Dear Dean Meric Gertler:
CC: President David Naylor, Provost Cheryl Misak, Dean Brian Corman, savecomplit@gmail.com, uteau@lists.cupe.ca
On behalf of the over 7,000 members of CUPE 3902, we are writing to express our dissatisfaction with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Academic Plan and the process by which it was developed. This plan has had a deeply unsettling effect on many of our members as they contemplate the possible elimination of the departments and programs where they study and work.
Last October you formed a non-transparent committee composed entirely of administrators and tenured faculty to develop the FAS Academic Plan. Despite the obvious and predominant presence of our members as instructors, teaching assistants, and students in the departments evaluated, no CUPE 3902 member was included on this committee. As a result of the exclusion of CUPE 3902 members and thousands of other students and non-teaching staff, the committee has produced a plan that is wildly out of touch with the needs and perspectives of the broader University community. In a pattern that is becoming disturbingly prevalent, FAS chose to develop the plan first and consult with the community second. If FAS hopes to obtain the consent of the members of CUPE 3902 and other members of the University community, then we must be brought into the planning process in a meaningful way at its inception.
As a result of a very flawed planning process, the FAS Academic Plan has produced a series of proposals that cuts some of the most dynamic and effective programs at the University. The creation of a School of Languages and Literatures will regress to a thoroughly outdated model of language instruction. The elimination of East Asian Studies will dismantle one of the most treasured Departments at the University where scholars are undertaking research and teaching that cuts across disciplinary and national boundaries. Likewise, the elimination of the Centre for Comparative Literature will cut a locus of important interdisciplinary study and one of the most storied programs at the University. The elimination of the newly formed Centre for Ethics terminates what was quickly becoming an innovative cluster for scholars from across the University who are interested in ethical questions. These are just a few of the devastating effects that the FAS Academic Plan will have on innovative teaching and study at the University of Toronto. In addition, the proposed changes have badly damaged the reputation of the University resulting in scathing accounts in the Globe and Mail and the Chronicle of Higher Education and vocal dissent by prominent academics from around the world.
We believe that the FAS Academic Plan is fundamentally flawed and that none of the proposed changes and cuts should be made. A committee should be created that is representative of the University community. This committee should engage in meaningful consultation with the campus community before developing a plan. We understand the challenges facing FAS, but we believe the best way to address these challenges is through an inclusive and consultative planning process. If such a process is not undertaken, then the members of CUPE 3902 will actively oppose the FAS Academic Plan as an attack on their workplace and learning environment. We await your invitation to help develop a fair and workable plan and, as always, can be reached at the above address and phone number.
Sincerely,
The Executive of CUPE 3902
