From Leaks to Geeks

Greetings QCAA readers! It may be a new year, but Queen’s is still a hot mess. Here are some of the highlights from the first month of 2026. 

1. It’s not news that the provincial government and Queen’s administration are trying to shrink the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even some basic sciences in the post-secondary sector. What is news is that we now have receipts! Thanks to some blockbuster reporting by the Queen’s Journal, we have a better sense of exactly what central administration and the Board of Trustees envisage for the future of Queen’s. Much more revealing than the rather vacuous Bicentennial Vision, these leaked documents paint a sordid picture of large class sizes, an emphasis on professional degree programs, and the reduction of the Faculty of Arts and Science by half. Oh, and they want to do away with tenure. 

2. At the December 12th meeting of the Queen’s Board of Trustees, the BoT received an update on the university’s finances. In keeping with the annual tradition, the operating budget deficit is far less than originally projected, having dropped to only $3 million before accounting for investment income. When investment income is accounted for, the university is projecting an operating budget surplus of $30.7 million, which will be transferred into capital projects while the rest of the university struggles under austerity. The reduction in the projected deficit is attributed to increased Provincial funding for STEM, a reduction in the costs of shared services, and unspent funding in the Provost’s Transition Fund (which begs the question of why we are allocating so much money to a centralized fund while cutting everywhere else).

3. On the topic of tenure and budgets a friendly reminder that QUFA is heading into another round of bargaining where many of these issues – especially related to job security and workload – are on the table. We encourage you to engage with this process by attending Town Halls, filling out surveys, and writing emails to QUFA and the bargaining team about your priorities and some of the issues you are facing in your units!

4.  A January 26 Reddit post describes how FAS Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) Bill Nelson and former Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson have been writing for a private consulting firm, Academic Group.

5. The Provost doubled down at the January 29 Senate on his position that Queen’s is now focused on excellence rather than equity. The Provost made his comments in response to questions about the stark turn away from humanities and social sciences in the latest iteration of Queen’s National Scholar program, and the academic and equity implications of the present competition. 

6. The Canada Impact+ Chair processes are in full swing at Queen’s. The rushed and closed-door nature of these appointments underlies a larger trend in remaking governance and collegial decision-making at Queen’s University. Where historically faculties, units, and departments have had a meaningful (if increasingly constrained) say in directing the future of their programs, this federal government pilot project is using post-secondary institutions in Canada to do its bidding: the research areas prioritized by the Impact+ (and QNS) programs steer us towards a technomilitarist and nationalist future, where AI, critical mineral extraction, and defence spending reign supreme. At the same time, the search procedures are centralizing appointment decisions in the hands of the Vice-Provost Research while entrenching hierarchies of labour, research, and teaching at Queen’s. Stay tuned for a longer QCAA post on the topic next week! 

7. Speaking of collegial governance, the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) Faculty Board is seeking a new chair and secretary! We want to thank Peir Pufahl and Louise Winn for all the hard work they’ve put into making FAS FB more transparent and accountable to its members. Faculty Board is one of the key decision-making bodies for protecting and extending the academic mission at Queen’s, and we need to ensure its future is meaningful in the broader context of austerity and centralized governance. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague who would be suited for this task! Nominations should be sent to the Chair of the Nominations Committee, Petra Fachinger, at petra.fachinger@queensu.ca. The terms for both positions begin July 1, 2026. 

8. Finally, please save the date for the FAS Faculty Board on February 27th at 2:30 pm. At this meeting, Faculty Board will vote on the Process Group’s proposal for a process by which the faculty will develop action plans pertaining to its future. To receive FAS Faculty Board updates via Teams, please use the following link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/team/19%3AxRjsklydl38rzJuJKFAONdFweg-MAIT_O4ypdSs69EU1%40thread.tacv2/conversations?groupId=47fdf061-2219-4741-8f09-7007273603ce&tenantId=d61ecb3b-38b1-42d5-82c4-efb2838b925c. QCAA geeks will be meeting at the Grad Club afterwards (~4:30 pm), and we would love to see you there.