Town hall flags concern over Concordia’s LTA non-renewals

Students and faculty say cuts will shift teaching load to part-time staff

NewsRyan Pyke — Published December 5, 2025 0 minutes

Moderators Leo Paniagua and Theodore Cuddihy began the meeting with a slideshow, the first slide of which read “Protect our LTAs.” They explained that LTAs were originally designed to cover for professors on sabbatical, but argued that the university increasingly relies on them as core teaching staff. 

Around 14 students and faculty were present when the meeting began at 2:30 p.m. The audience grew to roughly 20 as the discussion progressed. Attendees included undergraduate students, at least one member of the Concordia Research and Education Workers Union, several LTAs and a part-time professor. 

According to the moderators, the university intends to keep course offerings stable, meaning most of these classes will fall to part-time faculty. 

Cuddihy argued that the decision presents LTAs with two options: to apply to become part-time professors or to leave the school.

“By asking our profs to do this, the administration is telling us as students that Concordia’s history and legacy does not matter,” Cuddihy said.

Concordia’s current financial pressures, and an effort to meet a $31.6-million deficit target for 2025-26, are behind the administration’s justification for cutting LTA renewals, according to the university. 

“We have had to make many difficult decisions over the past couple of years as part of our efforts to bring down our deficit and meet the commitments in our financial recovery plan,” said spokesperson Vannina Maestracci in an email to The Link, quoting spokesperson Julie Fortier from an inquiry in November.

During the presentation, Paniagua pointed to the university’s spending priorities, noting that Concordia paid roughly $9 million for security services in 2024-25. This figure was drawn from a CSU access to information request. 

The second half of the town hall focused on possible responses, including academic-style demonstrations where students could showcase their learned skills. 

“We’re talking stuff like this, right? Conferences where students can use the skills that LTAs have taught them in order to demonstrate what we have now and what we have to lose,” Paniagua said. 

Elena Razlogova, a Concordia faculty association councillor in history and Irish studies, told the room that LTAs may file individual grievances in December, and that the Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA) will file a collective grievance.

“[Concordia’s] action actually contradicts the spirit of the collective agreement of the CUFA union,” Razlogova said.

Patrice Blais, a part-time professor and VP of Grievance and Collective Agreement of the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA), presented the union's proposal. The union said that LTAs could convert to part-time positions with union support and representation.

Paniagua said in an interview with The Link following the event that the CUPFA pathway may help individuals in the short term, but fails to resolve broader concerns about academic precarity at Concordia.

“There are a lot of things that being a full-time professor allows you to do in academia that are not available to people with part-time positions,” he said.