“Academic freedom means that academic staff play the predominant role in determining curriculum, assessment standards, and other academic matters.”
– Canadian Association of University Teachers Policy Statement
Academic freedom is a broad-ranging issue that extends throughout the work done by college faculty members. It affects teaching, research, professional development, course materials, teaching style, delivery modes, and evaluation methods.
More and more, academic decisions are made in accordance with management’s nonacademic priorities. This includes not only the major college-wide issues, but also the everyday decisions about what is happening in the classroom.
Academic freedom ranked among the top three issues at the October college faculty prebargaining conference. This issue has been steadily gaining momentum with college faculty as they recognize the need for contract language to protect the academic process.
The 2008 Workload Taskforce concluded its formal recommendations with this:
“Given the rise of applied degrees, college/university partnerships, and collaborative programs, Ontario’s Colleges are clearly expanding and developing as complex institutions of higher education. We recommend, therefore, that the parties consider mechanisms that will enhance collegiality, professional development, and academic freedom.”
Increasingly, the colleges’ decisions on curriculum, new programs, resource allocations, delivery mode, etc., run contrary to this recommendation. There is less and less input from faculty, if any.
Ontario colleges have matured over the past 45 years, but they have failed to incorporate collegial decision-making practices.
Even as colleges develop degree programs, articulation agreements with university partners, and change their names and mandates, the collective agreement between the colleges and faculty still lacks academic freedom protection.
“Most important, the academic freedom of the faculty and instructional staff serves students well—in fact, it is the hallmark of excellence in education… Professionalism and free exchange are at the heart of education, and academic freedom is the mechanism that allows them to flourish.”
- The American Federation of Teachers Policy Statement
Your Bargaining Team
Contact your team: negotiations2012@gmail.com
Download the PDF file here