Post-secondary education is under “serious attack” in Ontario following a series of related actions by the province’s Liberal government that seek to centralize min­isterial control over colleges and universities and limit collective bargaining rights in the broader public sector.

Recent graduates resign themselves to months of unpaid interning, treading water in the labour market. The jobless, thanks to the government’s controversial workfare schemes, are pressed into uncompensated service in a modern version of Lenin’s all-Russia subbotniks.

The importance of Canada’s universities and colleges is greater than ever. Yet, they are now facing some of the most difficult times in their history. Significant government underfunding, casualization, corporatization, privatization, marginalization of basic research and scholarly work, and a diminishing academic voice all threaten the qua­lity and integrity of the academy and its ability to serve in the public interest.

This spring, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a $60 million venture to offer free classes online. On July 24 the University of California at Berkeley said it would also join the effort. The president of Stanford recently predicted that a technology “tsunami” is about to hit higher education.

An “unprecedented assault” on an academic staff association’s ability to negotiate a just and fair first agreement has led CAUT to issue an alert for Concordia University College of Alberta, the first time in more than a decade the organization has taken such action.

The number of administrative positions and compensation for senior administrators at many Nova Scotia universities have grown disproportionately compared to faculty and support staff increases at a time when post-secondary institutions were under severe constraints, according to a report recently issued by the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers.

CAUT has established an ad hoc investigatory committee to examine King’s University College’s treatment of recently retired sessional faculty member Ken Luckhardt who was permanently banned from campus following his criticism of colleagues.

In a report released last month, a CAUT investigatory committee fully vindicated history professor Michael Mason against actions taken by the Queen’s University administration.

Higher education and research personnel across the globe need to work more closely together if they are to successfully tackle the unprecedented challenges they face, concluded a high level meeting of union and association leaders.