Carleton plans to hire 10 Indigenous tenure-track faculty members over the next two years, according to an announcement made in conjunction with the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) on Jan. 25.
Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Carleton’s president and vice-chancellor, told the Charlatan this idea was in the works for the past few years with CUASA—a union that represents about 850 Carleton instructors, faculty members and librarians on campus—but was only recently finalized.
“I definitely think it’s perfectly timed now because we’re undergoing several changes and initiatives to revitalize our Indigenous strategy on campus,” he said. “But, it’s definitely more important that we do things like these right, rather than rushing them and doing them fast.”
According to the announcement, this new initiative strives to follow the 16th recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which calls upon Canadian post-secondary institutions to create degree and diploma programs in Indigenous languages.
“Currently, there’s far too few Indigenous faculty members on our campus,” Bacon said. “If we want to have curriculum changes, research, creation of spaces, and other such Indigenization actions on campus, these are changes that won’t just happen by magic, by chance or overnight. We need people, expertise, and we need capacity.”
Bacon said he thinks the initiative is “definitely a large undertaking for the university,” especially since concerns have been raised about other Canadian universities also seeking to hire Indigenous faculty members in order to increase representation on their campuses.
“But, it’s a good problem to have,” he said. “I mean, we need to be happy that it’s going to be a tough problem hiring the top Indigenous faculty we can hire for our campus.”
Benny Michaud, Carleton’s Indigneous liaison officer, said she thinks the move is a step in the right direction. She is also a sitting member on the committee seeking to revitalize the university’s “Aboriginal Co-ordinated Strategy” developed in the 2011-12 academic year.
“The impact of increasing the number of Indigenous faculty will be that Carleton students are more able to learn about the lived experiences and perspectives of Indigenous people in Canada,” she said in an email. “It’s time that Indigenous people tell Indigenous stories.”
Michaud said First Nations, Métis and Inuit people have distinctive histories and cultures, adding that “bringing those perspectives into the classroom means having a sufficient number of faculty able to do so.”
Summer-Harmony Twenish, the co-ordinator for Carleton’s Mawandoseg Centre and an Algonquin Anishinabekwe from Kitigan Zibi with kinship ties in Eeyou Istchee (Northern Quebec), said they agreed with Michaud.
“Carleton has had a high turnover rate for Indigenous faculties in the past,” they said. “I’ve seen so many professors not get tenure, so I’m definitely happy that professors will get to actually be on the tenure track.”
Twenish added that they remember one Indigenous professor from a class in their first year who was the only one that took the time to provide spaces for their Indigenous students.
“When you see professors who are white and non-Indigenous, as an Indigenous student, it just feels disheartening because they have not had the experiences that we have had. A little goes a long way.”
As a sitting member of the Indigenization committee on the Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG), Twenish said they hope to see their collaboration with the university’s revitalization committee to bring more Indigenous language instructors on campus.
“Universities need to also look at changing their hiring practices a bit,” they said. “You can’t just expect to hire Indigenous people when they have had so much trauma with the education system to begin with.”
“And to be truly quite honest, it’s only Indigenous Elders who can teach the traditions and customs associated with languages and Indigenous cultures to students in the best way.”
In addition to the 10 tenure-track faculty members, Michaud said the university also plans to hire three Indigenous student support positions on campus.
According to Bacon, the university is pushing the updates to the “Aboriginal Co-ordinated Strategy” to next year as a result of several changes they hope to implement altogether.
“We just want to get these things done well and done right,” he said.
Photo by Spencer Colby
