November 2018

New video on Equity

While post-secondary institutions are publicly committed to equity and diversity, progress has been slow in achieving employment and wage equity for academic staff. This is why we need to keep talking about it and help towards real and significant actions and improvements.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) recently published a report on the lack of diversity on our campuses. We’ve also produced a short video explaining why we need to use all the tools we have to change the academy.

Watch the video and,  most importantly, share it with your friends on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Investigation launched into alleged academic freedom violations at Thompson Rivers University

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has established an investigation into the case of Professor Derek Pyne at Thompson Rivers University to determine if his academic freedom was violated.

Dr. Mark Mac Lean (Mathematics) of the University of British Columbia will chair the investigatory committee. Carla Graebner (Librarian for Data Services and Government Information) of Simon Fraser University will also serve on the committee.

McGill violated academic freedom

An investigation into the controversial resignation of Dr. Andrew Potter from the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) has found that not only did the University fail in its duty to protect Professor Potter’s academic freedom, but that its justification for his resignation has undermined the academic freedom of all academic staff at McGill.
The report, prepared for the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), is calling on the University to develop policy to give full protection of academic freedom to academic administrators.
“The central academic freedom issue in this case arose from the McGill administration’s claim that academic administrators do not enjoy the same protections as academics without administrative positions,” says CAUT executive director David Robinson. “It is well understood that universities have as their fundamental commitment the search for knowledge and understanding. This requires an environment free from institutional censorship against any academic.”
The CAUT investigation found no conclusive evidence that the McGill administration put pressure on Professor Potter to resign as Director of MISC, but concluded such pressure would not have been inconsistent with the University’s belief in the conditional academic freedom of academic administrators.

This month in the bulletin

Many professors dread anonymous student evaluations of teaching (SETs). For too many of them, whether female, on contract, a member of an equity group or, worst of all, all of the above, less than stellar reviews could mean the end of their employment or a serious roadblock on their career path.

Read the full story here.

Parliament Hill Day a huge success!

This year, CAUT’s Parliament Hill Day had a two-pronged focus on lobbying for a strong federal partner that will invest in core funding for PSE, along with achieving balanced copyright legislation.

Forty CAUT delegates, collectively representing all provinces and differing segments of the membership, held nearly 50 meetings with Cabinet Ministers and other Members of Parliament and political staff on November 22^nd — a great effort that deserves a huge round of thanks!

High-profile meetings included Minister Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, and whose riding contains the Universities of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier; Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, who was very receptive to our ideas; and Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

Every single contact made by CAUT is extremely important in maximizing our presence and clout on the Hill, and delegates this year achieved new levels of relationship-building with important political figures, including meeting with several MPs who’d never previously done so with CAUT, and by revisiting old friends. On top of getting our messages across on funding and copyright, delegates identified several key influencers willing to champion our issues going forward.

Well done, and thanks again to all involved!

New profile

CAUT has a new information leaflet. Click here to for more information about the activities and services we offer.

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