(Toronto \u2013 April 12, 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ontario\u2019s faculty are alarmed by the Doug Ford government\u2019s budget proposal to allocate 60 per cent of university funding based on institutional performance. By design, performance-based funding threatens education quality as it rewards institutions that meet specific performance targets while penalizing those that do not. Faculty are also concerned by signals that the government is considering targeting the rights of senior faculty and interfering with university collective agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ontario Confederation of University \nFaculty Associations (OCUFA) has long cautioned against shifting towards\n performance-based funding. The government\u2019s proposal is especially \nalarming as it promises to tie university funding to 10 unannounced \nmetrics and ignores the reality that Ontario\u2019s universities already \nreceive the lowest per-student funding in Canada. This approach will \nlikely disadvantage small and northern institutions, which already lack \nthe resources of larger universities. Over all, performance-based \nfunding works against quality improvement and punishes students studying\n at already cash-strapped institutions facing further funding cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\n government irresponsibility suggests that a system that encourages \ncompetition between universities will make Ontario a national leader,\u201d \nsaid Gyllian Phillips, President of the OCUFA. \u201cIn reality, \nperformance-based university funding will create a system of winners and\n losers, putting education quality at risk for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2019\n budget is also concerning because it reinforces government signals that\n it is considering targeting university faculty and staff. This \ngovernment\u2019s budget and proposed funding model will further incentivize \nthe rise of precarious academic positions on Ontario\u2019s campuses. If this\n government is serious about faculty renewal, they must ensure that \nretiring professors are replaced with full-time tenure-stream faculty \nand not precariously employed instructors. Good jobs are at the heart of\n our university system and faculty associations across Ontario believe \nin the importance of hiring more junior faculty members in secure \nfull-time positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faculty members are employed by, and \nnegotiate their contracts with universities, not the provincial \ngovernment. Any attempt by the Ford government to interfere in \nuniversity collective agreements would violate university autonomy and \nthe constitutionally protected rights of faculty and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInstead\n of coming up with half-baked ways to take money away from universities,\n students, and faculty, this government should focus on investing in \neducation quality at Ontario\u2019s postsecondary institutions,\u201d said \nPhillips. \u201cThe government should be helping to create good jobs for \nfaculty forced to work short-term precarious contracts and support \nstudents by reversing their decision to cut OSAP grants and attack \nstudent democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faculty believe in a postsecondary education strategy that increases university funding, removes barriers to attaining a higher education, and creates good jobs. However, this government continues to make rash decisions about Ontario\u2019s postsecondary education system without consulting the faculty, staff, and students who know the system best. It is time for this government to stop making rushed, politically motivated decisions and start listening to faculty, students, and parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty and academic \nlibrarians in 29 faculty associations across Ontario. For more \ninformation, please visit www.ocufa.on.ca.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Toronto \u2013 April 12, 2019) Ontario\u2019s faculty are alarmed by the Doug Ford government\u2019s budget proposal to allocate 60 per cent of university funding based on institutional performance. By design, performance-based funding threatens education quality Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/915"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}