The Crowe Case: A Student's Perspective

By: Joe Martin, Class of 1959

It is difficult to write about this episode even after half a century. It was a brutal, angry affair that changed my life from academia to business. NOTHING in subsequent years in business, in politics or in sport touched the intensity of the Crowe Case.

In the 1950s Harry Crowe was not only a lecturer of History at United College, he was also one of the most popular, as good a teacher of undergrads as any in Canada. He was part of a small, but distinguished History department, which also included Stewart Reid, Ken McNaught and G. K. Brown, and which had close relationships with the History department at Fort Garry headed by W. L. Morton.

As we returned to campus after the 1958 summer break, rumours were swirling that Harry had done something awful. As events unfolded we learned that what he had done was write a letter to a colleague, which somehow never reached the colleague but was received by the administration. On the basis of that intercepted letter, Harry was fired.

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Community Learning? The UWFA Executive Responds

Is “Community Learning,” as contemplated in President Axworthy’s recent position paper, a good thing for the University of Winnipeg?  The UWFA Executive is not yet convinced. The Association has responded to concerns the document raises in the domains of academic freedom, faculty workload, and Collective Agreement provisions. We also have commented on the implications for the funding of core academic operations of university fundraising for community activities. Concerns remain about process and about the need for academic review. The UWFA response is too lengthy for inclusion here, but members are urged to read Dr. Axworthy’s paper.

Then read UWFA’s response.

UWFA Bargaining Updates

By Lisa McGifford, UWFA Staff Officer

Bargaining has begun for each of the three UWFA bargaining units (Main Unit, Collegiate and Contract Faculty). For more information, click the link below. If you have any questions, please contact the UWFA Office.

UWFA has buttons for each of our bargaining units. They are available from any Executive Member or at the UWFA office.

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Control Matters: Intellectual Property and Electronic Files

Submitted by Alexander Freund, UWFA Grievance Officer 

From 11 to 13 December 2009, some fifty grievance officers and others involved in grievance processes at universities across Canada met in Ottawa to learn about the protection of intellectual property. The three-day CAUT workshop, Care, Custody and Control: Protecting Members’ Correspondence, Documents and Intellectual Property, introduced participants to a broad range of issues that have been disputed between universities and faculty associations and have even been taken to arbitration and the judicial process. Lisa McGifford and Alexander Freund represented UWFA, which was one of forty faculty associations present at the workshop.

Intellectual and legal ownership of documents and ideas has, over the last decade, moved to the centre of disputes between university administrations and faculty associations. At issue is the fundamental question of who owns the emails, syllabi, administrative files, research results, inventions, and other intellectual property created by faculty. This is especially important now as data networks (such as email systems and servers) are making it easier for employers to have access to this information. Do universities own the documents created by faculty members simply because, as university administrations have claimed, faculty are employees of the university?

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Closing the Gap: In Search of Librarian/Faculty Parity

From 23 to 25 October 2009, Michael Hohner attended a CAUT conference entitled Negotiating for Parity: Closing the Librarian/Faculty Gap on behalf of the UWFA Executive. The conference  was about how academic freedom allows librarians to vigorously oppose efforts to censor, filter or divert information. It also allows librarians to critique workplace mechanisms and structures that interfere with the exercise of their duties.  It is therefore essential that parity in regard to academic freedom exist between academic librarians and faculty in collective agreement language.  It is equally important that librarians elevate the exercise of academic freedom to a central place in the culture of their workplaces, as faculty have done.

Michael Hohner is the Systems & Media Services Coordinator for the University Library (on leave for 2009-2010). His full conference report can be found here.

CAUT Librarians' Conference Report

Raising Course Caps... And Concerns

By Alexander Freund, UWFA Grievance Officer

“So much for our reputation for a high level of teaching.”

“Good bye quality education at U of W, hello factory: churn students out, the more, the more money.”

“This is no longer the small, student-friendly university it once was.”

Such is a sample of responses when, on 5 October 2009, the UWFA polled members about raised course caps and the increased minimum number of students in courses. Fifteen members replied, some reporting increased caps as high as 100%. Further informal conversations with members revealed that caps have been raised across several departments. While members were generally informed about changes by their department chairs, they were unsure who exactly had made the decision to raise caps in the first place. Reactions to the move were mostly negative, especially since some members were told of the increased caps just before (and even after!) the beginning of fall term.

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UWFA Women and Equity Committee

By Roewan Crowe, Chair - Women and Equity Committee

The UWFA Women and Equity Committee (WE) is a Standing Committee of UWFA. Formerly the Status of Women Committee, it was renamed in 2009. WE works to represent the interests of women, designated equity groups, and other marginalized people (henceforth “women and equity”) on the University of Winnipeg campus and to liaise with the UWFA Executive and other committees regarding their interests.

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331 Days and Counting...

By Tracy Whalen, UWFA Secretary

Remember that crowded UWFA meeting to which Administration members were invited, the one in which some members were enjoying the prime real estate of floor seating? Well, that meeting took place 30 March 2009—-almost a year ago. You may recall that at that meeting, UWFA member Pauline Greenhill presented a few faculty and administration numbers to President Lloyd Axworthy. Greenhill, for instance, calculated a 51.42% increase in the number of administrators between 2001 and 2009, but only a 17.89% increase in UWFA Members (Collegiate members included) for the same time period. She also noted that in 2004 there was 1 administrator for every 7.25 members, while in 2009 the number was 1 for every 5.72. Axworthy maintained, however, that there was a reduction in the proportion of administration to faculty. Greenhill calculated a 14% increase in tenured faculty between 2004 and 2009. Axworthy put the figure at 25%. Whatever the case, the University President said that Greenhill’s figures were incorrect and promised he would send UWFA his numbers.

Greenhill, the former editor of the UWFA newsletter, promised to publish those numbers once they arrived.

They have not arrived. UWFA members are starting to ask me in the hallway about those numbers. They are starting to ask how many days it has been since those numbers were promised. I can give you that number at least: 331.

Members are still waiting.

Thanks from the UWFA Executive

The UWFA Executive thanks all the faculty who supported the successful drive to raise money for student scholarships and bursaries.  With the enthusiastic help of UWFA Members, the University was able in 2009 to fund all student scholarships and bursaries at a minimum of 60% of the previous year’s amounts – and some at an even higher percentage.  The generosity of the faculty strongly contributed to the University being able to meet its $1.1 million goal for award funding.  The presence of UWFA Members as regular donors to many projects on campus is much appreciated by the University of Winnipeg Foundation.

The next UWFA social event is on 12 March from 4 until 7 pm at the King’s Head Pub. The We (heart) Faculty Social will have a prize raffle and a 50/50 draw.  All monies raised will go directly to the student scholarships at the University of Winnipeg.  Please encourage your colleagues to come out to socialize and support a great cause.