A new report is highlighting the important research, teaching and service contributions of academic staff in Ontario. The Faculty at Work report was released on Sept. 3 by the Council of Ontario Universities.

The board of governors of Carleton University and the union representing academic staff have ratified a new collective agreement which covers a period of three years, starting May 1, 2014.

Former executive director James Turk is joining Ryerson University’s school of journalism as a distinguished visiting professor, effective Sept. 1, 2014. He will organize a seminar series addressing questions and issues around freedom of expression.

The term “tenure” can be ambiguous, as when former University of Saskatche­wan president Ilene Busch-Vishniac warned her team that if they disagreed publicly with the process or findings of Transform-US, their “tenure would be short.”

These are certainly interesting times in which to take on the presidency of CAUT. News broke that the dean had been fired and forcibly removed from the University of Saskatchewan for having had the audacity to publicly voice his concerns.

The presidential search committee at the University of Alberta has received some unusual applications. In addition to the typical individual job seekers, 14 groups of four and one of three have submitted an application.

Capilano University seized and removed a sculpture lampooning the university president, Kris Bulcroft, on the grounds it constituted a form of harassment of a university employee.

In a resounding victory, academic staff at Simon Fraser University have voted for union representation. Plans are now underway to begin negotiation of a first collective agreement.

The National Union of the Canadian Association of University Teachers has elected a new slate of leaders for 2014–2017. George Davison, secretary-treasurer of the Federation of Post-Secon­dary Educators of BC, was reelected president.

Margaret Munro, senior science writer for Postmedia News, and former Ubyssey news editor Jonny Wakefield have picked up CAUT’s 2014 excellence in education journalism awards.

Despite the ubiquitous nature of certified academics in Canada, persistent myths and unfounded fears about unions ran deep in the BC profes­sorate until recently.

All advanced democracies are facing the pressures of globalization, technological change, and new family forms, which have had the effect of generating higher levels of inequality in market incomes.

Many today do not recognize the word, but “philology” was for centuries nearly synonymous with humanistic intellectual life, encompassing not only the study of Greek and Roman literature and the Bible but also all other studies of language and literature, and more.

David Robinson has been selected as the next executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers to succeed James Turk who is stepping down, effective June 30, 2014, following 16 years at the helm of the association.

Peer review,” according to a reputable apologist, “is the worst form of as­sess­ment,” except for all the others. George Bernard makes his case in the latest volume of Adventures with Britannia, the always star-studded occasional papers of the British Studies Seminar at the University of Texas at Austin.

John Holmes is the 2014 recipient of CAUT’s Distinguished Academic Award, the highest honour the association can give academic staff in recognition of extraordinary accomplishments as a teacher, in research and scholarly work, and in service to the university and the community.

Despite an oft-stated assertion lauding the value of post-secondary institutions, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberal government has brought down a budget “in direct contradiction” of such a position, critics charge.

The decision by Ontario’s opposi­tion parties to reject the minority Liberal government’s budget, tabled in the legislature by Finance Minister Charles Sousa has resulted in the dissolution of Parliament and a general election to take place.

Ronald Bercov, CAUT’s pre­sident in 1978–1979 and professor eme­ritus of the University of Alberta passed away on Apr. 4.

I attended an event at the University of British Columbia March 28 that was meant to be celebratory, but was hijacked into spreading a Conservative political agenda. The event was the announcement of UBC’s successes in the most recent competition for Canada Research Chairs.