By October 17–21 is the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)’s Fair Employment Week, which celebrates the contributions of contract academic staff across Canada and raises awareness about the precarious working conditions they face.
Contract faculty are vital colleagues who have committed themselves to the King’s community despite their precarity. Many of them teach a full slate of courses, advise and mentor students, conduct research, and publish in their fields without access to the same benefits, supports, or office space available to tenured faculty.
Supporting contract faculty means supporting principles of equity and academic freedom. We encourage everyone on Fair Employment Week (and every week) to acknowledge the work of limited-term and part-time academic staff and to learn about the issues they face. Some event links and resources related to Fair Employment Week are available on the CAUT website: https://makeitfair.caut.ca/. Stay tuned for CAUT’s Social Media Day of Action on Wednesday, the 19th.