Trent U, faculty approve new contract; avoid strike at Peterborough, Oshawa campuses

Trent University and its faculty have avoided a strike, agreeing to a new collective agreement Monday after a majority of faculty voted in favour of the agreement.

The Trent University Faculty Association (TUFA) represents 295 full-time faculty, limited-term appointments and professional librarians at Trent University’s main campus in Peterborough and a satellite campus in Oshawa.

TUFA and the university’s Board of Governors jointly released the statement announcing the agreement.

“We are extremely pleased to have been able to reach an agreement that achieves, among other things, mutually important goals that will enhance equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenization within the ranks of faculty and academic librarians at Trent,” said Dr. Susan Wurtele, chief negotiator for TUFA.

Highlights of the three-year collective agreement signed on December 9 include:

• A commitment to advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigenization in personnel processes and the faculty ranks
• Inclusion of standards to evaluate teaching, research and service for the purposes of promotion, tenure and merit processes
• Enhanced recognition of service work to the University community
• Improvements to health and dental benefit plans
• Across-the-board increases to salaries in each year of the agreement

“This new collective agreement demonstrates the University’s commitment to the vital role that our faculty play in delivering world-class teaching, research and service that our students, sector and communities have come to expect,” said Dr. Leo Groarke, president and vice-chancellor of Trent. “An investment in our faculty is an investment in the long-term sustainability of our institution.”