MPP Yvan Baker has introduced a private member’s bill calling for the creation of a centralized portal for information on higher education in Ontario. The Bill suggests that 12 data points be collected and publicized in a single location for the benefit of students and their families. OCUFA supports the principle behind that bill- that […]
OCUFA has been working on a variety of initiatives at Queen’s Park. In September, the legislature resumed and MPP Peggy Sattler, the NDP critic for Training, Colleges and Universities, brought the issues of senior university administration salaries to the legislature, following recent high-profile cases of high and inappropriate compensation. Sattler raised the issue in Question […]
Librarians and archivists at McMaster University and Western University have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike mandates in their ongoing negotiations with their respective employers. The mandates authorize their leadership to call a strike if an equitable deal cannot be reached at the bargaining table. At McMaster, a 92 per cent turnout yielded a 100 per cent vote in favour of a strike mandate . The employer is attempting to remove the […]
In last week’s Data Check, we demonstrated how Ontario lags the rest of Canada in per-student operating and research revenue. This week, we show how Ontario’s per-student university expenditures are also lower, particularly when it comes to faculty salaries. With occasional exceptions, it is the rule that university expenses are lower than revenues. So it […]
On October 15, 2015, the University of British Columbia released the results of the inquiry into allegations that Chair of the Board of Governors John Montalbano interfered with the academic freedom of Prof. Jennifer Berdahl. The report revealed that while no provisions of the UBC collective agreement had been violated, through the “the combined acts and omissions of Mr. Montalbano, the […]
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our 2016 conference, “Confronting precarious academic work.” The growing number of university faculty hired on a contract basis – and the insecure working conditions they face – has far reaching implications for everyone who works and learns […]
OCUFA is busy planning a University Finance Workshop, to be held on November 13th in Toronto. The inaugural issue of the new Report on Ontario University Finances is set to be released later this month. With these events in mind, Data Check is taking a brief look at university revenues this week. Next week’s issue […]
On October 8, 2015, the Government of Ontario announced the launch of eCampus Ontario . This is an initiative of the Ontario Online Learning Consortium (OOLC), a web portal where students can find online courses offered by colleges and universities across the province. The OOLC is funded by the government and jointly administered by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and Colleges Ontario (CO). […]
After two days of conciliation, the Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) regrets that talks have broken down. “We are very disappointed in the Employer’s lack of vision for the future of the university. Our faculty would rather be in the classroom teaching than walking a picket line,” says NUFA President Susan Srigley. However, NUFA decided […]
New data shows that the decline in business and government support cannot be offset by R&D spending in the higher education sector – and the way Canada counts R&D activity in universities tells us a lot about the activities public funding is intended to support. While trends in expenditures on research and development (R&D) by […]
Now that the academic year has begun in earnest, bargaining is again heating up on Ontario campuses. Faculty associations at Nipissing and Western, have conciliation dates scheduled in October, while Toronto was in mediation this past weekend. Several associations are heading to the table this month to begin their negotiations. Nipissing has two conciliation dates […]
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards. Since 1973, these awards have recognized the exceptional contributions made by professors and librarians to the quality of higher education in Ontario. “Professors and academic librarians are at the heart of our universities. […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are calling for a funding formula that builds on existing strengths, complemented by a new higher education data system for the province. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is also cautioning against adopting a performance funding regime that punishes students and makes continuous educational improvement impossible. The recommendations […]
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) has made a written submission to the provincial government’s Changing Workplaces Review . It calls for government leadership to address the rise of precarious work at Ontario’s universities. OCUFA estimates that the number of contract faculty has nearly doubled since 2000. “Faculty see how this shift toward insecure, low-paid jobs […]
Last week, Statistics Canada released its yearly report on university tuition fees in Canada . Yet again, Ontario has the highest tuition fees in the country. But the true scale of Ontario’s tuition fee increase over the past two decades was highlighted by a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) . Since 1993-94, tuition has more than tripled, rising 248 per cent. According to Statistics Canada, average undergraduate tuition fees […]
