TORONTO – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce that Linda St. Pierre is the recipient of the 2017 Lorimer Award. This honour recognizes individuals who have worked to protect and promote the interests of Ontario’s academic staff through collective bargaining. “Linda has played a pivotal role in advancing faculty […]
Government commitment to robust public funding for postsecondary education is essential to support high-quality accessible education for Ontario students, continued strength in research, and fairness for contract faculty. With this in mind, OCUFA’s recommendations for the 2018 Ontario Budget seek to preserve the quality of university education in Ontario through increased public investment and government leadership on key issues impacting faculty working […]
Performance data and metrics are increasingly being used to make decisions in postsecondary education. The new issue of Academic Matters – now available online – examines the significance of these developments and how they impact universities, faculty, research, and students. Does a focus on metrics in higher education serve to optimize postsecondary education systems and make them more […]
It came down to the wire, but after months of bargaining and organizing, the teaching faculty members of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) have reached a new (and only their second) three year collective agreement with their employer. The settlement will mean gains across the board. Previously, UOIT’s teaching stream […]
On November 17, faculty association staff from across Ontario gathered in Toronto for a day of networking and skills sharing at the bi-annual OCUFA Faculty Association Staff Workshop. The morning featured panels on membership engagement as well as the challenges and opportunities of working for a member-driven organization. Discussion covered many facets of the day-to-day […]
On Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, OCUFA held its first Board of Directors meeting of the 2017-18 academic year, and the first with Gyllian Phillips as OCUFA President . The weekend oriented new board members to OCUFA and allowed members to discuss developments in Ontario postsecondary education system and the organization’s revised priorities for the academic year: Good jobs/vibrant universities, university […]
The Canadian Association of University Teachers hosted a conference on achieving fairness for contract academic staff to kickoff Fair Employment Week on October 20 and 21. Participants developed a wide range of strategies and tactics to organize fellow faculty members and confront their administrations about the growing use of contract faculty at Canadian universities and colleges. Faculty associations discussed key ways of addressing […]
Toronto – Across Ontario, university professors are taking action to educate campus community members about the growing numbers of contract faculty at Ontario universities. A national campaign organized by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Fair Employment Week builds awareness and promotes fairness for contract faculty. “Most students are unaware if their professor is on […]
Members of the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) faced huge challenges in this round of bargaining. The university administration was demanding serious concessions on many issues, including pensions, workload, and core faculty rights. The administration’s inability to provide essential data, delays in bargaining, and the employer’s initial refusal to agree to mediation dates layered procedural […]
On Monday, over 12,000 faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges went on strike. For over three months, they have been working hard at the bargaining table, pushing for a better plan for Ontario’s colleges, including fairness for contract faculty, collegial governance that includes faculty in academic decision-making, and academic freedom. Unfortunately, the College Employer Council rejected a last-minute faculty proposal aimed at averting a strike. The colleges even refused to agree […]
The letter below was sent to Premier Kathleen Wynne on September 27 from Dr. Frankie Cachon, a contract faculty member at the University of Windsor and Chair of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Contract Faculty and Faculty Complement Committee. Dear Premier Wynne, I am a contract faculty member at the University of […]
On September 15 and 16, the first ever Fight for $15 & Fairness Provincial Campus Assembly took place at the University of Toronto. Faculty from universities across Ontario attended and took part in discussions and workshops about how to win stronger labour legislation, as well as how to advance the $15 and Fairness agenda on […]
Members of the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) in Sudbury have been working hard to negotiate a fair collective agreement with the university administration. Despite several days in mediation, the parties are approaching an impasse and a strike may be imminent. LUFA is asking the administration to come to the table and agree to a […]
The Government of Ontario recently announced that in the coming months it will put forward legislation to create a new French-language university, by and for Francophones. The announcement follows the August 28, 2017 release of the French-Language University Planning Board’s report on the feasibility of establishing a new French-language university in Central-Southwestern Ontario. Struck last fall and chaired by Dr. Dyane Adam, a former official languages […]
