Hello everyone –

I hope everyone had a restful holiday break, and that you all are looking forward to 2013 being rewarding personally and professionally. (I’m tempted to make a joke about it being a tough year for triskaidekaphobes, but jokes never work in emails, so I’ll refrain.)

Some important things are on the horizon for OCADFA members — two of the most obvious being negotiations, and the Innovation, Productivity and Sustainability Task Force. We’ll be providing information and discussion opportunities about these and other key topics over the coming months and, to kick off this process for the new year, here’s an article from the Globe (which of course some of you will have seen) with some important context. (Thanks to Bill Leeming for the tip.)

If this sort of thing interests you — and I’d encourage everyone to follow the political and economic climate that governs what we do — then consider subscribing to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Academe Today” daily e-newsletter. It’s focused on the US context but, given that what becomes policy here often begins as policy there, forewarned is forearmed.

Again, best wishes for the new year, and I look forward to seeing all of you, freshly reinvigorated from your break, around the campus in the coming days.

– Charles