Here are our September updates on what's been happening on campus, this time with news on collegial governance, workplace surveillance, and more.
Newsletter #23 (03/27/2025)
Is there anyone left on this campus who still believes that senior administrators have the university’s best interests at heart? Three days before the exam deadline, ten days before the end of classes, the university refused an invitation to sit down to talk with PSAC. The university persists with the fiction that their side, though … Continue reading Newsletter #23 (03/27/2025)
Newsletter #22 (03/20/2025)
Unsurprisingly, our focus this week is on the PSAC strike. Bargaining 101: Reading the university’s labour news update from March 19th, one gets the impression that the university is politely and eagerly waiting for PSAC to return to the table with a revised offer. What’s missing from the update is the fact that the employer … Continue reading Newsletter #22 (03/20/2025)
Newsletter #21 (03/13/2025)
Let’s call this the “University Admin Causes More Chaos with a Strike” edition If understaffing, over-filled classes, and digital surveillance weren’t enough of a challenge in our workdays, the university has now forced our grad student workers into a strike. This first-ever academic strike at Queen’s is one more thing to add to the legacy … Continue reading Newsletter #21 (03/13/2025)
Newsletter #20 (01/31/25)
It’s been a while. Let’s just get into it! 1. Solidarity with CUPE members! Hundreds of people attended a rally outside Richardson Hall yesterday in a show of support for CUPE members, who will be in a legal strike position on Monday. Great to see Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, here to support Queen’s … Continue reading Newsletter #20 (01/31/25)
Newsletter #19 (11/21/2024)
This will be a short issue today, but there is definitely more to talk about. Stay tuned. 1. As always, let’s start with the money. According to the university’s Investments Services website, the combined value of the institution’s short-term and Pooled Investment Funds (PIF) surpassed one billion dollars for the first time. This is an … Continue reading Newsletter #19 (11/21/2024)
Newsletter #18 (9/26/2024)
Let’s start with the money. $20.4 million. 1. Queen’s University ended the 2023-24 fiscal year with an operating surplus of $20.4 million. The year-end consolidated financial statements are included in the agenda package for this weekend’s Board of Trustees meeting. QCAA has posted a commentary on the statement that draws our attention to the unusual … Continue reading Newsletter #18 (9/26/2024)
Newsletter #17 (6/26/2024)
The mess that is the ideologically-motivated restructuring of the Faculty of Arts and Science continues apace. FAS teaches 70 percent of Queen’s students; it was long the source of the reputation for excellence that was seen to accrue to a Queen’s education. Disparaged by a populist provincial government that has refused to provide adequate funding, … Continue reading Newsletter #17 (6/26/2024)
Newsletter #16 (5/24/2024)
A long weekend means a short newsletter this week! It is almost the end of May, and we still do not know what’s up in ArtSci in terms of staff layoffs. We know they are coming. But when exactly? And how many? It’s a few weeks since the VEI program applications were due. Many (all?) … Continue reading Newsletter #16 (5/24/2024)
Newsletter #15 (5/10/2024)
Well, what to say this week, except that the ideological and political basis for the financial/employment/governance/morale/quality crisis at Queen’s keeps getting clearer. When we call something ideological, we are recognizing that while it might be presented as being true or factual or common sense, it actually arises from a particular set of beliefs and values, … Continue reading Newsletter #15 (5/10/2024)
Queen's Coalition Against Austerity 