usfa@usaskfaculty.ca

Actions not words

We are pleased that the announcement from the Board of Governors about the change in leadership stated “in the strongest possible terms, that the University of Saskatchewan is committed to the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression. It would also like to stress that it believes that tenure is a sacrosanct principle within […]

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Silence of the Board

The fact that the Board of Governors remains silent on their decision to delegate veto power over tenure and promotion decisions to the President is a sign of failed leadership. Two of our members have received a positive recommendation for tenure by the appropriate collegial bodies on campus and are awaiting a tenure decision by […]

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Make no mistake, Academic Freedom and Tenure are Under Attack at the University of Saskatchewan

Notwithstanding the very public and powerful words last week from President Ilene Busch-Vishniac about the importance of tenure and academic freedom after reversing the decision to strip Professor Robert Buckingham of his tenure, there are clear indications that the tenure process at the University of Saskatchewan is under full attack. Despite assurances by the President […]

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When to go for tenure or promotion: 7th in a series

Practice of professional skills remains a troublesome category for members in many units, particularly the professional colleges. When the university standards for tenure and promotion were last revised, there was a wish to distinguish recognize practice of professional skills, but still require practitioners to show ability in research, consistent with the teacher/scholar model. Unfortunately, the […]

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Educators create wealth

Discussing the teachers’ job action, a local columnist commented that the arguments of the teachers’ union for “sharing the wealth” is flawed. The author writes that “fair share” “implies someone has contributed directly to creating what is they want to share” and that such reasoning “smacks of an entitlement mentality”. (Star-Phoenix, “Sharing the wealth not […]

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When to go for tenure or promotion: 6th in a series

It is surprising how often we evaluate a colleague’s research career by metrics like publication counts, page counts, or order of authorship, which border on numerology, rather than considering the actual contribution. Although time is the true test of research, the reason we do this is that the practicalities of our processes force us to […]

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When to go for tenure or promotion: 5th in a series

Today is the best day to start thinking about your promotion/tenure case. You have a lot of resources to help you in the preparation of your case file. By May 31, your Department Head or Dean should have met with you to discuss your progress in meeting the approved standards, which you should make yourself […]

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