Update: Graduate Course Enrollment Threshold Settlement

As part of the settlement, YUFA negotiated a specific process for graduate courses falling below enrollment thresholds. The following point, which is extracted directly from the Memorandum of Settlement regarding the December 19, 2024 YUFA Policy Grievance (Increase of Workload #512960), outlines the agreed-upon conditions and factors for granting exemptions:

2. Where it appears to the Chair and/or the Graduate Program Director of an academic unit that graduate courses may not meet the minimum enrolment threshold and may accordingly be cancelled, the Chair and/or Graduate Program Director may communicate with the Dean’s Office regarding a potential exemption based on one or more of the factors set out below in advance of a final decision by the Dean to cancel the courses due to not meeting the minimum enrolment threshold:

a. Mandatory courses required for timely degree completion.

b. Mandatory courses that were not offered in the previous year because they did not meet the minimum enrolment threshold.

c. Courses that advance the Faculty and University's core commitments to Indigenizing the curriculum and promoting the study of Indigenous languages.

d. Courses that advance the Faculty and University's core commitments to promoting Black scholarship, histories, cultures, and art.

e. Whether the course is integral to fulfilling a degree requirement, including fulfilling requirements for a program stream.

f. Courses that were not offered in the previous year because they did not meet the low enrolment threshold.

If your graduate courses are at risk of cancellation due to low enrollment, consider contacting your Chair and/or Graduate Program Director to expedite a request to your Dean/Principal seeking an exemption to course cancellation. While the Dean/Principal is not obligated to grant the exemption under this settlement, the Dean shall nonetheless consider such requests before making a final decision regarding whether to cancel the course or grant an exemption to a cancellation for the relevant term and/or academic year and shall respond to the communication from the Chair and/or the Graduate Program Director requesting a potential exemption accordingly. When considering such requests, the Dean/Principal must exercise their discretion in a non-arbitrary manner, specifically by having regard for the factors outlined above.

While this settlement only applies to the graduate level, YUFA encourages all members to use the same factors to support course offerings at the undergraduate level.

Note that this settlement is timebound and applicable up until April 29, 2027.