Feedback emphasizes need to restore pride in Laurentian University after financial crisis

Half of the 236 Laurentian University faculty and staff who responded to a recent survey said they are considering changing jobs.

Laurentian has engaged the firm StrategyCorp to explore what people are thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of the university, opportunities, and threats to its success.

Staff and faculty say they now feel exhausted and frustrated as if they are taking on multiple roles and feel they should be more fairly compensated for that.

Tom Fenske is the president of the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU) and says the consultation is a start but there's a lot of work to be done.

"There has to be a cultural change here," says Fenske. "The open, transparent leadership is what we're after. And not just that, but we need empathy; empathy in our regular processes as we go through and mend what happened."

In the same survey, StrategyCorp found that 38 per cent of students had considered transferring to a different university, with several commenting that their experience so far has been "disorganised."

In total, the firm says more than 2,500 people participated in stakeholder sessions through July, September and October.

Laurentian University of the future

The Laurentian University of the future is under discussion as it reaches the first anniversary of exiting creditor protectionthe only publicly funded post-secondary institution in Canada to ever seek insolvency under federal bankruptcy law.

During restructuring in 2021, 194 faculty and staff jobs were cut and about 70 programs eliminated in a drastic move that continues to be felt across the community.

As part of rebuilding, strategic planning to gather input and feedback has been taking place.

Under strengths, students, staff and faculty, alumni and community members feel the university's tricultural and bilingual character to be a point of pride and something that sets it apart, ahead of the importance of Laurentian's connections to the mining industry.

Under the theme of threats to the university, 38 per cent of staff say they feel they don't have access to the right tools, technology and processes to do their best work.

Fenske says those feelings of not being valued are going to lead to some interesting contract negotiations next year.

"[People] want to see that their worth is acknowledged," he says, or they may go elsewhere.

"LUSU, this year, is 50 years old," he said. "Next year may be one of the biggest negotiations we've ever had. And so next year will be a time when the university can show how they value their employees."

But he says bringing back a sense of community and respect is just as high up on the list of factors that need fixing.

While the university's tricultural and bilingual character werementioned as strengths, they also show up under opportunities with all stakeholders emphasizing a need totake a more committed and comprehensive approach to Indigenous and French programming.

In a letter to the Laurentian community on the first anniversary of Laurentian's exit from creditor protection, interim president and vice-chancellor Sheila Embleton and Vern Cameron, chair of the Laurentian University Board of Governors, spoke of better days ahead for the future of the university.

"We appreciate that this year has not been without its challenges," they wrote in the letter.

"Even exhausting at times. But we have faced those challenges together, head-on, guided by a shared sense of hope and optimism for the future."