Ron Melchers, a leading authority on compensation and benefits in universities, began his term as CAUT's first Visiting Research Fellow in Post-Secondary Study on July 1. Ron's initial work is focussed on longitudinal analysis of university budgets over the past 30 years.

CAUT recently sent each member association a detailed report on its university's budget and how that budget compared to the average of other universities in the same Maclean's comparator group. At the end of September, CAUT will release a detailed study, prepared by Ron, about trends in university revenues and expenditures since 1972.

An associate professor of criminology (criminal justice policy) at the University of Ottawa, Ron has been president and chief negotiator for the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa and has a long history of involvement in collective bargaining work at CAUT and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. Ron holds a doctorate in human resource economics and a DEA in the sociology of labour, both from the University of Aix-Marseille.

CAUT's Visiting Research Fellowship in Post-Secondary Study was established earlier this year. The Fellowship is designed to provide an opportunity for CAUT members with research interests in post-secondary education to work with CAUT for a period of up to one year.

Members interested in this program should contact CAUT's executive director, Jim Turk.