The current election is for FAUW's next president. The elected candidate will serve as president from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027 and as president-elect from December 5, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
Each candidate was invited to submit a statement; candidates' statements are published alphabetically and have not been altered in any way.
To get a sense of what qualifications you might want to look for in a candidate, learn more about the president's role.
Voting runs from Tuesday, November 19 until Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 1:30 p.m..
The candidates
David Porreca
I have had the honour of serving as FAUW President 2012-15, and again since May 2023. While the more recent tenure began with tumult, it is ending with renewed optimism in the Association. I was elected most recently with a mandate to restore the organization to full functionality, to rebuild the staff complement, and to foster a productive working relationship with the administration for the benefit of FAUW’s members.
I am running for office again because I feel these tasks are not yet complete, but we are making significant advancements towards these goals. FAUW has been able to replace the three full-time staff members the organization had lost, and we have worked to conclude the lengthy Policy 76/77 negotiation process, which culminated with the creation of a new Teaching Stream of professors with clearer and more equitable terms of employment. Also, FAUW and the salary negotiations team secured an arbitrated decision in favour of FAUW’s proposal. Most importantly for the future, directors from every Faculty are again actively engaged in Board activities, and the Board is back to being a forum of active, respectful, and productive debate regarding issues that matter to our membership.
Looking ahead, the organization is mid-stride in undertaking a full-scale internal governance review of the FAUW Constitution, by-laws, policies, procedures, and guidelines. To date, I’ve secured the assistance of five FAUW past presidents to help identify gaps in our current documentation and processes. In addition, FAUW is being more proactive in gathering feedback from the membership via renewed Council of Representatives activities, and by the introduction of topical, monthly “FAUW-Side Chats” that are open to all members. This past June, the new FAUW Board held its first strategic planning retreat that saw us set goals of achieving improved transparency and stronger membership engagement and being increasingly proactive in our dealings with the university’s administration. These goals are already being met: faculty volunteers on FAUW committees rose from 60 to 110 over the past year, while the signed-up membership has grown from 975 to 1081 since July 2023. Finally, based on the success achieved on the P76/77 file, I am optimistic of guiding to closure all the policies that are currently under revision (P12 on Bereavement Leaves; P33 on Ethical Behaviour; P57 on Accommodations).
What I bring to the table is a proven capacity for leading an effective team that gets things done. I’ve done my best to foster an atmosphere in FAUW’s operations that is cooperative, collegial, collaborative, consultative, and convivial (what I like to call “the 5 Cs”). The organization’s growing capacities and membership engagement are a testament to the success of this approach. I am grateful for all the support and encouragement I’ve received so far, and I aim to honour the trust the membership has placed in me by continuing to work and advocate on your behalf, should the membership see fit to endorse my candidacy once again.
Su-Yin Tan
I believe that as a faculty member, it is important to step up to take some responsibility and contribute to the University’s functioning as a whole; to ensure that we work at a good university that contributes positively to society. A faculty association enables this by ensuring that each member works in an equitable and fair working environment, while recognizing sources of bias, discouraging favouritism, and offering protections from arbitrary decisions that limit us from achieving our potential. This includes defending the academic freedoms and rights of colleagues, ensuring that faculty members have equal access to justice, and that proper policies and procedures are in place.
I have been a UW faculty member since 2008 and have substantial experience within FAUW. I am currently a member of the Academic and Freedom Committee (AF&T) which provides confidential support to individual members with workplace issues. I served in senior roles as a FAUW Board Director and Chair of the Lecturers Committee, and as a member of the Equity Committee, Executive Committee, and Faculty Relations Committee. Throughout these experiences, I maintained a critical lens; I firmly believe that FAUW could and needs to do better.
Our membership is diverse and should be led by someone who understands the full spectrum of faculty viewpoints and challenges. Someone willing to engage with the membership and strive with tenacity for fairness and equity for all. Underprivileged and minority groups often seek respect and inclusivity within the workplace; how can one advocate on their behalf without lived experience to relate to such needs? Although teaching stream faculty are a minority, they have been President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) and other associations with laudable results.
My vision for FAUW is to have an informed and actively participating membership that determines the association’s priorities. FAUW must intensify its efforts at outreach and engagement. As President, I plan to continue FAUW’s efforts for membership consultation, including surveys, focus groups, and town halls. Key priorities include developing a workload policy and protections, enhancing health benefits including eyecare, negotiating greater transparency and fairness in allocation of merit pay and performance awards, and promoting a culture of fairness, equity, inclusivity, and diversity. The University continues to focus on teaching assessment, such as student course perceptions and peer review of teaching, which impacts all faculty in performance review, tenure/permanence, and promotion. Much work remains to define the new teaching faculty stream, including promotion requirements to full professorship rank. Upcoming financial challenges will introduce cuts to programs and hiring, putting our most vulnerable faculty at even greater risk.
Above all, I am committed to working closely and consulting broadly with stakeholder groups to democratize FAUW’s outreach and internal workings. For academic freedom and collegial governance to succeed at UW, we must affirm these core values within FAUW and reflect them in all that we do. I hope to bring lived experience, fresh insights, and different perspectives to FAUW, which will further enrich, inform, and advance progressive changes within our faculty community.