Science Minister’s office threatened to withhold federal budget funding for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council over its decision to fund a controversial academic conference.

Despite the longstanding practice in universities that academic staff have custody and control of their files and records, recent challenges have arisen following access to information requests.

The long ordeal of a professor of medicine at Dalhousie University has come to an end. In September, he reached a settlement agreement that would allow his full reinstatement. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.

Speaking in 1995, distinguished legal scholar and past president of York University argued that “Academic freedom is a central, perhaps the central value, of university life.” The question is what this value means in the daily practice of academic staff, departments and institutions.

On June 11, 2009, B’nai Brith Canada published a full page ad in the National Post condemning York University for hosting a confe­­rence titled “Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace.” The ad launched was a full scale assault on the academic process.

At a time when Ca­nadian school systems face increasing demands for accountability, this book pro­vides insight into the complexities and repercussions of educational testing on both sides of the border.

English literature professors should be sternly enjoined to concentrate on the areas of their training when casting about for topics on which to publish monographs. This book is a disappointing instance of what happens otherwise.

The faculty association at the University of Calgary wants the administration to scale back what it calls an “obscene” supplementary pension deal for the outgoing university president.

Unionized librarians and archi­vists at the University of Western Ontario have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if contract talks do not result in a new collective bargaining agreement.

Academic staff at York U cast their vote on a new contract last month — the product of an “intensive and demanding bargaining process,” according to faculty association president — with an 80 per cent margin of approval.

CAUT recently hired Chantal Sundaram, a PhD graduate in Russian language and literature from uToronto and Robert Johnson, a public policy teacher at uOttawa School of Political Studies, to fill important posts within the organization.

A bestselling author and holder of the Board of Governors Research Chair in Sociology at the Univer­sity of Lethbridge has been named the Con­federation of Alberta Faculty Asso­ciations’ 2009 Distin­guished Academic.

Academic staff at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax have ratified a new contract with the board of governors that provides an increase in salary and benefits over the next three years.

Public spending on Canadian universities and university colleges posted a modest rebound in 2007–2008 after years of declining funding, new figures show.

Même s’il est depuis longtemps courant dans les universités canadiennes que les membres du personnel académique conservent et contrôlent leurs propres fichiers et dossiers, la tradition s’est récemment heurtée à une série de cas de demandes d’accès à l’information.

Le cabinet du ministre d’État aux Sciences a menacé de ne pas four­nir le financement prévu au budget fédéral pour le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines (CRSH) en raison de la décision de l’organisme de financer une conférence universitaire controversée.

Dans un discours prononcé en 1995, un éminent juriste et ancien recteur de l’Université York soutenait que la liberté académique est une valeur fondamentale, voire l’unique valeur fondamentale de la vie universitaire.

La longue épreuve vécue par un professeur de médecine de l’Université Dalhousie est arrivée à sa fin. En effet, il a conclu en septembre une entente de règlement lui permettant de réintégrer pleinement ses fonctions. Les modalités de l’entente demeurent toutefois confidentielles.

L'ACPPU a récemment recruté Chantal Sundaram et Robert Johnson à deux postes importants au sein de l’organisation. Chantal est nommée au poste de directrice générale adjointe chargée d’aider les associations membres dans leur démarche de négociation collective, et Robert a passé les quatre dernières années à enseigner les politiques publiques à l’École d’études politiques de l’Université d’Ottawa.

L'auteur à succès et titulaire de la chaire du Con­seil des gouverneurs en sociologie à l’Université de Lethbridge a reçu le prix d’excellence 2009 de la Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations — l’organisme provincial qui représente les associations du personnel académi­que des Universités de l’Alberta, de Lethbridge et d’Athabasca.