Many academics have spent time on short-term contingent appointments; by some measures, academia is in fact one of the most highly casualized work sectors in Canada. This is unhealthy for our institution and even less sustainable for the scholars who fulfill UBC’s public mission with very little in return. We want to keep improving this situation for all of our sakes. We think three key steps this round will help to make our university healthier, better, and more effective:
- Sessional Lecturers should have a standard definition of full-time and minimum pay-scale across our units and across our campuses. No other university in the world imagines that it takes less effort to teach a course in Engineering than it does in Philosophy, but somehow, UBC has allowed this bizarre calculus to persist. Fortunately, we have narrowed the gap in previous rounds; we are hopeful that this round, we can join the ranks of every other postsecondary institution.
- Non-continuing Sessional Lecturers currently have a reappointment right to only a single course. Nothing stops units from offering more, but nothing in the Collective Agreement encourages units to take advantage of the developing expertise of their Sessional Lecturers. We’re proposing to fix this, with a modest encouragement to units to give additional credit courses to Sessional Lecturers who have demonstrated over time both their commitment and their talent. We think this is a sensible investment in skill and experience.
- Career opportunities are an obvious hole at UBC: despite its catchy slogans to “achieve human potential—from here,” UBC has refused to allow any definite path for advancement to Sessional Lecturers. This is an obvious waste of talent, experience, and investment. We are proposing then an opportunity for Sessional Lecturers: that if they have proven their worth over time, and have the relevant credentials, they be long-listed for more secure positions when those positions are advertised in their field at UBC. The units on campus who have already piloted this approach have found it fair, useful, and informative. It’s too easy not to really know what our Sessional colleagues have to offer, and this simple practice can help with that understandable but not helpful ignorance. Those of us who have transitioned from contingent to salaried positions know that one of the biggest barriers we face is simply being seen: this proposal will, we hope, make visible the talents and knowledge sometimes hidden among us.
