As a coalition of student and worker unions on the York University campuses, the York Cross-Campus Alliance (CCA) calls for a transparent, collegial, democratic, and equitable Presidential search process in the coming 2025-26 academic year. For close to a decade, we have been asking for a Presidential search that responds to the concerns of the broader university community. Our call is for a search process geared towards ensuring leadership responsive to the York community and the university’s core mission: providing an equity-oriented, socially-minded education to a diverse student community.
During the last York University Presidential search in 2016, the CCA twice publicly objected to a secretive search process led by unelected and unaccountable individuals. Our objections then named the lack of opportunity for faculty, students, and staff to provide input on Presidential selection, noting a troubling lack of transparency at a public institution whose mandate requires that it be governed openly, with the full participation of the communities it serves and represents. As in the past, today we again reject a secretive search likely to be heavily skewed to financial interests.
York requires renewed leadership committed to a vision of the University that serves all its members, including students, staff, and faculty—rather than leadership that reflects York’s Board of Governors (BoG), one of the most corporate and finance-dominated university boards in Canada. In a Spring 2023 review of the York BoG external membership, 47% were from the finance sector; 41% were from big business, including corporate lawyers; and 12% were from senior administration in film and medicine. It might come as no surprise then that a 2024 University Governance Report for York University gave three failing grades for representation and processes; searches for senior administrators; and university finances. At York, where an unrepresentative Board has had the power to select a president, we see deferred maintenance, program suspensions, cuts to staffing levels resulting in unsustainable workloads, and undemocratic decision making. We know therefore that achieving leadership responsive to the York community and York’s core missions of “advancing Social Justice and Equity” and “champion[ing] Diversity and Inclusivity” is intertwined with reform of the BoG.
We need a president who will refocus on and prioritize issues that matter to the York community, including substantively funding student and employee supports, housing, pedagogical programs, research, and building maintenance–rather than diverting significant resources to high-priced lawyers, consultants, senior management salaries, and insufficiently planned expansions. Properly supporting students and employees, and funding the places where they live and work, are central priorities in service of building York’s enrollments and long term sustainability.
We deserve responsive leadership accountable to the York community: students, staff, and faculty. Our university community’s future requires a transparent, representative, consultative, and equitable search process. Accordingly, we call for the following:
- An open, democratic presidential search, including representation of all student and labour unions and Senators on the presidential search committee; all student and labour unions and Senators involved in determining search criteria; and a public short list
- A presidential search process based in equity principles, with an Affirmative Action officer appointed to apply York’s AA procedures throughout the search, and to write an AA report to be shared with all members of the search committee
- Two-way consultation with the York community broadly (including unions, graduate and undergraduate students, all academic units, and alumni), to both hear priorities and provide feedback about how input is being taken into account
- Information and transparency around Lisa Philipps’ term as interim president and vice-chancellor and the proposed timelines of the presidential search
Signed,
CUPE 1356 1-2
CUPE 3903 executive committee
YFS
YUFA
YUGSA
YUSA
These organizations make up the York Cross-Campus Alliance. Together, they represent tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty at York University.
We are calling on all members of the York community to sign a petition in support of a democratic search process.