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CAUT Policies

Policy Statement on the Nature of Academic Work

Academic work involves both the pursuit of knowledge and its dissemination and application through activities including but not limited to research, teaching, public lectures, conference communications, publications, professional practice, the building of library collections, the provision of mediated access to information, artistic production and performance, and service.  All such activities are closely related and involve different aspects of a single job or task.  Post-secondary education relies on active engagement in critical enquiry and research, both of which inform the teaching and learning mission of our institutions.  The quality of post-secondary education and the experience of students both suffer when critical enquiry and research cannot flourish.   The creation of positions that do not involve a range of academic activities in the pursuit of knowledge and its dissemination and application, undermines the mission of a post-secondary institution, which must remain committed to critical enquiry and learning.

Academic staff have the right and the duty to develop and maintain their academic competence and effectiveness, and to perform their academic duties.  When determining workload, care must be taken to ensure that the balance among research, teaching and service activities as well as the balance between scheduled and non-scheduled duties affords adequate opportunity for every academic staff member to participate fully in all aspects of academic work.