FAUW helps faculty members with workplace processes, questions, and problems through our Academic Freedom & Tenure Committee (AF&T, for short). We work to ensure fair and equitable application of policy and procedures, and help you understand and navigate those policies and procedures.
If your concern is with a policy itself, rather than how it applies in a specific instance, please contact a member of the Board of Directors.
How it works
- Start by contacting the chair of our Academic Freedom & Tenure Committee, Vershawn Young, to discuss your concern. Alternatively, you can contact Katie Damphouse, FAUW's AF&T and Policy Officer.
- If we can't answer your questions right away, we will assign a committee member to work with you. They will be from a Faculty other than your own so you can feel confident in their ability to meet, if necessary, with your chair or dean without discomfort or conflict. This committee member can help you navigate both informal and formal processes.
- Where issues beyond the committee's expertise arise, they have access to the resources of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).
Things we can help with
- renewal of appointments
- tenure and promotion applications
- academic misconduct & research ethics concerns
- annual evaluation concerns
- discipline & letters of reprimand
- governance
- harassment
- intellectual property
- member-member disputes
- sabbatical, medical, parental and other leaves
- salary anomalies
- disability accommodation (broadly interpreted)
Confidentiality
All contact made with AF&T is strictly confidential, even within FAUW. No issue will be taken further than you want or information shared without your permission.
You're in control
You decide how things proceed. An AF&T committee member will not take any action without your consent. We'll provide information, advice, and options, but the decision to resolve issues informally or formally remain your own, within the limits of policy.
Member-to-member conflicts
In cases involving multiple FAUW members, all members, including chairs/directors, are entitled to support and will be assigned separate committee members.
Academic colleagues
Some policies allow for an "academic colleague" to accompany faculty through particular processes (e.g. tenure). AF&T committee members often fill this role.