St. Lawrence College Mandates Vaccination for On-campus Activity
Today many staff and faculty heaved a sigh of relief as St. Lawrence College announced (via email) that all students, faculty, employees, and visitors attending our campuses or workspaces must be fully vaccinated (barring legitimate exemption). No doubt many students and families share in our relief. As other colleges and universities began announcing [...]
August 2021 – Proposals Tabled at Bargaining
A message from the Bargaining Team: Please note that we have not yet tabled our monetary proposals although we have been working on them. On July 2nd, we gave Notice to Bargain and asked the Employer for the information we need to complete our monetary proposals. That disclosure has yet to be provided. [...]
Return to Campus Concerns Details by OPSEU CAAT-A
By now, most of you have received word of the Ministry's sudden announcement that Ontario colleges and universities can go back to classroom teaching this fall semester without physical restrictions or limits on class sizes. While some colleges are taking an aggressive stance on returning to the classroom, not all are [...]
Bargaining Update – Opening Statements & Summary of Initial Proposals
The teams met on July 7 and 8 this week to discuss ground rules, set the tone for bargaining, and exchange initial proposals. Attached, please find the opening statement and summary of initial proposals that your bargaining team tabled in the course of negotiations with the College Employer team earlier today, [...]
Academic Freedom at SLC
Over the past several years there has been a wide-spread attack on academic freedom across Ontario Colleges. So wide-spread that the protection of this freedom was a key addition to our most recent collective agreement. Recently the Union put forward a grievance related to the protection of academic freedom and the [...]
Microcredentials and St. Lawrence College
Microcredentials - the new buzz word in post-secondary education. You’ve likely already heard of them. In fact, you or someone on your team might already be involved in the development of microcredentials at SLC. The Province of Ontario has announced significant financial support for the development and implementation of such credentials. [...]
PAC’N A PUNCH OR PAC’N IT IN – How Does Your Program Advisory Committee Measure Up?
Love them or hate them, Program Advisory Committees (PAC) are part of operating any college program in Ontario. The role of a PAC is to assist the Board of Governors in monitoring program quality and supporting student success. The college describes these volunteer members as providing a “critical link between the [...]
Local 417 Grievances Update
Several union grievances have been filed by OPSEU Local 417 over the past two weeks, arguing that the programs are overstaffed by Part-time and Partial Load Faculty. In some cases, the grievance states that a position vacated by retirement or resignation has not been filled. If successful, the grievances would result [...]