Faculty that don't get full-time work or pay from Nipissing university will be in the spotlight as Fair Employment Week, an annual initiative to raise awareness about precarious academic employment, is observed by the Nipissing University Faculty Association.
The week spans October 24-28.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), days about “one-third of all academic staff in post-secondary institutions in Canada struggle to find decent work.
- They are hired on a per course or limited-term basis.
- They are denied the opportunity to participate in all aspects of academic work — teaching, research and service to the community.
- They can’t fully exercise their academic freedom because of the possibility of not being renewed. Many are trained to do research, find new ideas and innovate, but are prohibited from doing so.
- They are often poorly paid, have little or no benefits, no job security, and no academic freedom.
According to a news release, NUFA President Susan Srigley sees Fair Employment Week as an opportunity to recognize contract faculty for the work they do both inside and outside of the classroom.
“Contract faculty are seen by the administration as people who only teach, and they are often only paid for the hours that they are in front of a class,” Srigley argues. “But the reality of teaching at a university is that there’s much more to the job, including class preparation, grading, research, and service to the university. The difference is that our contract faculty are scholars and researchers and they dedicate much of their time to service that enriches the University community but their contributions are neither recognized nor compensated.”