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

Where Acronyms Meet: UWFA Goes to the MFL Convention

By Mark Golden, UWFA External Relations Officer

UWFA and its members support other workers in various ways, whether by joining their picket lines (most recently, in front of the Rice Building during the strike at Brandon University) or by contributing to the CAUT Defence Fund (which provides strike pay). But our involvement is not confined to crises. UWFA is a member of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations (MOFA), which lobbies COPSE and senior levels of government; in fact, our own Jim Clark (Psychology) serves as MOFA president. UWFA also sends representatives to the monthly meetings of the Winnipeg Labour Council and the triennial Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) conventions. Nolan Reilly (History) and Byron Sheldrick attended the 2006 convention on our behalf and Nolan returned to this year’s meeting at Brandon in early October to present (to a standing ovation) the kit he and his wife Sharon developed for teaching the Winnipeg General Strike in secondary school classrooms. I was our official delegate.

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Transforming the Academy: CAUT Aboriginal Academics Conference

Adapted for the UWFA News by Tracy Whalen, UWFA Secretary

The most recent conference of Aboriginal academic staff discussed a host of challenges that face Aboriginal faculty in postsecondary institutions. For instance, Aboriginal female faculty often feel they have to prove themselves; universities do not always provide a non-threatening environment; Aboriginal faculty, both female and male, are not given the same status as other faculty. Aboriginal faculty are expected to sit on every committee involving Aboriginal students or communities and expected to remain involved in the community, an important value. However, fulfilling community responsibilities can threaten promotion and tenure.

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