Yesterday our university Senate was forced to approve an academic restructuring package they didn't see until the meeting started, that cuts programs and will result in mass layoffs of tenured faculty and staff and leave students with no way of competing their original program.
And it was all in-camera, so none of the discussions or arguments will be part of the publicly available minutes.
The administration made a mockery of collegial governance and the bicameral model.
How was Senate forced to approve this odious package?
By being told that if they said no, the university would close entirely. Duress and conflict of interest should have had the while thing ruled out of order, but apparently not.
I urged faculty Senators to resign from Senate rather than be complicit in this travesty, but AFAICT none resigned. I suspect many abstained.
So if you're wondering why I've been quiet for a while, it's because of this awful situation that has been playing out.
Apparently the layoff notices are being sent on Monday.
@dbs Absolutely fucking atrocious that the Ontario government has set a precedent which effectively means any university wanting to violate existing agreements to slash programs needs only to become insolvent. This is a fucking joke of a province.