Halifax, Oct. 21, 2014 – The growing use of limited term and part‐time university professors and instructors ‐‐ and the precarious employment situation they face in Canadian and Nova Scotia universities ‐‐ will be the subject of a forum which will take place at Dalhousie University on Wednesday, October 29. The event, entitled “Seeing the invisible academic”, is being held in recognition of Fair Employment Week, proclaimed by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to raise awareness about the overuse and exploitation of contract academic staff. The Halifax event is co‐sponsored by CAUT, the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA), the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT) and CUPE 3912.
Contract academic staff go by a lot of different names: limited term, sessional, part‐time, adjunct, contingent. They are often described as “invisible academics” because they have no job security, their contribution to their universities often goes unrecognized, and the students they teach are frequently unaware of their employment status. It is estimated that one out of every three university teachers across Canada is working on a limited
term, part‐time or per‐course contract.
The forum will feature a panel of contract academics from Dalhousie and other Halifax universities, as well as CAUT Past President Wayne Peters, who will provide an overview of the situation across Canada. Karen Foster, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Dalhousie whose research focuses on precarious employment and the future of work, will also be a member of the panel. It will be moderated by Catrina Brown, President of the DFA.
When: Wednesday, October 29, 7 p.m.‐9:30 p.m.
Where: Room 303, Student Union Building
6136 University Ave, Halifax
This event is free and open to the public and the media. Refreshments will be served following the discussion.
For more information, contact:
Donna Balkan, Communications Officer
Dalhousie Faculty Association
902‐494‐3722 or 902‐266‐5429 (cell)
Email: communications@dfa.ns.ca
For more information on Fair Employment Week (Oct. 27‐31), go to www.fairemploymentweek.ca.
Dalhousie Faculty Association
6280 South Street, Halifax, N.S. Canada B3H 1T8
Phone (902) 494-3722
Fax (902) 494-6740
Email dfa@dfa.ns.ca
Website http://www.dfa.ns.ca
