The USFA has asked for assurances from Senior Administrators that there will be no involuntary job loss for faculty as the University navigates its way through the current financial “crisis.” To date this assurance has not been given.

Senior Administrators and the Board of Governors have projected a $44.5 million operating budget deficit by 2015-16 and identified workforce reduction as the primary way to eliminate it. While there may be some deficit, it is questionable that it is $44.5 million, and there are also ways to reduce it that do not include involuntary job loss.

The USFA is completely opposed to Senior Administrators and the Board of Governors choosing programs and units they want to eliminate. These are academic decisions that rest in the hands of Council. Should there prove need to implement faculty lay-offs, the procedures to do so are prescribed in our Collective Agreement and they do not include cherry picking by Senior Administrators.