This is the June 2008 report of the Ad Hoc Investigatory Committee on Freedom of Speech, Academic Freedom and Governance at York University, launched by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) in 2005. See here.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Motion of non-confidence by the LA&PS Faculty Council Reply
April 30, 2018
LA&PS Faculty Council expresses non-confidence in the senior administration of York University led by President Rhonda Lenton and in the Board of Governors led by Rick Waugh.
Rationale
With the strike in its eight week, the Administration of York University, led by President Rhonda Lenton, continues to refuse to bargain with CUPE 3903 to resolve outstanding issues. Although it welcomed the appointment of Commissioner William Kaplan, the Administration still publicly refuses to negotiate. The positions of Administration remain deeply contradictory. On the one hand, the Administration has stated that CUPE 3903’s positions “continue to be well outside the range of anything the university can ever agree to.” On the other hand, the Administration calls for CUPE 3903 “to allow an independent third party to decide what’s fair and impose a settlement that binds both sides.” The Administration claims that the proposals are outside what they can ever agree to, but supports a process of binding arbitration that might lead to those very same outcomes. This strategy has nothing to do with negotiating a contract and everything to do with bypassing negotiations altogether.
Because of its refusal to bargain, the winter semester is in chaos. Now the Administration has announced the imminent cancellation of summer semesters. This announcement once again usurps the authority of Senate and Senate Executive to make decisions on class suspension due to a labour disruption. It demonstrates a “scorched earth” approach to contract negotiations placing the business-driven interests of the Board of Governors over the academic reputation of the institution and the education, mental health and future of our students. The Senate Executive Committee has managed remediation in full deference to this administrative approach. It has created chaos and dysfunction within York. It has intensified the anxiety and stress of students, faculty and staff, and undermined the academic integrity of courses and York’s standing with students, families and the public.
The April 2 letter from Rick Waugh, Chair of the Board of Governors, to Lesley Beagrie, Chair of Senate, is a frontal attack on collegial governance at York. It states that “oversight and accountability for the operations of the University rest with the Board of Governors.” This misleading statement fails to acknowledge the exception clause from the York Act: “Except, as to such matters by this Act specifically assigned to the Senate” (article 10). “The Senate is responsible for the academic policy of the University” (article 12). The Board’s usurpation of Senate’s authority for academic governance during a labour disruption violates the legal framework that established York University and the Board’s fiduciary responsibility for “collegial self-governance” (York Mission Statement).
Given these considerations, LA&PS Faculty Council can no longer express confidence in the leadership of President Rhonda Lenton or Chair of the Board of Governors Rick Waugh.
Statement on Senate Policy and Actions Reply
A statement concerning the Senate Policy on Disruption with an updated list of endorsers (currently 121)
257 YUFA members sign letter to Senate Executive and University Administration Reply
257 YUFA members and 6 retirees have signed an open letter to Senate Executive expressing extreme concern about the resumption of classes while the strike continues. The letter urges the University Administration to go back to the bargaining table and to make solid offers for a quick and fair settlement with CUPE Units 1 and 3.
Memo from Prof. Stephanie Ross to her students regarding the CUPE 3903 strike Reply
Dr. Henry Giroux Addresses the Ontario Common Front Assembly with a call for a new kind of politics Reply
On August 19, 2013 McMaster University Professor Henry Giroux spoke at the third Ontario Common Front General Assembly. ““I can’t think of a better way to defuse the possibility among young people of the radical imagination than to place them into so much debt that for the next 20 years, all they can basically think about is paying that debt back,” Giroux says early in the clip in a section called ‘Student Debt and Generational Welfare.'” Watch video here.
Industry Money Corrupts Science at University of Calgary Research Centre Reply
Oil and gas industry funding has corrupted research at the University of Calgary’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), according to former head of the centre, climate scientist David Keith. More…
Academic precarity and academic freedom Reply
Bob Hanke
I would like to echo Prof. Emeritus J..D. Wood’s comment on a previous post by adding a ‘bottom up’ perspective on governance and academic freedom. While the faculty has mobilized and raised its voice against the CGI deal, this deal is only the tip of the iceberg of academic governance and freedom. More…
Unprecedented faculty mobilization achieves results: York terminates CIGI deal Reply
The following email was sent to York faculty on April 3, 2012, following York’s announcement that the CIGI-York agreement had been terminated, to thank those who made it possible through a strong and courageous mobilization.
Final list of signatories to the CIGI Letter of Concern 1
The following is the final list of 310 full-time faculty and librarians who signed the Open Letter of Concern regarding the CIGI-York University agreement.