Dear Colleagues:
We all recognize that academic freedom is essential to the scholarly mission of the university. As authoritarian pressures intensify around the world, the foundational role of academic freedom in safeguarding inquiry, critical dissent, and the pursuit of truth is starkly clear. Our colleagues at many institutions are facing escalating threats, making it imperative we strengthen our protections for academic freedom at UBC.
For several years, UBC’s Senates have been working cooperatively on a new academic freedom policy for the University. This new policy is intended to replace the 1977 Vancouver Senate statement on academic freedom and would apply to both campuses.
In their May meetings, the Vancouver and Okanagan Senates received the latest draft from their respective Academic Policy Committees. The Committees intend to bring a final version to the Senates for approval in the fall.
You can find the current draft and background materials beginning on page 83 of the Vancouver Senate material, or on page 76 of Okanagan Senate materials.
We encourage all members of the Faculty Association to review this draft carefully and to submit comments or concerns by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 13th to Lindsey Kovacevic, UBC Senate Academic Governance Officer, at [email protected].
While the Senate materials include responses to some concerns previously raised by Senators, we are troubled by the response addressing the relationship between the proposed policy and the Collective Agreement. Specifically, advice provided to the Senates suggests that the academic freedom language in the Collective Agreement may not offer enforceable protection – an assertion that overlooks a critical legal fact.
Although the academic freedom language appears in the preamble of the Collective Agreement, it is enforceable through grievance and arbitration as a result of a 2015 agreement negotiated during a high-profile academic freedom case. This means any violation of academic freedom involving Faculty Association members can be pursued under the Collective Agreement using the definition of academic freedom found in its preamble. The final report on that 2015 case, authored by The Honourable Lynn Smith, underscores the central importance of this language for Faculty Association members across both campuses. We encourage members to read the public portion of her report: Academic Freedom: History and Principles – Hon. Lynn Smith.
We have raised concern with the Administration about the risk of UBC adopting two governing documents – the new Academic Freedom Policy and the Collective Agreement – with potentially conflicting interpretations of academic freedom.
We also remain concerned about the current draft text, which includes deficiencies we flagged in the December draft. For your consideration, we highlight three particularly serious issues:
- Positive Obligation to Uphold Academic Freedom
The 2015 case made clear that UBC has a positive obligation to support academic freedom. This is an obligation that may require proactive steps by various actors within the University. The current draft undermines this principle. For example, the presumption in paragraph 7 that a faculty member must prove that academic freedom pertains to one of their academic activities was responsible for the serious breaches of protection of academic freedom in the 2015 case.
- Academic Freedom Subsumed by Institutional Autonomy
Paragraph 8 effectively reassigns the right of academic freedom from individuals to the institution under the banner of “institutional autonomy.” This opens the door for administrative policies, which could potentially be beyond the Senates’ jurisdiction, to be used to curtail the rights of individual scholars.
- Encroachment into Labour Relations
Paragraph 9 creates the possibility of Senate-led investigations into academic freedom cases. We are deeply concerned this could encroach upon labour relations processes, which fall exclusively under the Board’s jurisdiction, not that of the Senates.
We encourage Faculty Association members to engage thoughtfully with the draft and to raise any concerns they may have with the Senates. At a time when core academic values are under pressure globally, our vigilance is essential to ensuring UBC remains a place where academic freedom is not only protected but upheld as a guiding principle.
Mark MacLean
Vice President
Dory Nason
President
