Every year in early May, MUNFA receives a list of all Promotion & Tenure (P&T) members for each Academic Unit (AU) including whether each Academic Staff Member (ASM) was elected or appointed. MUNFA is concerned that even at this late date, P&T Committees in some Academic Units still lack a complete roster of five (5) ASMs. MUNFA encourages all ASMs to offer their names to stand for election, or seek appointment by one’s Administrative Head in their respective AUs, if such participation is at all possible. Peer review in the academy is too important to neglect.
While MUNFA is cognizant that P&T Committee work can be both onerous and thankless, peer review, like tenure and academic freedom, are central to a healthy academy. As long as ASMs remain unwilling to carry out this crucial academic service, we risk relinquishing control of our careers to the employer, the university administration, and furthering the corporatization of higher education.
If you have any questions or comments on this issue, please contact the MUNFA office at ext. 8642 or via email at munfa@mun.ca.
