Meet the 2025 FAUW board candidates

Why I want to serve on the FAUW Board of Directors:

I am seeking re-election for another two-year term on the FAUW Board of Directors. Over the past two-years, we have built a solid foundation, but there is still important work to be done. I want to continue supporting initiatives that enhance our workplace and community, including increasing member engagement, strengthening communication and transparent decision-making, and upholding academic freedom and viewpoint diversity.

Skills and experience that contribute to my effectiveness on the Board:

1. In addition to serving on FAUW, I have held roles as Chair and Associate Chair, and have served as a member of DTPC, FPR, DACA, Chair Search, UG Senate and Arts Faculty Council Executive committees. These experiences have provided me with a working understanding of how the university operates, including UW policies and processes, and the MoA.
2. Within this institutional and policy context, I have offered practical solutions and alternative points of view, responded to member concerns, and guided the strategic direction of FAUW.
3. I value collaborative decision-making and maintaining constructive working relationships on the Board. I approach discussions with an open mind, ask questions, and aim to gain a deeper understanding of the issues.

My approach to collaboration and representing all FAUW members:

Since joining the FAUW Board in 2023, I have worked to restore it as a functional body that acts in the best interest of its members, respects the open exchange of ideas, and provides members with the information they need to make informed decisions. On the Board, my responsibility is to uphold the MoA and support initiatives that speak to the needs and interests of the wider membership. If re-elected, I will continue to work to strengthen our members’ confidence in the integrity, transparency, and collegial governance of FAUW.

I am excited at the prospect of returning to the FAUW Board of Directors for a second consecutive term. I’ve been at Waterloo in various capacities since starting my undergraduate here in 1987. I’ve taught in three different faculties; sat on Dean, VP, and Presidential hiring committees; served multiple terms on both UW Senate (including Senate Exec and Senate Long Range Planning committees) and Board of Governors; and was Chair of the Department of Knowledge Integration for 9 years. I am currently a Senator and am running for reappointment as Senate representative to the Board of Governors.

Over my nearly 40 years here I’ve seen Waterloo from many different perspectives, and I have a keen sense of how things work at various scales and among different constituencies. My interest and experience with interdisciplinary teaching and research has led me to build what I believe is a strong network and a lot of goodwill in all parts of campus.

I have a deep interest in issues of governance and procedure, and how governance structures might provide greater opportunities for member input. This is why I volunteered to sit on FAUW’s Governance Review Committee which has been meeting biweekly since December.

I know that there is a lot of concern and confusion about University finances. While I don’t believe the administration is planning to invoke program redundancy or financial exigency, I do believe that FAUW has a duty to be prepared should they do so. That is why I proposed and am leading a FAUW working group looking at the details of these procedures. I am also working with OCUFA and other FAUW Directors to get a clearer picture of the budget situation, so that FAUW and its members can be better informed.

As a critical design thinker, I strive to consider any set of complex observations incomplete, recognizing this admits multiple possible explanations. In that context, good decision-making requires reducing uncertainty by gathering data and perspectives to understand these multiple explanations and, in human systems, the motivations behind them. Considering multiple perspectives is key to good, collaborative decision-making and effective collegial governance, and this is how I approach my FAUW work.

The FAUW Directorship is a voluntary position with a lot of weight and responsibility. The work is hard but meaningful, and it attracts those who believe strongly in a common cause. In my first term as a FAUW at-large Director, I’ve enjoyed being able to work with a team of dedicated individuals who bring different perspectives to issues but are united in FAUW’s common goal of serving the membership. I believe we’ve accomplished a lot in that time to improve FAUW’s operational capacity, communication, and effectiveness.

In sum, I am a collaborative colleague with a strong network across campus, and I believe firmly in the importance of FAUW’s work and collegial governance, especially at this particular moment in time. With your vote, I can continue the important work I have been doing on your behalf as a FAUW Director.

As a FAUW Director, I would work tirelessly to solicit, articulate, and represent the interests of faculty towards the betterment of our university. Budget constraints are impacting our members: contracts are not being renewed; faculties are being restructured; elective courses canceled; staff and TA support reduced; while supervisory and committee responsibilities increase due to the ongoing hiring freeze. We can and should work collaboratively with the administration to confront financial constraints; however, FAUW exists because our interests do not always align with the administration’s. How might FAUW brainstorm with faculty and collaborate with staff and student groups on campus as well as OCUFA, CAUT, and colleagues at other universities to develop and present alternative university budget proposals aimed at avoiding layoffs and program redundancies?  FAUW can also play an important role in helping address the structural funding crisis facing our sector. Through innovative campaigns, we could raise public understanding and appreciation of the academy. For example, FAUW could sponsor public lectures in neighbourhoods across the region to share the exciting work we do.

I fully support FAUW’s efforts to improve grassroots membership engagement by facilitating FAUW-side chats, expanding office hours, and sponsoring member-driven initiatives. FAUW committees are also doing essential work and I would like to empower them to share ideas and proposals directly with the membership. Transparent governance encourages meaningful membership participation.

Similarly, more open governance will better guide the Board in terms of how our membership wants to proceed on strategic and contentious issues. Reaching consensus within the Board is of course desirable, but we should expect and respect that academics may not always agree. Rather than see this as a weakness, disagreements arising within the Board should help stimulate discussion within our membership. Minutes of FAUW Board meetings (open session) should be published to a members-only section of our website. Inviting open discussions ahead of time will help resolve or crystallize debates, thereby ensuring we use general membership meetings more efficiently for decision-making. 

As a Board member I would support deepening FAUW’s commitment to equity, such as: ensuring access to day care places on campus; providing robust legal support for members experiencing violations of the Human Rights Code and the MOA; negotiating accommodations for members; continued support of faculty hired through the Black Excellence and Indigenous Excellence hiring initiatives; and continued support for the Gender and Sexual Diversity Working Group and W3+. Our membership has diverse needs and our university thrives when each member feels welcomed and supported on campus. Similarly, FAUW needs to actively defend the academic freedom of members—especially in times of political turmoil, organizational restructuring, and job insecurity.

I am an outspoken member of UW Senate. As an active member of FAUW, I raised alarm about the administration’s use of complex employment agreements; promoted debate within FAUW regarding the university’s response to demonstrations on campus; and previously contributed to FAUW’s Climate Justice Working Group. I am working with FAUW to carefully examine our MOA in anticipation of potential financial exigency and program redundancy.