The author prefers to remain anonymous

Appendix T, a primary negotiating position proposed by YUFA Executive, should be of grave concern to YUFA members. They need to be informed about it. Appendix T (formerly U) in effect suggests that all YUFA members (irrespective of salary) forego a 4% salary increase in the first year of the new contract. Appendix T can only be defeated if people come out and vote against it.

Norene Pupo

...Even last year when I asked YUFA for a $500 donation to support a conference, Labour Rights as Human Rights, (a conference following the BC Supreme Court Decision, and involving international guests from the ILO) YUFA refused, despite again wide labour support, including support from the other campus unions...

Tyler Shipley

There is growing acknowledgement... that there is a crisis in post-secondary education and a need for real change in the structure of university funding. This has manifested as a proliferation of student and worker unrest across the country and, indeed, the world; in 2008 and early 2009, there were dozens of university strikes and occupations across the world marked both by broader ideological challenges to the prevailing social order as well as increased repression from campus and state authorities... The recent strike of graduate students and part-time faculty at York University in Toronto over the winter of 2008-09 confronted these questions directly... this piece will sketch a brief history of the funding crisis in post-secondary education in the hopes of highlighting what I think are the crucial pressure-points in fighting back the trends toward inaccessible and watered-down educational experiences for students and low-reward, exploitative working conditions for teachers.

To read the complete article, go to:
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet215.html

David Noble

FLAPS Dean has been appointed a Full Professor in the Department of History.

Hello,
Google Inc. has received notice of application for an order to disclose information related to your Gmail account yfcfyu@gmail.com in a case entitled York University v. John Doe.

There has been much recent discussion on and off the YUForum discussion list about anti-democratic principles and process in the recent elections to Stewards Council. This posting by Stanley Jeffers on YUForm on April 6 was a response to Michael Mazurkewich on that list. It is posted here as an introduction to this question.

Deborah Brock

My experience in social movements has taught me that work is best shared, and change is best made, by maintaining open, democratic and participatory structures and processes. For YUFA, these structures and processes must be consistent with Section 1.3 of the Constitution.

The YUFA Democracy Caucus

These minutes were initially withheld as a gesture of good will -to see if the presence of witnesses would lead to greater openness, transparency, and accountability in the transactions of YUFA Executive. The minutes are now being posted.

A major report released on March 23 sounds the alarm about declining quality of university education in Ontario. University faculty and librarians expressed concern over larger classes, fewer full-time faculty hires and deteriorating quality.

David Noble

For years York University has kept its liability insurance policy confidential, preventing faculty, staff, and students from knowing that they are covered. Thanks to the interventions of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario the policy has now been made public.

David Noble

York University's appointment of Martin Singer as first Dean of the new, merged Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies signals the institution's de facto abandonment of scholarly achievement as a criterion of evaluation.

The YUFA Democracy Caucus

Once again, YUFA observers were excluded from much of the meeting, an action not mentioned in the Constitution.

On behalf of the York Democratic Forum

Paul Baxter, Jody Berland, Malcolm Blincow, Ricardo Grinspun, Nick Lary, Marcia Macaulay, Arun Mukherjee, Ester Reiter, Nicola Short

In his address to Senate on 26 February –available at http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.php?Release=1623 –President Shoukri delivered his first speech after provincial back-to-work legislation led to a long-delayed return to class and a chaotic end-of-term schedule for students and faculty.

The YUFA Democracy Caucus

The YUFA Democracy Caucus summarizes the highlights of the poisonous YUFA Executive meeting on Feb. 23.

John J. DeGioia

...If you can't debate controversial ideas here, where can it be done? This is the unique role and responsibility of the academy. It is a role we must play if we are to sustain a civil society. The writer Ron Suskind once told me that the university is the last place where there is still "untitled land" in the public square. Every other piece of ground has been claimed in support of some particular interest.