In a strongly worded letter to Industry Minister John Manley last week, CAUT President Bill Graham called on the minister to stop a controversial federal report advocating increased emphasis on the commercialization of university research.

Charles Bigelow, Senior Scholar at the University of Manitoba and longtime veteran of the union movement among Canadian academics is the first recipient of CAUT's Donald C. Savage Award. The award has been instituted to recognize individuals who have made outstanding achievements in the promotion of collective bargaining and economic benefits in Canadian universities.

On behalf of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, as well as our co-religionists in Iran, I am writing to thank you and your colleagues in the association for the interest and concern you have shown in the fate of the Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education in Iran. We were pleasantly surprised and much encouraged by the publication of the facts of the situation in the Bulletin.

The statistical profile CAUT's Status of Women Committee provides (Bulletin, April) is by no means inclusive, which I find very ironic in a supplement dedicated to giving a voice to "Women in Post-Secondary Education."

Queen's faculty voted 96% in favour of a new three-year agreement which will be in effect until April 30, 2002. Highlights include creation of continuing track and continuing adjunct appointments, and early retirement offers which include two plans: regular early retirement, and trial early retirement which provides for a trial period of leave supported by a university loan as a preliminary to retirement.

People's eyes glaze over when they hear the word 'copyright'," says CAUT executive committee member Ken Field. "But this is important stuff."

"Where Do We Go for Equity?" was the subject of a panel presentation by CAUT staff lawyer Shaheen Hirani at the annual meeting of The Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers held in Toronto from April 30 to May 2. The conference heard a number of panel presentations on how changing economic and political environments were affecting a number of labour issues.

Gender discrimination in the School of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is substantive and pervasive acknowledges a report released by MIT in March. Five years in the making and initiated by several female faculty members in the school, the report documents a pattern of discrimination in hiring, awards, promotions, committee work, laboratory space and research money. The report also notes the percentage of female faculty in the school has remained virtually unchanged for years, and there has never been a female department head or associate head.

Almost a year and a half after the end of the Nova Scotia government's legislated freeze on collective bargaining, the faculty and librarians at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design have ratified a new collective agreement. The term of the contract is from Nov. 1, 1997 to June 30, 2001, with a salary re-opener on July 1, 2000.

Four in ten university staff suffer frequent job stress according to a study commissioned by the Association of University Staff of New Zealand and authored by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Workload and Stress in New Zealand Universities, an update of a 1994 study, paints a grim picture of increasing workloads, loss of research time and the negative impacts of university restructuring.

CAUT's public awareness campaign - Our Universities, Our Future - was a central topic of discussion at CAUT's Council meeting in April.

A few years ago, the federal government announced major cuts in transfer payments to the provinces for health, post-secondary education and social assistance. Despite recent increases, these transfers still fall short of their 1994-1995 level.

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During the past six months the CAUT Defence Fund Trustees have been called upon once again to provide strike benefits, loans and solidarity visits for striking academic staff.

The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) has reached a mediated settlement with the university's governing council. The mediator was Martin Teplitsky.

The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo and the board of governors have ratified a salary settlement for 1999/ 2000

David Robinson has been appointed to the position of Director of Public Policy and Communications

Shaheen Hirani has been appointed to the position of Staff Lawyer

Paul Jones has been appointed to the position of Research and Education Officer

Justice Minister Anne McLellan has announced plans for a review panel to examine Canada's Human Rights Act and find ways to modernize it and improve the complaint process.