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CAUT Policies

Policy Statement on Academic Appointments

1
The pursuit and dissemination of knowledge at the highest intellectual level can only be sustained by promoting and protecting the working conditions for academic staff. This requires the recognition and protection of academic freedom essential to scholarship. Scholarship, the work of an academic, involves both the pursuit of knowledge through research and the dissemination of knowledge through teaching, public lectures, conference communications, publications, professional practice, artistic production and other similar activities.

2
Full-time continuing appointments provide a balance of service and scholarship. The educational and research mission of the post-secondary institution is undermined when full-time continuing appointments are replaced by those which are contractually limited. There may be instances where contractually limited appointments will be required to supplement the efforts of full-time continuing academic staff. This need, however, must never be abused either from the point of view of the institution or from the point of view of the individuals so employed.  Specific measures should be adopted to ensure that full-time continuing positions are not replaced by contractually limited positions, and that appropriate terms and conditions of employment are maintained for all academic staff.

3
Certain minimum standards in employment practices must be maintained for all academic staff regardless of categories of appointment. Academic freedom must be protected. All personnel management practices must be free of discrimination. Clear procedures that respect due process must be established and maintained. The principle of peer review should inform recommendations and decisions that affect individual careers. Seniority entitlements must be respected. The assignment of workload duties must recognize the right of every academic staff person to participate fully in their profession. All academic staff must be protected against wrongful dismissal.

4
Clear protections for academic staff must be specified in collective agreements to ensure that the exercise of discretion by the employer shall not be arbitrary. Such protections must be negotiated by the academic staff association and employer and may not be amended without the agreement of both parties.