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CAUT Bulletin Archives
1996-2016

June 2010

Copyright Bill a Blow to Educators

Ottawa has tabled its long-delayed copyright bill, proposing to legalize common practices, such as copying a CD to a computer or an MP3 player for personal use, but criminalize breaking digital locks.

Point-counterpoint on faculty workload

After reading this commentary and the response from Ismet Ugursal, I am compelled to respond as well. I agree with professor Ugursal that we are incredibly lucky on many fronts due to our job autonomy, flexibility and the varied and creative nature of our work.

Failed by the ‘Star’ System

The federal government’s allowed 13 universities to hire 19 “academic stars” without including a single woman is an obvious symptom of sexism.

Racism & the Politics of Indian Art Study

If I were asked to write and im­plement a political prescription that ensured long-term social disaster among Native peoples, it would be something that would absolutely bring about a near total collapse of their societies and non-recovery.

Top Court Denies Maughan’s Appeal

The University of British Colum­bia Faculty Association and CAUT are welcoming the Supreme Court of Canada's decision to deny leave to appeal a ruling by the B.C. Court of Appeal that ended a years-long lawsuit against the university and four academic staff members.

Trent Leads in Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge

As my Trent University colleague put it, last month, the university did itself proud. The occasion was senate approval of a new vision statement for the university. The outcome of a year-long process of discussion and reflection, the vision says that: “We foster an environment where Indi­genous knowledge is recognized as valid means by which to understand the world.”

ILO Blasts Anti-Labour Laws in Saskatchewan

The International Labour Organ­isation has issued a stinging rebuke to the government of Saskatchewan over two pieces of anti-labour law adopted in 2008.

New Hires at CAUT

Rosa Barker and Robert Ramsay have been named new professional officers at CAUT. Rosa has a PhD in English Literature from Queen’s U, and Robert is from uToronto, where he just completed two terms as chair of CUPE Local 3902.

Court Ruling Threatens Academic Bargaining Rights

In a decision that will have serious implications for academic staff across Canada, the British Colum­bia Court of Appeal has upheld an arbitrator’s decision that he had no jurisdiction to consider whether a policy on student evaluation of teaching was in violation of the collective agreement.

Chris Ferns Wins Donald C. Savage Award

This April, an English professor at Mount Saint Vincent University was honoured with CAUT’s Donald C. Savage Award for his many years of collective bargaining achievements at the local, regional and national level.

CAUT Votes to Amend Governance Structure

CAUT turned a corner in April when council voted in favour of a bylaw amendment ensuring that marginalized groups will be represented in its governance structure.

Lessons to Learn from Quality Assurance Study

The Legitimacy of Quality Assurance in Higher Education is a collection of papers published by the Council of Europe. Although a European publication, there are useful nuggets about education quality that can be applied to Canada.

You Must Be a Basketball Player

Documenting a black professor’s account of his own professional experience, this study describes what it feels like to be a non-white academic in one of the “big three” disciplines in the humanities — English, history, and philosophy.

Academic Transformation

The large-scale, publicly-funded system of post-secondary education in Ontario has been largely successful in fulfilling important societal needs in the areas of education, human resource development and research. Existing approaches, however, are unlikely to be sufficient to address the challenges of the coming decade.

Les oubliés du projet de loi sur le droit d’auteur

Le gouvernement fédéral a présenté son projet de réforme du droit d’auteur, lequel propose de légaliser des pratiques aussi courantes que la copie d’un CD sur un ordinateur, mais de crimina­liser le crochetage des serrures numériques.

Trent à l’avant-garde de l’éducation autochtone

L'Université Trent a pris le mois dernier une initiative qui est tout à son honneur, se réjouit mon collègue de cet établissement. En effet, après des années de discussion et de réflexion, le sénat de cette université a adop­té le nouvel énoncé de vision qui favorise le respect des connaissances autochtones.

Deux nouveaux agents professionels à l’ACPPU

Deux nouveaux agents professionnels ont joint les rangs des effectifs de l’ACPPU. Rosa Barker, titulaire d’un doctorat en littérature anglaise de Queen’s, et Ro­bert Ramsay, de Toronto où il venait de terminer son second mandat de président de la section locale 3902 du SCFP,

Un tribunal met en péril le droit à la négociation du personnel académique

La Cour d’appel de la Colombie-Britannique a confirmé la décision d’un arbitre selon laquelle ce dernier n’avait pas compétence pour déterminer si la po­li­tique adoptée par le sénat de l’UBC contrevenait à la convention collective du personnel académique de cet établissement.

L’ACPPU remanie la structure de sa gouvernance

L'ACPPU a atteint un nouveau ja­lon lorsque son conseil a voté une modification du règlement général de l’association pour assurer une juste repré­senta­tion des groupes marginalisés au sein de sa structure de gouvernance.

La Cour suprême rejette l’appel de Cynthia Maughan

L’association du personnel académique de l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique et l’ACPPU se réjouissent du refus de la Cour suprême du Canada d’entendre l’appel interjeté contre une décision de la Cour d’appel provinciale, mettant ainsi fin à une poursuite judiciaire de longue date.