Home » Articles posted by Derek Silva
Author Archives: Derek Silva
KUCFA calls on King’s to adhere to Step 3 public health regulations
As many of you know, the Council of Ontario Universities recently petitioned the Provincial government for “greater flexibility for capacity limits and physical distancing to help ensure a safe reopening for expanded in-person learning.” We are aware that many of you are concerned about this request and the uncertainty related to the King’s return to campus plan. We hear you and share your concerns. As the Delta variant causes an increase in cases and hospitalizations in Ontario, we are deeply concerned that King’s and Western remain steadfast in their expectation that thousands of students, staff, and faculty will fully return to campus next week. KUCFA therefore supports UWOFA’s call on Western to ensure safe working conditions and calls on King’s administration to take several steps to ensure the health and safety of the entire community. Specifically, we call on King’s to:
- Commit to adhering to all public health measures under Step 3 of Ontario’s reopening plan, which mandate indoor capacity and physical distance limitations.
- Acknowledge that the Council of Ontario Universities request for exemption for universities from Step 3 restrictions would, without ensuring the complete implementation of vaccination policies, remove public health protections and erode the safety of students, staff, and faculty.
- Delay all in-person learning for courses that cannot comply with Step 3 of Ontario’s reopening plan until October 12th, 2021, when King’s vaccine mandate comes into full effect.
- Develop measures to ensure that only those in compliance with King’s COVID-19 vaccination policy are permitted on campus and inside buildings, as detailed in King’s vaccination policy.
- Be clear and transparent about the mechanisms put in place to ensure the validity of vaccination documentation provided under the COVID-19 vaccination policy.
- Provide clear details to the community about King’s campus’ ventilation systems have been improved to ensure safety of all on campus as well as how King’s mask mandate will be enforced over the coming months.
We understand that you are worried and frustrated about being required to teach in 100% capacity classrooms, which exceed the Province’s Step 3 public health limits. KUCFA will continue to advocate for your interests and, more specifically, for a clear and transparent plan for a safe return to campus for all members of the King’s community.
In solidarity,
KUCFA Executive
KUCFA supports UWOFA call to require all eligible students, faculty, staff, and librarians to be fully vaccinated to work and study on campus
July 20, 2021
KUCFA supports today’s statement from UWOFA which calls upon the Western university administration to require all eligible students, faculty, staff, librarians to be fully vaccinated in order to work and to study on campus, including at King’s University College. We do acknowledge that some may be exempt for medical or religious reasons. You can read the full UWOFA statement here: UWOFA calls on Western to adopt Covid-19 vaccine mandate | UWOFA
- KUCFA Executive
KUCFA Stands in Solidarity with LUFA and Faculty, Staff, and Students at Laurentian University
May 14, 2021
The King’s University College Faculty Association (KUCFA) stands in solidarity with our colleagues from the Laurentian University Faculty Association / Association des professeures et professeurs de l’Université Laurentienne (LUFA/APPUL), who are facing existential threats to their working conditions, collegial governance, and collective bargaining. In a surprising move, on February 1, 2021, Laurentian University filed for court protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) due to financial challenges it is facing as a result of reckless administrative decisions and the erosion of public university funding.
On April 2, Laurentian University unilaterally terminated its federation agreements with Huntington University, Thorneloe University, and the University of Sudbury. Over the past two months, Laurentian University has cut more than 60 academic programs and – following an in-camera Senate vote – terminated over 100 faculty positions and issued 83 termination notices for academic staff without severance as a result of insolvency proceedings. Since King’s is an affiliate university of a larger institution, we at KUCFA are keenly aware of the dangerous precedent set by Laurentian administration via its unilateral and secretive termination of federation agreements, program cuts, and disrespect of students, faculty, and staff, and firmly believe this presents a serious challenge to the security of academic workers in higher education across Ontario.
The Laurentian University Faculty Association repeatedly raised concerns about the increasingly non-consultative approach that university administration has taken to making important financial decisions at the University. At Laurentian and at other universities across Ontario, more and more decisions are being made in secret and in clear violation of collective agreements and university constitutions. We are seeing more and more examples of universities circumventing existing collegial governance structures that include faculty, staff, and students. Importantly, financial crises like the one at Laurentian University are likely to happen again across the sector so long as the provincial government continues to systematically under-fund universities, rely on over-priced international tuition rates, and erode the collegial model of university governance in favour of a corporate managerial model.
While this is not the first time a public university in Canada has experienced financial distress, it is to the best of our knowledge the first time one has sought creditor protection under the CCAA in this way. We stand in solidarity with LUFA and maintain that the appropriate way forward is not creditor protection for a public institution, but it is to receive increase support from the Ontario and federal governments to sustain Laurentian University and, if required, support Laurentian in their handling of financial exigency in ways already built into LUFA/APPUL’s agreement with Laurentian’s administration. We also stand in solidarity with LUFA/APPUL in calls for the federal and provincial governments to protect universities from entering into corporate insolvency proceedings like the CCAA.
Laurentian University faculty and staff at Laurentian have been doing incredibly wonderful work under extraordinarily difficult conditions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and should therefore not be suffering as a result of administrative mismanagement. KUCFA therefore unequivocally supports our colleagues at LUFA/APPUL in their attempts to get the Ontario government to the table.
We at KUCFA:
- Maintain that Laurentian is a public institution, not a private sector corporation;
- Condemn the systematic erosion of collegial governance by administration at Laurentian University;
- Ask the Provincial and Federal governments to: (a) Challenge the CCAA process immediately and fully fund Laurentian University in support of its multi-lingual mandate that service Indigenous students and Northern communities; (b) Protect all universities from private insolvency proceedings like the CCAA; and (c) Protect collective bargaining rights and collective agreements at all Ontario universities; and
- Ask Laurentian University to: (a) ensure that research funding for graduate programs and their faculty members are restored; (b) immediately stop the layoffs to faculty and staff and secure their employment through the proper bargaining processes; (c) Ensure that collegial governance and collective bargaining rights for faculty and staff are respected.
