Please join the UTFA President and members of the UTFA Executive Committee at a rally in support of faculty on strike in the college system. This strike is about fair working conditions and academic freedom, especially for those teaching on insecure contracts.
Summary of the union (OPSEU’s) proposals:
- a 50:50 ratio of full-time to contract faculty, which currently sits at over 70% contract faculty
- increased job security for partial-load faculty, who currently work on one-semester contracts
- academic freedom to give faculty a stronger voice in academic decision-making
The union’s final offer for settlement, dated October 14, 2017
Excerpt on academic freedom from the union’s final offer:
Academic Freedom
13.02 Every employee is entitled to exercise Academic Freedom in the performance of his/her duties. However, it is recognized Academic Freedom must be exercised responsibly and within the limits of relevant legislation.
13.03 People benefit from the search for knowledge and its free exposition. Academic freedom is essential to both these purposes in the teaching function of the College as well as in its scholarship and research. There shall be no infringement or abridgement of the academic freedom of any faculty member.
13.04 Academic freedom is the freedom to examine, question, teach, and learn, and it involves the right to investigate, speculate, and comment without regard to prescribed doctrine. Academic freedom ensures:
- Freedom in the conduct of teaching and the performance of duties;
- Freedom in undertaking research and publishing or making public the results thereof; and
- Freedom from institutional censorship.