GREATER SUDBURY, November 17, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the release of the Auditor General of Ontario\u2019s Special Report on Laurentian University<\/em>, the Laurentian University Faculty Association is demanding that the university\u2019s senior leadership prioritize making the institution\u2019s governance structures more transparent, accountable, and democratic. As the Auditor General\u2019s investigation has revealed, years of bad governance and secretive decision-making created the financial crisis that devastated Laurentian and the lives of so many who worked and studied at the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Auditor General\u2019s report clearly shows that this crisis could have\u2014and should have been avoided,\u201d said LUFA President Fabrice Colin. \u201cThere is simply no excuse for the Laurentian administration\u2019s dubious and irresponsible decision-making, which has led to needless cuts and suffering. Students, staff, and faculty deserve better. We expect the Laurentian University administration to act swiftly on the recommendations in this report and ensure that faculty are meaningfully involved in building a more inclusive and democratic shared governance structure at Laurentian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report found that the Laurentian University administration created the financial chaos that destabilized the institution and then ignored other, better suited options for addressing the crisis. Instead, the Auditor General found that a lack of proper governance oversight and transparency allowed senior administrators to do an end-run around the institution\u2019s democratic structures and use the Companies\u2019 Creditors Arrangement Act <\/em>(CCAA) to fundamentally dismantle the university by cutting faculty positions and programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, the report concludes that the Ontario government did not intervene in a timely manner to help Laurentian correct its financial situation. For years, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities should have been aware of the university\u2019s financial difficulties and had ample opportunity to take action. Ultimately, the Ford government failed to take the proactive initiative needed to save Laurentian from collapsing inwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Auditor General\u2019s report is a complete validation of the Laurentian University Faculty Association\u2019s positions on these issues,\u201d said Colin. \u201cIt is shameful that the university administration has spent so much effort ignoring, scapegoating, and gaslighting faculty throughout this process. The Laurentian administration must heed this report and fundamentally change its culture to work with faculty to build a more transparent, democratic, and inclusive model of shared governance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has been a dark chapter in Laurentian\u2019s history, manufactured by the ill-considered decisions of a secretive university administration and made possible by a government that refused to prioritize university education in Northern Ontario. This report does little on its own to mend the damage that has been done, but it should act as a clear condemnation of the practices that drove Laurentian University to this point of crisis and a call to action for the university administration to prioritize making the institution\u2019s governance structures more transparent, accountable, and democratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LUFA was founded in 1979 and, prior to the CCAA proceedings, represented over 400 full- time and 300 part-time professors at Laurentian University, the University of Sudbury, Huntington University, and Thorneloe University. Today, LUFA represents roughly 250 full- time and 200 part-time professors at Laurentian University. <\/em>For more information about LUFA, visit: www.lufappul.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -30-<\/p>\n\n\n\n For questions or to arrange an interview, please contact: Fabrice Colin at fcolin@lufappul.org or 705.698.6763<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GREATER SUDBURY, November 17, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Following the release of the Auditor General of Ontario\u2019s Special Report on Laurentian University, the Laurentian University Faculty Association is demanding that the university\u2019s senior leadership prioritize making 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":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675","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=5675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}