Ontario university students, faculty and staff release united vision for
post-secondary education and call for better funding

TORONTO, Oct 5 /CNW/ - Students, faculty and staff in the university sector, who came together earlier this year through the creation of the Ontario University Coalition (OUC), today released their statement of principles. The principles assert the need for government to prioritize post-secondary education in the face of growing class sizes, collective bargaining pressures and rising tuition fees and student debt.

The principles reflect the shared priorities of students, faculty and staff and have been released at the coalition's website www.ontariouniversitycoalition.ca. The Coalition is united behind the following core beliefs: post-secondary education should be affordable and accessible; post-secondary education should be engaging and of high quality; post-secondary education that is of high quality must include staffing levels that ensure manageable workloads; and post-secondary education should be publicly funded.

Universities in Ontario currently have the worst student to faculty ratio in Canada and Ontario students pay the highest tuition fees compared to other provinces. The Coalition will continue to advocate for public policy changes that reflect its core principles and call on the McGuinty government to more adequately fund post-secondary education.

The Ontario University Coalition formed to unite the voices of representative unions and associations for students, faculty and staff in the post-secondary education sector. Members of the coalition represent students, staff, faculty and academic librarians at all of Ontario's public universities.

The members of the Coalition are: Canadian Auto Workers, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Confederation of Ontario University Staff Associations & Unions, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, Ontario Public Service Employee's Union, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, Public Service Alliance of Canada, United Steelworkers.

For further information:

Mark Rosenfeld, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, 416-306-6037 or 416-270-6859 (cell)