Ontario plan to change Colleges' mandate requires joint task forces: OPSEU

TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Ontario College Faculty have served notice requesting that the College Council set up Joint Task Forces both provincially and at each College regarding proposed changes to the College system. The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) plans include "differentiation" of College programs across the province.

A recent report issued by MTCU titled "Ontario's Proposed Differentiation Policy Framework: Draft Discussion Paper" lays out how colleges and universities should address changing their mandates.

Joint Task Forces are required by the Collective Agreement when there is 'significant change to the Colleges' mandate'. The goal of these task forces is to both mitigate the negative impact of any changes on faculty, but also to achieve the changes to the objectives.

"Changes in the Colleges must be made in consultation with College Faculty," said OPSEU President, Warren (Smokey) Thomas. "They are the experts when it comes to delivering quality education for our College students."

By creating these task forces now, Ontario College Faculty hope to ensure that the academic and administrative arms of the Colleges are working together to meet the criteria set out by the current government.

"The process of determining changes in the Colleges' mandates will be more fulsome if the academic arm of the Colleges is included in the process from the start.  This is the best way to maintain the delivery of quality education to our students," said OPSEU College Faculty Division Chair, Benoit Dupuis.

College Faculty have been told that renegotiated mandates will be complete by the end of March, 2014, and that Suzanne Hebert has been hired by MTCU as a consultant to assist them in this process.

OPSEU represents more than 8000 faculty members at Ontario's 24 Colleges.

SOURCE: OPSEU

Benoit Dupuis, OPSEU College Faculty Division Chair: 613-841-8942
Emily Visser, OPSEU Communications: 416-557-7936