Faculty association considers censuring Acadia

Reinstate professor or face cenure: CAUT

Acadia's decision to fire professor Colin Wightman has led to the possibility of censure by the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

At the next meeting of the association in April, the council will vote on imposing censure.

The censure of Acadia will make them a "pariah amongst colleagues in Canada," says James Turk, executive director of the association.

The association will advertise its action to counterparts in the United States and internationally if it imposes the censure. Associations such as CAUT publish lists of universities under censure in various countries.

CAUT represents 65,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic professionals, according to its website.

The decision to seek censure began in November with the association council's unanimous vote that resulted in the first step toward taking action. Usually the "threat of censure is such a serious threat that universities work to resolve problem," says Turk.

Acadia's faculty association took its complaint that Acadia had fired Colin Wightman without just cause to CAUT. "If you can be fired for legal activities, it is a great cause of concern for any employee," says Erin Patterson, president of Acadia's faculty association.

Censure

Even though it has yet to be imposed, "some people are already asking about the censure," says Patterson.

Censure is the highest form of discipline that CAUT can take against a university. It means that Acadia will have trouble recruiting faculty and staff and inviting faculty from other universities to academic conferences. People who respect the censure will not accept any honours and distinctions bestowed upon them by Acadia.

It remains to be seen what the effect censure could have on Acadia. There is a conference planned for June that will attract faculty from universities, but most faculty and staff contacted haven't heard about the threat of censure.

Acadia is just a "location or site for the group to meet," says University of Northern British Columbia associate professor Roger Wheate. Wheate doubts that if Acadia is censured, it would change his mind on attending the conference.

There is only one university, First Nations University in Saskatchewan, under censure in Canada at the moment. Prior to First Nations University being censured, the last Canadian institution censured was Memorial University in 1979. Memorial was censured until 1989. The condition of removing censure is to comply with CAUT recommendations to resolve the situation.

Initial events

Police investigated Wightman for sexual assault after a young woman filed a complaint after a one-time encounter involving some form of bondage. In the end, the RCMP laid no charges.

Soon after the RCMP returned Wightman's laptop, issued by Acadia, the university pursued its own investigation. Acadia then made the decision to fire Wightman.

In March of 2008, CAUT put together a committee to investigate the firing of Wightman. The committee's report states that they were "forced to conclude that the grounds for dismissal centre on moral conduct and the abuse of university computing services."

Even "if they had justification they didn't follow procedure," when it comes to firing a tenured professor, says Turk.

Attempts at resolving the problem

The committee proposed a four-point resolution for Acadia, before considering censure. The committee wants Wightman reinstated to his previous position, compensation for lost salary, benefits and legal expenses and no mention of this termination in his official file.

The problem is that CAUT's solution allows for "no middle ground, either agree to this outcome or censure," says Scott Roberts, executive director for communications and marketing at Acadia.

Wightman has filed a wrongful dismissal claim against the university. Wightman, in fact, had alerted the administration of Acadia as to what happened to head off any potential problem that could arise.

Soon, the university will file its statement of defence and there is a "difference between being unwilling and imprudent," in talking with CAUT, says Roberts. The issue is before the courts and the university will let it run its course, he says.

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