News 24/01/10

1. Georgian Grievance Settled

Georgian Grievance Settled : On January 8, the LUFA Board unanimously approved a Memorandum of Agreement which settled LUFA’s grievance about contracting out at Georgian College.

In signing the document, the Laurentian Administration has committed itself to extending some of the most fundamental rights, and privileges that Laurentian University faculty currently enjoy to non-LUFA members teaching Laurentian courses at Georgian. At the November LUFA "Symposium on Laurentian at Georgian" these rights were revealed as largely absent at that campus.

This agreement is an historic and unprecedented action that ensures the protection of faculty employed by Georgian College who teach in Laurentian University programs. It is expected to form the basis of the Partnership agreement that the University is currently engaged in renegotiating with Georgian College.

Of course these are only the first steps of many to come. Both the LUFA Board and Laurentian University Administration view this agreement as a major step toward ensuring the quality and integrity of Laurentian's programming at Georgian campuses in Barrie, Orillia and Owen Sound.

Students attending Laurentian courses at Georgian will now enjoy all the rights and privileges that our Sudbury campus students do, including a guarantee that all Laurentian procedures from appeals to course evaluations will now come under the rules of Laurentian's Senate.

A highlight from the MoA:

"All academic staff teaching Laurentian University courses at Georgian College are protected by the academic freedom provisions of the Collective Agreement between LUFA and Laurentian University in matters arising from their participation in the Laurentian University programs at Georgian College."

To read more, see the full document available on the LUFA website.

As you know, the issues involved where profound, complicated, and could potentially impact the future delivery of Laurentian programming. It was vital that faculty assert its rights to be involved in the planning and implementation processes of such ventures and to limit the discretion of Administrators in how and where these can be undertaken. The seriousness of the matter is reflected in the costs involved: in excess of $50,000 over the three years during which the project was contested. Given the achievements in extending our academic practices, procedures, and protections, and in establishing the precedent for future potential ventures, the investment in time and money was well worth it.