Program suspensions and restructuring, course cancellations, closure of course sections, increased class sizes are being rapidly implemented across the university with little, or no, consultation via long-established collegial processes. These changes have many implications for academic programs.
In this context, YUFA advises the following:
- Work together – Members should work collegially to discuss and consider all proposed changes and their implications, including unit priorities and strengths, estimated impacts, projected savings, and risks for the unit. Members should also make every effort to uphold and defend existing unit-level and Faculty-level decision-making processes. Members holding administrative positions (as defined under Appendix P of our Collective Agreement as chairs, UPDs, directors, and others) should attempt to consult openly and transparently with the members in their unit. Likewise, members not holding an Appendix P position should consider supporting their colleagues in negotiations with the Dean’s Office in planning any program changes and course offerings, and at the level of Faculty Council. Units can consider joint communication or joint statements where they file requests for information or express collective concerns.
- Protect pedagogical integrity – Deans seem to be imposing cost-cutting measures based on enrolment numbers, without consideration for the overall integrity of programs. In planning for 2025-2026 course offerings, members should focus on the integrity of their programs. For instance, mandatory courses need to be offered, and the integrity of the programs’ scaffolding needs to be maintained.
Courses that are highly popular with students looking to take electives should not be cancelled on the sole ground that they do not generate the same revenue as courses taken by the unit’s ‘majors’. That is a Shared Accountability and Resource Planning (SHARP) budget model problem, not a pedagogical problem. Members should use their professional expertise and experience to make decisions that respect the needs of students as well as the impacts on faculty colleagues and staff.
- Document changes and rationales in writing – In negotiations about course offerings for next year, it is important to push back to protect the pedagogical integrity of unit programs. Ideally this advocacy should be documented in writing, citing the adverse effects of course cancellation, section closures, and increased class sizes. This can be done by electronic communication (email), and joint statements can be supported by the members in a unit. Please share these written statements with YUFA at [email protected].
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Share information – Programs are not isolated units, but rather many share connections, cross-listed courses and offer essential ‘service courses.’ Thus, it is important for units to share their concerns and exchange information. One way to do this is by making use of dedicated collegial spaces including Faculty Councils, interpersonal emails, research groups, and others. What a unit documents in writing can easily be shared at monthly Faculty Council meetings, while Senate representatives should bring Faculty concerns to Senate.
Requests for information at the Faculty level can also be formally filed through your Faculty Council:
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ask the Dean for a full list of courses that have been canceled in 2024-2025, as this impacts the pedagogical integrity of all programs;
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ask for a complete list of programs where the enrolment of new majors has been suspended (undergraduate and graduate);
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ask for a rationale for any cancellations of well-attended General Education courses;
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ask what exactly is being done to improve enrolment at York University for next year, and to improve student retention (numbers, metrics, references).
Please share this information with YUFA at [email protected].