Member Input Needed on Program and Working Condition Changes

Take the annonymous survey here.

In recent weeks, MUNFA has heard alarming concerns from Academic Staff Members resulting from the University’s new budget model, including threats of program, diploma, and certificate suspensions and major changes to fundamental working conditions. These threats to our members and the work we do at Memorial, seem to be unrolling with little transparency or clear communication. We are seeking input from our members on what is happening on the ground in your unit.

For example:

  • We have been told of threatened suspension of admissions and program offerings in several areas. Members are also reporting reduced course offerings, uncertainty about future student intake and questions about the long-term viability of certain fields of study.

  • We have been told of major changes in the School of Graduate Studies that threaten funding for a wide range of graduate programs.

  • We have also heard that some faculty have been informed of new “policies” restricting access to sabbaticals and teaching remissions, raising serious concerns about workload, research time, and long-term academic sustainability.

While information about other recent institutional decisions, including senior administrative restructuring and real estate sales have been communicated, there has been far less clarity about what the current changes at Memorial mean for our members, their positions, their workload, and the future shape of academic work at Memorial. All we do know is that members are being asked to do more with less in an environment of growing uncertainty.

Your experiences are critical to informing our advocacy as MUNFA works to document how these developments affect academic staff and programs across the University.

If changes in your unit are affecting program delivery, graduate supervision, workload, leave, or other aspects of your work, we want to hear from you. Please email us at munfa@mun.ca or share your experience through our anonymous survey if you are concerned about potential workplace reprisals.

We are entering a very difficult period at Memorial, and your input will help ensure that faculty voices remain central in discussions about our future.