCUFA extends message of solidarity to striking faculty at the University of Lethbridge

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TORONTO, February 15, 2022 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) extends a message of solidarity to the striking faculty at the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) in Alberta. Members of the ULFA are currently walking the picket lines as they push to have the University of Lethbridge administration address their concerns around working conditions, collegial governance, and equitable pay and benefits.

ULFA has been in bargaining for over a year and have grown increasingly frustrated that the university administration has refused to meaningfully engage with their demands. On Thursday, February 10, they walked out on strike.

“On behalf of OCUFA and our 31 member associations representing 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals across Ontario, I would like to extend a message of solidarity and support for our colleagues at the ULFA,” said Sue Wurtele, President of OCUFA. “The issues they are striking over are important ones that must be addressed by the University of Lethbridge administration. We call on the administration to re-evaluate their position and come back to the table with a fair proposal that actually addresses ULFA’s concerns.”

University of Lethbridge faculty deserve a fair deal that makes the university a better and more equitable place to work and one that reinforces that faculty voices are central to university decision-making. OCUFA calls on the University of Lethbridge administration to show their respect for faculty by working to help advance ULFA’s bargaining proposals, not reject them. It is time for the university administration to sit down and negotiate a fair collective agreement.

Those wishing to add their voices in support of the University of Lethbridge’s faculty, should send an email to the university’s president at: https://makeitfair.caut.ca/ulfa. More information on the strike can be found here: https://www.ulfa.ca.

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals in 31 member associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:
Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca

OCUFA award nominations now open

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OCUFA is pleased to announce that we are now accepting nominations for the Teaching and Academic Librarians Awards and Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction. We are also accepting applications for the Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowship and Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism.

At OCUFA, we believe it is important to recognize the exceptional people whose work improves the lives of faculty, students, and everyone on campus.

Submission deadlines:

March 21, 2022: Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction, Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowship, and Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education

May 27, 2022: Teaching and Academic Librarians Awards

More information about the awards and fellowships

Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards: Each year, since 1973, OCUFA has recognized outstanding teachers and academic librarians in Ontario universities through these awards. They celebrate those individuals whose pedagogical leadership and support have made a positive and enduring difference to their students and colleagues. Anyone within the university community can nominate a faculty member or academic librarian for an award, so long as the nominee is a member of an OCUFA affiliated faculty or academic librarian association.

Nominate someone for a Teaching and Academic Librarianship Award.

Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction: This award celebrates the outstanding contributions of OCUFA members whose work has contributed meaningfully to the advancement of professors, academic librarians, and other academic staff who are Indigenous, women, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, living with disabilities and/or belong to other historically marginalized groups. It honours and recognizes members whose leadership has improved the lives and working conditions of equity-seeking members of the university community.

Nominate someone for the Equity and Social Justice Committee Award of Distinction.

Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowships for Excellence in Social Sciences, Humanities, or Arts: Established in 2011 to honour former OCUFA Executive Director Henry Mandelbaum, the fellowship is awarded to two full-time graduate students (one master’s, one doctoral) at publicly funded Ontario universities. Candidates should have demonstrated academic excellence, provided significant community service, and shown exceptional academic promise in their university careers.

Apply for a Henry Mandelbaum Graduate Fellowship for Excellence in Social Sciences, Humanities, or Arts.

Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism: This fellowship was established to help address the shortage of informed investigative reporting on Canadian higher education issues in the Canadian media. Open to full-time, part-time, and freelance journalists, including students, the fellowship is designed to support those wishing to pursue in-depth and innovative journalism on higher education.

Apply for the Mark Rosenfeld Fellowship in Higher Education Journalism.