Attn: Dr. Graham Carr, President
Dr. Effrosyni Diamantoudi, Interim Provost
Dr. Bradley Nelson, Deputy Provost and Vice-Provost, Student Life and Experience
Dr. Annie Gérin, Dean of Fine Arts
Dr. Mourad Debbabi, Dean of Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Anne-Marie Croteau, Dean of John Molson School of Business
Dr. Pascale Sicotte, Dean of Arts and Science
Dr. Geoffrey Dover, Interim Dean of Graduate Studies
Dr. Amy Buckland, University Librarian
Dr. Kristina Huneault , Vice-Provost, Faculty Development and Inclusion
Dr. Rachel Berger, Vice-Provost, Innovation in Teaching and Learning
Dr. Tim Evans, Vice-President, Research, Innovation, and Impact
CUFA FACULTY FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE AT CONCORDIA
As faculty deeply committed to our research and our teaching, and to the communities we build through our work together, we write to you to register our outrage at the administration’s recent decision not to open limited-term appointment lines next year and to defer all approved sabbaticals. These measures are senseless and will cause irreparable harm to our academic programs and the University. The quality, reputation, and finances of the whole institution are at stake.
We raise the following concerns about concrete damage to Concordia that will ensue from this decision:
LTA labour does not fill temporary gaps in coverage arising from sabbaticals but compensates for chronic demands. LTAs also play critical roles in administering our programs and mentoring students that part-time faculty members cannot replace. The preponderance of multi-year LTA contracts across units bears this out. Some academic programs will therefore be severely compromised or cease to function at all under these measures.
Sabbatical deferrals will halt planned intensive research at Concordia for a full year. Completing research funded by provincial and federal grants depends on sabbatical leaves. Deferring sabbaticals will therefore waste provincial and federal money and risk making granting agencies reluctant to fund Concordia researchers in the future.
In short: the administration must justify the financial benefits of its strategy over other less destructive and clumsy ones. So far no one has offered a persuasive argument as to why these specific measures are required or worthwhile either in the short or long term. We are confident that there are better options.
Moreover, by excluding faculty from decision-making and disregarding LTAs’ essential contributions, the administration is unnecessarily leading us toward an acrimonious—and even more costly—future. Grievances, arbitration, and job actions are expensive outcomes that nobody wants.
Unilateral decision-making will only fracture us and eventually drive Concordia into the ground. Whenever “difficult decisions” are to be made, we faculty must play a central role in making them—not through drop-in consultations, but through the collective governance structures designed to uphold the academic and teaching missions that are the heart of the University.
Nov. 24, 2025