24 November 2025
CUFA FACULTY FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE AT CONCORDIA

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

85
signatures
82 verified
  1. Stephen Ross, Associate Professor, Concordia - English Dept
  2. Danielle Bobker, Professor, Concordia - English Dept
  3. Allan Lumba, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  4. anonymous, Études françaises, Concordia, Montréal
  5. Sigwan Thivierge, Assistant Professor, Concordia University - SCPA & CMLL
  6. Anya Zilberstein, Associate Professor, History
  7. Norma Rantisi, Professor, Geography, Planning & Environment, Montreal
  8. Jason Camlot, Professor, Concordia University, Dept. of English, Montreal
  9. Charles Reiss, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  10. Nayrouz Abu Hatoum, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  11. Jonathan Sachs, Professor, Concordia--English Department, Montréal
  12. Gillian Sze, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  13. Cynthia Quarrie, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  14. Ivana Djordjevic, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  15. Emer O'Toole, Professor, Concordia, Irish Studies, Montreal
  16. Sébastien Caquard, Professor, Concordia, Geography, Planning & Environment
  17. Arseli Dokumaci, Associate professor, Communication studies
  18. Giovanni Rosso, Associate Professor, Concordia, Montreal
  19. Bengi Akbulut, Associate Professor, Concordia University
  20. Christine Francis, Artist in Residence, Concordia university, Montreal
  21. Stephen Yeager, Professor, Concordia, Montreal
  22. Andrew Ivaska, Associate Professor of History, Concordia University, Montreal
  23. Julia Skelly, LTA, Concordia University - Art History
  24. Jane Francis, Professor, Concordia, CMLL (Classics)
  25. Razan AlSalah, Communication Studies
  26. anonymous, Concordia University
  27. Chris Hurl, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, Concordia University
  28. Meghan Moe Beitiks, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  29. Fadi El-Hassan, Assistant Professor - LTA, Concordia University, Montreal
  30. Simone Brugiapaglia, Associate Professor, Concordia, Mathematics and Statistics, Montréal
  31. Jeannine St-Jacques, Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, Montreal
  32. Lauren Kaplow, LTA Assistant Professor, Concordia - CMLL (Classics)
  33. Maggie McDonnell, Senior Lecturer, Concordia English Dept, Montreal
  34. Yuan Yi, Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  35. Christine York, Teaching professor, Études françaises, Concordia University
  36. Ted Rutland, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  37. Alexandria Haber, LTA, English Department, Montréal
  38. Elena Benelli, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  39. Manish Sharma, Associate Professor, Concordia, English Department
  40. Nadia Lafrenière, LTA, Concordia University, Montreal
  41. Mary Esteve, Professor, Concordia, Dept of English, Montreal
  42. Nathan Brown, Professor of English, Concordia University, Montreal
  43. Alison Rowley, Professor & Chair, Concordia - HIST dept
  44. Kevin Gould, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Montreal
  45. Matthew Penney, Associate Professor, Concordia - History Dept
  46. Stephanie Bolster, Professor, Concordia University, Department of English, Montréal
  47. Elena Razlogova, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montréal
  48. Shannon McSheffrey, Professor, Concordia - History Dept, Montreal
  49. Sarah Ghabrial, Assoc. Professor, History Dept, Concordia
  50. Eric Reiter, Professor, Department of History, Concordia University, Montreal
  51. Prathna Lor, Assistant Professor (LTA), Department of English, Concordia University, Montreal
  52. Barbara Lorenzkowski, Associate Professor, Department of History, Concordia, Montreal
  53. Viviane Namaste, Full Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute - Concordia University, Montréal
  54. Natalie Kouri-Towe, Associate Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute
  55. Norman Ingram, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  56. Kevin Pask, Professor of English, Concordia University, Montreal
  57. Reza Taher-Kermani, Assistant Professor (LTA), Concordia, Montreal
  58. Liz Howard, Assistant Professor, Departments of English, Montreal
  59. Kate Sterns, Associate Professor, Concordia English Dept., Montreal
  60. Nora Jaffary, Professor of History, Concordia University, Montreal
  61. Beverley Best, Professor, Concordia University, Sociology and Anthropology, Montreal
  62. Matthew Buell, Assistant Professor (LTA), Classics, Modern Languages, and Linguistics Department (CMLL), Montreal
  63. Steven High, Full Professor, Conordia University, History Department
  64. Darragh Languay, Senior Lecturer, Concordia University-English Department
  65. maya rae oppenheimer, ETA, Department of Studio Arts, Concordia University, Montréal
  66. Marcie Frank, professor, Concordia U, Montreal
  67. Max Bergholz, Professor, Concordia University - History
  68. Gilbert Emond, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  69. Andre Furlani, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  70. Nalini Mohabir, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montréal
  71. Goretti Ramírez, Associate Professor, Concordia University, CMLL, Montreal
  72. Wilson chacko Jacob, Professor, Concordia University - History Dept, Montreal
  73. Annick Davignon, LTA, AHSC Dpt Concordia, Montréal
  74. Daniela Isac, Professor, Concordia-CMLL
  75. Alina Stancu, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  76. Roberto Viereck Salinas, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  77. Alexandre Morin, Professor, Concordia University, Monreal
  78. Fabien Olivry, Teaching Professor, Études françaises, Concordia, Montréal
  79. Erin Manning, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal
  80. Cédric Jamet, Lecturer, Concordia - Applied Human Sciences Department, Montreal
  81. Norman Segalowitz, Professor, Psychology Department, Concordia, Montreal
  82. Alessandra Renzi, Associate Professor, Concordia university, Montreal
Create an open letter
and sign it together
Terms of Service