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 […]
OCUFA
TORONTO – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Teaching Awards. Since 1973, these awards have recognized the exceptional contributions made by professors and librarians to the quality of higher education in Ontario. “Teaching is at the heart of great universities and a great university […]
OCUFA and the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) congratulates Professor Brian E. Brown on being awarded the Charles E. Brooks Labour Community Service Award, presented by the Windsor District Labour Council in recognition of outstanding contributions in the area of volunteer community service. Prof. Brown, who is a past president of WUFA and the current […]
As students return to campuses and classes get underway, OCUFA will be working on a variety of initiatives important to professors and academic librarians. Here’s what to look out for in 2016-17: The Government of Ontario’s reform of the university funding model. For the past year and a half, the government has been examining ways […]
On August 25, 2016 the Ontario Government’s Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee released its final report and recommendations to government on how to close the gender wage gap in the province. The recommendations target three root causes of the gender wage gap: women’s disproportionate responsibility for caregiving work and the absence of adequate public supports, systematic undervaluing of and lower rates of pay […]
On May 7, 2016 in Toronto, OCUFA held its third and final Board meeting of the year. It was an opportunity to review progress made on the organization’s key priorities – faculty pensions, contract faculty and faculty complement, and university governance. It was also an opportunity to recognize those who have made important contributions to […]
OCUFA’s Status of Women Committee is pleased to announce its latest Workshop, intended to build the leadership skills of academic women. The event will be held in Toronto on Friday, April 29, 2016. Building on the success of last year’s workshop, Shari Graydon will again be facilitating a small, interactive workshop, this time focusing on […]
On March 8, 2016, over 20 representatives of Ontario’s faculty associations met with MPPs and Cabinet Ministers as part of OCUFA’s annual Advocacy Day at Queen’s Park. In all, 30 meetings were held, each a chance to discuss OCUFA’s priorities for 2016: faculty hiring and good academic jobs; better data on Ontario’s higher education sector; […]
Presentation slides and complete audio recordings of every session from OCUFA’s “Challenging precarious academic work” conference are now available online . People who missed out on the conference the first time around can access and download the complete conference proceedings. The conference was a unique meeting of activists, researchers, and policymakers all interested in ending precarious work in our […]
From February 20-21, 2016, OCUFA held the 148th meeting of its Board of Directors in Toronto. While the meeting was an opportunity to review progress on OCUFA’s priority areas –university governance and funding; options for university pension plans; and contract faculty and faculty complement – the meeting provided an excellent opportunity to discuss growing concerns […]
On Feb. 1, 2016, OCUFA President Judy Bates presented OCUFA’s 2016 budget priorities to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. This committee is tasked with reviewing Ontario’s fiscal and economic policies, and makes recommendations to government on what should be contained within the provincial budget. OCUFA’s proposals are directed toward enhancing the quality […]
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 […]
Too often faculty who speak out on matters of public interest and participate in policy debates have found themselves silenced by lawsuits. New provincial legislation is being considered in Ontario to better protect public participation by allowing defendants to seek prompt dismissal of unfounded proceedings against them. On October 1, Sylvain Schetagne of CAUT and […]
OCUFA is pleased to announce the appointment of its 31st president – Judy Bates, Associate Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. Bates officially began her two-year term on July 1, 2015. “Universities – and the professors and academic librarians who work within them – are facing […]
On February 7th and 8th, 2015, OCUFA held the 145th meeting of its Board of Directors. At the previous meeting in October, OCUFA approved its priorities for the year: contract faculty and faculty complement; online learning; and university pension plans. The February meeting was all about ensuring that these priorities continue to move forward. On […]