No tenure in Saskatchewan Law

If you have ever wondered why faculty might choose to unionize, read the University of Saskatchewan Act and the University of Regina Act.

Neither piece of legislation contains the word “tenure”.

It does appear in the Collective Agreement, where it is defined as “the appointment of an employee to a permanent position on the academic staff of the University”. The Agreement goes on to refine this definition, but the long and short of it is that tenure is about equivalent to the concept of “permanent position” in any other workplace – you are still subject to discipline, dismissal, layoff, and reprimand.

One significant difference from other workplaces is that tenure in the Agreement guarantees academic freedom to individual faculty, whereas the Act only states that the board, senate and council are responsible for “determining the manner in which the  university  shall fulfill its primary role having regard to “¦ the recognized principles of academic freedom.”

Without the Agreement, tenure doesn’t exist. Becoming a bargaining unit under the trade union act guarantees tenure and academic freedom.