Last week, OCUFA made a submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, which is currently considering Bill C-525. Our submission argues that this private members bill has the potential to harm employee secrecy, encourage employer interference, disregards employee choice, and damage the existing decertification […]
The We Teach Ontario student video contest closed this week after engaging more than 1000 people in exploring and celebrating the incredible things that happen when we connect research and teaching at Ontario’s universities. Our first place winner is Brittany Dunbar of Brock University, told us about her journey to become a masters student in […]
Almost half of funding for sponsored research at Ontario universities comes from the federal government. About two-thirds of federal support is from the federal granting councils.* After a recent decline in federal funding for university research, announcements in the Federal Budget seem to make a big splash. But the reality is, after inflation, federal funding for university […]
The part-time academic staff at Algoma University held a strike vote at the end of January. Of those casting a ballot, 85% were in favour in favour of a strike mandate. The Algoma University Faculty Association filed for conciliation on Feb. 7, 2014. The part-time unit is pushing for benefits and an experience-based salary grid. They […]
A recent study from Statistics Canada observed that women are still under-represented in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science), despite their growing presence in these fields. The Statcan National Household Survey for 2011 revealed that 59 per cent of 25-34 year-olds with a university degree were women. Women’s share of STEM degrees, however, was […]
Last week, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) released the report How Liberal Arts and Science Majors Fare in Employment Looking at both employment and earnings outcomes, the report finds that graduates from the humanities and social sciences tend to get good jobs and, by the end of their careers, have matched and even exceeded the earnings of their counterparts in STEM […]
Professor Ian Sakinofsky of Ryerson University has been awarded the prestigious Lorimer Award by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). This honour recognizes individuals who have worked to protect and promote the interests of Ontario’s academic staff through collective bargaining. Prof. Sakinofsky received his award at a ceremony on February 7, 2014 in […]
New data shows that the Ontario government operating funding to universities in 2012-13 did not keep up with enrolment increases. For the first time in a while, the level of funding also failed to keep up with inflation. The latest Financial Report of Ontario Universities from the Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario shows that provincial operating funding was […]
On January 28, 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the creation of a Technical Advisory Group to advise the government on strengthening retirement security in Ontario. This follows last week’s appointment of Paul Martin as a special advisor on the creation of a provincial pension plan. The new advisory group will “advise the government on how to improve the retirement income system, including an Ontario-based alternative to a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) enhancement.” […]
A new survey by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) shows that the people of Ontario think universities make an important contribution to the province , behind only hospitals and schools in public esteem. Ontarians also think that students “benefit greatly” from a university education. This level of public support demonstrates the resilience of public attitudes in the face of negative – and […]
On January 20, 2014, the Government of Ontario announced $190 million in new research funding . The funding, which will be distributed through the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Excellence and Research Infrastructure programs, will be invested over six years. OCUFA welcomes this new investment as an important first step in bringing Ontario’s research spending in line with the rest of Canada. In our […]
OCUFA is pleased to announce the release of our 2014 budget recommendations. As with past years, our budget submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) seeks to improve the quality of higher education in Ontario through investment in operating grants and hiring of full time faculty. We are sensitive to the […]
TORONTO – Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are welcoming the news that former Prime Minister Paul Martin will help develop a new Ontario Pension Plan. Martin’s appointment was announced yesterday by Premier Kathleen Wynne. “A consensus is building that that an enhanced public pension plan is a desirable solution to the growing retirement income security […]
Recently, several Ontario universities have begun “program prioritization processes,” or PPP. These initiatives seek to rank academic and non-academic programs to determine an institution’s “strengths.” However, these processes have a variety of problems and, in extreme cases, can lead to program cuts. University of Windsor Provost Leo Groarke has written an article in Academic Matters that criticizes the way in which program prioritization is being done in Ontario . In […]
The latest international comparative education data was recently released by Statistics Canada. As with previous editions, Canada fares well when it comes to the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds with tertiary education (college and university) credentials – 51 per cent compared to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 33 […]
