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 […]
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 […]
On December 20, 2013, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities quietly released its Major Capital Expansion Policy Framework . The new policy governs how the government will allocate funds for major new infrastructure projects, including the creation of satellite campuses. The framework establishes four basic criteria for capital projects: Accommodates enrolment growth of more than 1,000 full-time students in the […]
Professors and academic librarians across Ontario are calling for the Government of Ontario to make university teachers a meaningful part of its new “Ontario Online” initiative. The $42 million program was announced today by Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Brad Duguid. “Ontario’s professors are the ones who design and teach online courses, and yet […]
On November 29, 2013, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities Released its “ Differentiation Policy Framework .” This document is the finalized version of the framework that was leaked in September and then made public on the Ministry’s website. It lays out the principles, components, and metrics that will guide the Ministry’s differentiation policy going forward, and is intended to inform the Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs) currently being […]
On November 7, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa presented the government’s Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review to the Ontario Legislature. The fall economic statement allows the government to signal its fiscal priorities between budgets, and Minister Sousa’s November 7 statement indicated a new direction for the provincial government. Under the leadership of Premier Kathleen Wynne, the […]
On October 23rd, the Government of Ontario announced that it was giving universities and other broader public sector pensions plans an additional three years of help to put their pension plans on a sustainable track. Without this regulatory measure, a number of universities would have been required to put large amounts of additional money into their […]
OCUFA hosted its annual Queen’s Park lobby day and reception on Wednesday, October 23. Faculty representatives from across the province were in Toronto for the day to meet with their local MPPs at the provincial legislature. Over the course of a busy day, representatives met with 27 MPPs who have a university in or near […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are happy and relieved to learn that John Greyson and Tarek Loubani have been released from an Egpytian prison. The two faculty members had been held –without charge or justification – for 50 days. On September 28, 2013, OCUFA’s Board of Directors passed a unanimous motion calling for “immediate, strong, […]
Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are calling for “immediate, strong, and decisive action” to free John Greyson and Tarek Loubani from arbitrary detention in Egpyt. Faculty association leaders made their call in a unanimous motion passed at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). “John and […]
On Sept. 18, 2013, a “confidential” proposed policy framework for the differentiation of Ontario’s universities was leaked to stakeholder groups and the media . OCUFA is concerned that the policy framework may lead to government intrusion into academic decision making, and could have damaging funding consequences for Ontario’s higher education institutions. The proposed framework suggests that Ontario’s universities should differentiate according to eight “components”: […]
On August 26, 2013, OCUFA President Kate Lawson met with Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Brad Duguid. The purpose of the meeting was to consult OCUFA on several policy initiatives, including a new credit transfer framework, online education, and the differentiation agenda. The Minister emphasized that the government is still in the process of developing […]
When a pundit or politician attacks unions, they’re really attacking equality for everyone, and for women in particular. Unions and the public sector – and public sector unions especially – are no strangers to criticism. In the wake of the Great Recession, perhaps it should be no surprise that attacks are more vociferous than when times […]
At first glance, the 2013 Ontario Budget doesn’t say much at all about higher education. This silence obscures the austerity logic still working against the province’s universities. The 2013 Budget continues the slow cuts announced in 2012. Through so-called “policy levers”, some $121 million is being cut from university budgets in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The government will also begin clawing […]
Read OCUFA’s full budget analysis . Ontario’s 17,000 professors and academic librarians are calling on Premier Wynne to invest in the province’s universities after today’s budget missed an opportunity to introduce new funding for higher education institutions. The 2013 Budget continues to impose small cuts on the university sector, leading to an overall decline in per-student funding. “Ontario already has the worst […]
