A year after a media storm that shook his campus and his life, George Rammell can at last breathe a sigh of relief. A CAUT investigation into the seizure and destruction of his artwork by the Capilano University administration found his sculpture was an expression of protest and his academic freedom was violated by the seizure.

It seems that being an academic activist these days means living in a near-conti­nuous state of outrage. I feel it myself, as I’m sure has been evident in some of my columns over the past year. Perhaps the ability to healthily maintain such a state is a pre-requisite for engagement in academic staff association and CAUT service.

Academic staff at the University of Victoria have ratified their first collective agreement. The University of Victoria Faculty Association announced June 5 that an overwhelming majority of members voted in favor of the five-year agreement.

Publishing giant Elsevier’s recently announced plan to “unleash the power of academic sharing” has been greeted with derision by a global alliance of library and research organizations.

CAUT has appointed Valérie Dufour as director of communications. In the newly-created position, Valérie’s primary focus will be on strategy formula­tion, publication content develop­ment, feature writing and issues management.

Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Dewar’s first budget received a nod of approval from post-secon­dary groups across the province for investment commitments, while in other provinces, cuts and austerity measures have been the rule.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2015–2016 budget delivered April 30 was worse than expected for post-secondary education, critics say, with tuition fee increases for some students and a cut to university operations.

Veteran reporter Nick Martin and Ryerson University student Angelyn Francis are the winners of the 2015 CAUT Excellence in Education Journalism Awards.

Does academic freedom entitle university professors to be as provocative as they wish when expressing their views on issues of the day? This question has come alive with three recent cases involving professors making politically charged statements on controversial issues.