YUFA Trust Fund
The YUFA Trust Fund was formed in 1980 and since that time has received the YUFA bargaining unit portion of the Employment Insurance rebates granted to York University because YUFA’s long-term disability plan duplicates some aspects of the government’s Employment Insurance plan. York’s full-time professors opted to assign these rebates to a Trust Fund with the aim of benefitting the faculty and society at large. Over the past 35 years, contributions of more than $2.3m were made from the Fund. Because of matching, additional contributions, and investment returns the total value of the endowments from which YUFA related scholarships and bursaries are awarded currently amounts to $8.8 million.
Charitable activities enabled by the YUFA Trust Fund comprise scholarships for outstanding York students and York students in financial distress; and local community initiatives to improve the accessibility of a post-secondary education, including the Advanced Credit Experience (ACE) Program, Readers to Leaders, and the Transition Year Program (see below). Many of these activities are monitored by and funnelled through the Trust Fund’s sister organization, the YUFA Foundation (see below).
Advance Credit Experience Celebration, December 2015 at York University
Furthermore, the YUFA Trust Fund has contributed to the York University Association of Retired Faculty and Librarians (ARFL) Benefit Trust Fund, to help maintain medical benefits for retired members, and to other Faculty initiatives like renovations of the Senior Common Room at Glendon College and the Et Al. Faculty and Grad Students Lounge at the Keele Campus of York University.
