OCUFA is concerned that the Conservative Party and Andrew Scheer are trying to score cheap political points by taking a page from Doug Ford’s playbook and attempting to manufacture a campus free speech crisis. The Conservative Party’s materials, distributed on a number of campuses over the past week, misrepresent the nature of speech at Canadian […]
OCUFA cautiously welcomes news that the provincial and federal governments have reached a memorandum of understanding in which they both recognize the importance of meeting the postsecondary needs of Ontario’s growing Francophone population. In the 2018 Ontario election, Doug Ford promised to move forward with the Université de l’Ontario français – a project set into […]
Announced in the Ontario Budget , the Ford government’s reckless new market-based approach to funding postsecondary education will fundamentally compromise the integrity of Ontario’s higher education system. This alarming shift in education funding will create greater inequity, hurt students, and threaten the quality of education in our province. The proposed market-based performance funding model will […]
In April 2019, as part of its first budget, the Ontario government introduced an alarming change to the funding model of public universities and colleges in the province. By 2024-25, this new approach will tie 60 per cent (over $3 billion dollars) of funding for postsecondary institutions to “outcomes” or “performance” measures. Institutions’ so-called “performance” […]
Announced in the Ontario Budget , the Ford government’s reckless new market-based approach to funding postsecondary education will fundamentally compromise the integrity of Ontario’s higher education system. This alarming shift in education funding will create greater inequity, hurt students, and threaten the quality of education in our province. The proposed market-based performance funding model will […]
Toronto, Sep. 4, 2019 – Ontario faculty are warning that the Ford government’s so called “performance” funding model for postsecondary education is reckless, ineffective, and dangerous. The new funding model will link 60 per cent of government funding for universities ($2.2 billion dollars) to an arbitrary set of metrics chosen with no consultation. These metrics […]
TORONTO – The senior leadership of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) today announced that it was resigning, including President Harvey Weingarten. HEQCO has been the chief advisor to the Ford government on a number of controversial initiatives, including an attack on Ontario faculty over the age of 65. Since its inception HEQCO’s […]
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 for your summer reading pleasure. And if you haven’t already, now is a great time to catch up on our latest print issue: Decolonizing the university in an era of Truth and Reconciliation. Precarious employment in education impacts workers, families and students By Michael Mindzak, Brock University “Recent announcements […]
TORONTO – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce the appointment of its 33rd president – Rahul Sapra, Associate Professor of English in the Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University. Sapra officially began his two-year term on July 1, 2019. “OCUFA is a dynamic organization that collaboratively works with faculty […]
The 2019 Worldviews on Media and Higher Education Conference brought together hundreds of academics, students, higher education leaders, communications professionals, and journalists from around the globe to explore the conference’s theme: Democracy at risk? Reflecting on the future of higher education and media in a “post-truth” world. Proceedings kicked off with a special screening of […]
The Ford government introduced sweeping legislation to cap public sector wage increases. The proposed legislation represents an attack on the right to free and fair collective bargaining, and is in line with the government’s broader anti-worker agenda. The legislation was introduced on June 5, and although the legislature has now risen until October 28, the bill […]
OCUFA has been working with our partners in the postsecondary sector and the broader labour movement to respond to the government’s proposed wage-cap legislation. There is consensus in the labour movement that this legislation is an attack on the right to free and fair collective bargaining. On June 5th, the day after the legislation was […]
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 […]
On Saturday May 25 and Sunday May 26, OCUFA held its final Board of Directors meeting of the 2018-19 academic year. During the weekend, board members discussed the organization’s current priorities – good jobs, university funding, and capacity building – especially as they relate to the Ford government’s attacks on postsecondary education. During a special […]
The Huron University College Faculty Association (HUCFA) has reached its first collective agreement as a union. The faculty association has negotiated terms and conditions of employment on behalf of tenured faculty for many decades and, more recently, for contract faculty at the institution. This latest agreement is special because it comes after the faculty association […]
