University of Prince Edward Island biologist Larry Hale was elected to a two-year term as president of the CAUT Defence Fund during last month’s board of trustees meeting in Toronto. Hale takes over from Jean-Charles Cachon of Laurentian University, who served as the fund’s chair and president for the past four years.

In other business, trustees approved membership for Nipissing University Faculty Association and St. Francis Xavier Association of University Teachers. These two associations join the Northern Ontario School of Medicine Faculty Association and l’Association des professeurs du Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface as new members admitted over the past year. The fund now has 37 member associations, representing approximately 17,000 academics.

Trustees also passed a motion to increase strike pay from $60 to $75 a day. Union members are eligible for strike benefits on the fourth calendar day of a strike or lockout.

In addition, trustees approved strike benefits and loans for the academic staff associations at Carleton, Saint Mary’s, Brock and Sainte-Anne.

The CAUT Defence Fund has been in operation since 1978 and has a $18.5 million war chest.

Information on the fund is available here.