Trent
TUFA Members Meet with Administration on Budget Process and Faculty Concerns
On January 9th,TUFA members met with the President and Provost to discuss concerns raised about the financial outlook for Trent. TUFA members emphasized the need to protect instructional capacity, faculty and librarian working conditions, and the academic mission of the University. While the administration emphasized chronic provincial underfunding, frozen tuition, and enrollment pressures, the members who spoke were clear: instruction and research are already stretched beyond sustainable limits.
TUFA members highlighted the sharp growth in student enrolment over the past decade without a proportional increase in faculty hires. Trent now has one of the highest student-to-faculty ratios in Ontario, contributing to larger classes, heavier workloads, and reduced capacity for research and student support.
Members also raised serious concerns about proposals that could further reduce instructional staff, including the non-renewal of Limited-Term Appointments. Such measures would generate minimal savings while significantly worsening working conditions, program stability, and student experience.
TUFA members also challenged the framing of current conditions as “efficiencies,” arguing that faculty and librarians are already operating under unsustainable workloads that exceed provincial and national norms.
During the meeting, the administration agreed to meet soon with the TUFA subcommittee struck as a result of the motion that passed at the General Membership Meeting on December 17. That subcommittee consists of its Chair, Jaime Morales (School of Business), Paul Shaffer (Global Justice and Development), Kirsten Francescone (Global Justice and Development), Byron Lew (Economics), and Sue Wurtele (School of the Environment) as the Association’s Chief Negotiator. The President serves ex officio as a member of all TUFA committees. Shutao Cao and Bruce Cater (both Economics) have also offered to assist the committee as needed. TUFA thanks the members of the subcommittee for taking on this important work.
Coming away from the meeting with a commitment to engage in a substantive discussion of the numbers and hearing the senior administration confirm their commitment to protecting the academic mission was productive. They made clear that budget reductions will not be applied uniformly across the university, but will instead be sensitive to their impact on academic programs. Final budget decisions are expected later this term.
TUFA will continue to advocate for member-first budget decisions and to lobby for meaningful government action to address the structural underfunding of Ontario’s post-secondary system. TUFA officers have scheduled a meeting with MPP Dave Smith for the end of the week and expect to have a meeting with MP Emma Harrison before the end of the month. Our subcommittee continues its analysis and will meet with the Employer in the coming weeks and will keep members informed of our progress on all these fronts.
Member Reports
Solidarity or Bust: Resisting the Corporatization of Libraries and Archives by Abullah Yossofzai, Learning & Liaison Librarian, Research & Learning Services, Librarians & Archivists, Durham GTA Library & Learning Centre
October 3rd to October 4th, with support from Trent University Faculty Association (TUFA), my colleague Dwayne Collins (TUFA Vice President) and I attended the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) conference “Solidarity or Bust: Resisting the Corporatization of Libraries and Archives.” While I have always appreciated the value of a strong union, this conference clarified the unique challenges facing libraries and archives as corporatization accelerates across the sector.
Before the conference I had not given much thought to the corporatization of the Library and Archives but it is resulting in increasing dependence on corporate vendors to perform basic duties that are necessary for the day-to-day operations of libraries and archives. All too often libraries outsource labour to vendors, and this, in turn, means that over time the library’s own employees will lose the expertise to perform such duties themselves.
Collection development is a complex task which requires individuals with a specialized skillset within the library. Thus, many academic and public libraries pay an extra fee to vendors, so that both physical and eResources that the library makes available to its users are ready-to-borrow, and don’t need to be processed. The end result is that many libraries are shooting themselves in the foot, by making it that much harder to potentially hire for that role in the future, and by becoming reliant on corporate vendors for these crucial functions. This also makes institutions more susceptible to future price increases for these services with the result that operating budgets that could otherwise be used to hire or improve the working conditions of library personnel are seriously depleted.
For these reasons, we were urged to be skeptical of using services outsourced to any externally affiliated organizations, as there may be a slew of unintended consequences that undermine our academic autonomy and erode the collective bargaining power we rely on to protect our profession. As corporatization pressures increase, we must remain alert to how outsourcing shapes not only budgets but also the skills, resilience, and independence of our academic communities.
If you’d like to connect with me regarding my experience at this conference, I welcome you to email me directly, [email protected].
Our People in the News
Trent Faculty Renewed as Canada Research Chairs
Three Trent University faculty members, Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Dr. Anne Pasek, and Dr. Naomi Nichols, have had their Canada Research Chair appointments renewed, securing continued federal support for their research in the humanities and social sciences.
Dr. Lackenbauer was renewed as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Study of the Canadian North, while Dr. Pasek and Dr. Nichols were renewed for second terms as Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs in Media, Culture, and the Environment, and Community-Partnered Social Justice, respectively. To read more click here.
Trent Faculty Help Launch Canada’s First Association for the Philosophy of AI
Trent faculty are helping ensure critical reflection keeps pace with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Dr. Martina Orlandi, Assistant Professor of Artificial Intelligence Studies at Trent University Durham GTA, has co-founded the Canadian Association for the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (CAPAI) the first national association dedicated to philosophers working on AI in Canada. Co-founded with Dr. Nicholas Dunn (University of Lethbridge), CAPAI creates a coordinated national forum for scholars examining foundational, ethical, and social questions raised by AI, including its impacts on labour, healthcare, bias, surveillance, and democracy. Since launching earlier this fall, the association has established a national website and online speaker series, with plans for in-person meetings and broader public engagement, reinforcing the vital role faculty play in shaping how emerging technologies affect our institutions and working lives. For further information, click here.