TUFA News
Reminder:
If you did not already complete it, please check your inbox for the microsurvey that we sent out Thursday, May 22. Each survey should take only a few minutes and will help to inform the Bargaining Team’s strategy at the table.
President’s Message
Dear TUFA members,
I’m very happy to serve once again as President for TUFA, and I look forward to meeting new members and working with everyone as we head into bargaining. I’ve been reviewing your many contributions to the bargaining consultations, and I want to thank you for the powerful direction and collective strength you provide to our accomplished and experienced bargaining team. If you have not yet had a chance to contribute to the bargaining agenda, there are still various ways to do so: you may attend the mandate discussion meeting; fill out the microsurveys we began circulating yesterday; email Sue, our chief negotiator; or contact [email protected]. I strongly encourage you to join the mandate-related meetings on Monday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 28. Significant turnouts at bargaining-related meetings send a strong message to the administration, and it is very important that all members have a voice in the mandate. We value your input and very much want to hear from you.
As consultations across campus confirm, unsustainable workloads are a serious concern for our membership. As you know, there are multiple drivers of workload issues at Trent, and one of many that concern us is Trent’s student-faculty ratio. You may have seen the recent press about student-faculty ratios in the Peterborough Examiner. The upshot is that Trent has a poor student-faculty ratio, which is of concern to us as educators passionate about high quality teaching, and to our students who benefit from smaller class sizes and the individualized attention it affords. We compare negatively with both the Ontario average of 33:1 and the Canadian average of 28:1, sitting somewhere between 35 and 42.9 depending on the source. According to Macleans (October 2024), we have the second worst ratio in Ontario, with Algoma recently beating us in the race to the bottom. This ranking is based, however, on Maclean’s figure of 35.3 for Trent, and 37.3 for Algoma. If we take the higher figure of 42.9, we arguably remain in last place in Ontario. (Worryingly, it just occurred to me that given that the Canadian average is better than Ontario’s, there is a risk that Trent might even place last in Canada. Surely not?) We used to boast excellent student-faculty ratios—it was very Trent, and it fostered the outstanding teaching, research, and student success for which we are well-known.
Of further concern regarding Trent’s student-faculty ratio is the provincial government’s 15 million dollar “Efficiency and Accountability Fund” to provide austerity management consultants to Ontario Universities (including Trent) to cut costs and find efficiencies. Recently, UOITFA at Ontario Tech reports to their membership that KPMG – the consulting firm hired by Ontario Tech under this fund – “indicates that in the 2023-24 academic year, almost 80% of sections are covered by full-time faculty members and suggests increasing student-to-faculty ratios, leveraging the use of part-time Faculty, and using non-unionized skilled professionals from industry as contract instructors to alleviate costs.” Because consultant reports on enrolment, retention, and cost cutting in universities are so similar between institutions, we should be on guard. Given my past experience with such firms as a chair, dean, and TUFA executive member, I am familiar with the pressures they place on universities from both sides of the fence. I will have more to say on the topic of austerity management firms and universities in posts to follow.
In the meantime, if you wish to know more about the student-faculty ratio problem, OCUFA offers an excellent backgrounder including provincial and national data. It is important for members to know that their workloads—and any related experiences of burnout—are situated in a system of forces beyond personal responsibility and work ethic. Together, we can resist these forces and motivate positive changes to better support students and the public goods of teaching and research.
Over the next year, I will communicate about issues facing higher education and their effect on our membership in both the TUFA newsletter and over the social media platform Bluesky. I always welcome your perspectives about TUFA’s direction and the issues we face, so please get in touch anytime.
See you at the mandate meetings!
Moira
Meet Your Bargaining Team
Susan Wurtele (Chief Negotiator)
In addition to Sue’s extensive achievements at the Trent bargaining table, she has worked proactively at the provincial level to protect the rights and interests of professors and academic librarians. Sue was the Ontario Confederation of Faculty Associations (OCUFA) President (2021-2023) and currently Chairs OCUFA’s Board of Directors. These roles follow her longstanding contributions to OCUFA’s Board and various subcommittees, including its Collective Bargaining Committee and Pension Policy and Research Group. In this latter group, Sue did much to create, as part of a successful push, a more secure university pension system in Ontario—what is now known as the University Pension Plan (UPP). Due to her efforts and our members’ collective initiative, TUFA was able to join UPP as an early member with the result that our pensions are now more financially secure, and we have better retirement opportunities than with our previous Trent pension. Sue was the 2022-2023 recipient of the OCUFA Lorimer Collective Bargaining Award, which recognizes her solid history of success at the bargaining table, as well as the recipient of OCUFA’s Service Award in 2014.
It is difficult to capture the scope of Sue’s work for TUFA and OCUFA, but it is worth noting that it has had a national impact. Sue spearheaded the initiative to remove public post-secondary institutions from the scope of the Federal Company Creditor’s Arrangement Act (CCAA), which was designed to address bankruptcies in the private sector. “Restructuring” under the CCAA had a devastating and lasting effect on Laurentian University and its community, in part because the CCAA allowed Laurentian’s administration to bypass the university’s financial exigency article. As a result of OCUFA’s lobbying, Bill C-59 ensures that no university in Canada will again be subject to the CCAA cudgel. https://universityaffairs.ca/news/ontario-institutions-welcome-bill-c-59/
Michael Epp
Mike Epp has been working at Trent since 2004, teaching and researching in the departments of English Literature and Cultural Studies. He publishes widely on violent labour, humour, and other topics in 19th and 20th century American Literature. Epp has been director of the English MA in Public Texts, and the Cultural Studies MA and PhD programs. This is his fourth round on the bargaining team.
Dr. Marguerite (Maggie) Xenopoulos
Dr. Xenopoulos is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Change of Freshwater Ecosystems, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. Her research expertise centers on understanding how humans and their activities are affecting freshwater ecosystems at both local and global scales through the lens of carbon. Some of her current projects include the effects of urban and agricultural land use on the biogeochemistry of aquatic systems, and the effects of climate events (e.g., flooding, winter warming) on freshwater. Her research program is characterized by an innovative application of interdisciplinary techniques, cross-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships, and adept management of large and diverse research teams. Xenopoulos is one of the first to implement action plans toward more equitable, diverse, and inclusive scientific publication environments with more transparent editorial policies and practices. She has received several awards including a University Faculty Award from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), an Early Researcher Award from the province of Ontario, she is a Sustaining Fellow for the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and she shared the Zayed Prize for the Environment for her involvement with the United Nation’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. More recently she obtained the William Kaula Award for her exceptional efforts on behalf of American Geophysical Union’s publications program, and she is the 2025 recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from Trent University. Xenopoulos has served on many national and international committees and evaluation groups, including as co-chair of the NSERC Discovery Grant Evaluation Group (2019-2023). She is currently on the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission, appointed by both Canadian and American Commissioners (2020-2026) to advise them on science priorities for the Laurentian Great Lakes. Xenopoulos is passionate about defending and helping researchers at Trent to achieve their full potential. This will be her 3d time on the bargaining team.
Byron Stoyles
Byron Stoyles is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy specializing in the history of philosophy and ethical theory. Byron was a member of TUFA’s bargaining team in 2022. He has served previously as a department chair (AHCL and PHIL); as a program coordinator (AGRS and the Option in Legal Studies); as a member of TUFA’s Executive Committee; as a representative on the joint Equity subcommittee; and as a member of many university committees including Senate, Faculty Board, the Committee on Academic Personnel (COAP), the Research Ethics Board (REB), and the Undergraduate Studies Committee (USC).
Stephanie Rutherford
Stephanie Rutherford, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, is an interdisciplinary environmental scholar with expertise in human-wildlife conflict, animal geographies, political ecology, and environmental/multispecies justice. Her SSHRC-funded, award-winning research examines two main throughlines: 1. The human dimensions of conflict with wildlife and strategies for justice-based coexistence; 2. The legacy and contemporary reality of environmental injustice in Peterborough, ON. Stephanie is the author or editor of four books that chart this terrain. Stephanie supervises graduate students in the Cultural Studies (MA & PhD), Canadian and Indigenous Studies (MA & PhD), Environmental and Life Sciences (MSc) Interdisciplinary Social Research (PhD) and Sustainability Studies (MA). She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in animals and society, environmental ethics, critical environmental thinking, environmental politics, and sustainability. Dr. Stephanie Rutherford’s book Villain, Vermin, Icon, Kin: Wolves and the Making of Canada won the prestigious Canada Prize, recognizing her powerful exploration of the complex and evolving relationship between humans and wolves in Canadian history.
Call for Members: Join the TUFA Negotiations Council
As we prepare for the upcoming round of collective bargaining, we’re re-establishing the TUFA Negotiations Council, a group of engaged members to strengthen communication and solidarity across departments during negotiations.
The Council will serve as a two-way conduit between the bargaining team and the wider membership, providing feedback and helping coordinate organizing efforts in support of our goals. Members of the Negotiations Council will be expected to:
- Share bargaining updates within their department
- Encourage colleagues to participate in demonstrations of support for the TUFA Bargaining Team and negotiation positions
- Offer feedback on strategies or communications from the Bargaining Team
The Negotiations Council is an essential part of our effort to build strong, visible support for fair outcomes at the table. We hope to confirm Council members before the end of June so that the group is in place and ready to support organizing efforts in the fall.
To volunteer, or to nominate a colleague, please reply to this email or contact TUFA at [email protected]
Together, we can make this a strong and successful round of bargaining.
Our people in the news
Professors Honoured with National Recognition at Heart of Trent Celebration
Trent professors Dr. Stephen Hill and Dr. Naomi Nichols were recently awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal at this year’s Heart of Trent celebration. This national honour recognizes Canadians who have made significant contributions to their communities and country through leadership, service, and advocacy.
Dr. Hill, Director of the Trent School of the Environment, was recognized for his work in climate policy, community-based sustainability, and environmental advocacy. Dr. Nichols, Canada Research Chair in Community-Partnered Social Justice and faculty member in Sociology, was honoured for her leadership in housing advocacy and social justice research.
Also recognized during the event were Dr. David Newhouse (Indigenous Studies) and Dr. Rita Bode (English Literature), recipients of the Eminent Service Award, and Dr. Alba Agostino (Child & Youth Studies), who received the Jackie Muldoon Award for Faculty Service.
To read the full list of award recipients and learn more about the celebration, click here.
Trent Professor Aaron Kreuter’s New Novel Lake Burntshore Now Available at Take Cover Books
Trent English professor Aaron Kreuter’s debut novel, Lake Burntshore, is a coming-of-age story set at a Jewish summer camp in the Muskokas, where tensions rise over the arrival of Israeli Defence Force soldiers and plans to expand into nearby Crown land. Through humour, sharp dialogue, and layered characters, Kreuter explores themes of diaspora, land relations, and Jewish identity in Canada. A deeply personal and politically engaged work, Lake Burntshore reflects on colonialism, community, and the complicated ways people relate to land and one another. The novel is available now at Take Cover Books, both online and in-store.
For the full story click here.