The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)—a nationwide association of 70,000 academic professionals from 122 Canadian universities—is gearing up to take censure action over an alleged lack of transparency on Carleton’s Board of Governors (BoG).
According to Root Gorelick, president of the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA), when the CAUT held a meeting in May, its executive committee delayed censuring Carleton in order to give the BoG a chance to amend its freedom of speech policies.
“Carleton didn’t do anything [to avoid censure],” Gorelick said.
In 2016, The Charlatan reported that Gorelick’s application to run for another three-year term on the BoG was refused. Steven Reid, Carleton’s media relations officer, said at the time, that Gorelick’s application was turned down partly due to his refusal to comply with the BoG’s code of conduct, which is part of its bylaws.
“The Board of Governors had a code of conduct that was truly egregious . . . Board members were not allowed to comment at all about decisions even if they disagreed with them,” Gorelick said.
In a previous Charlatan article published in June, Valerie Dufour, a CAUT spokesperson, argued that this ruling violated the CAUT’s Openness and Transparency in Post-Secondary Education policy. The article said that during his time on the board, Gorelick had been threatened with removal after refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement because he had been blogging about board meetings. Dufour added that this represented an “infringement on academic freedom.”
According to Gorelick, the BoG’s open sessions “aren’t really open,” and previously required attendees to go through two or three security checkpoints to enter.
“The only way that one can get in is if you ask for written permission of the board,” he said, adding that there are “almost no seats there.”
Gorelick said that he would like to see these problems remedied but said it’s not easy to do. He explained that a solution would require a change to both the code of conduct and the BoG’s bylaws.
According to Gorelick, a CAUT censure of the university would affect Carleton’s reputation. He added that the CAUT would recommend to all instructors seeking employment that they don’t apply to Carleton.
“There’s more of a stigma attached to it than anything,” he said.
In the Charlatan article, Dufour explained that a censure would impede academic outreach for both students and faculty members, while shaming the university.
However, Gorelick said he has “absolutely no idea” if Carleton will be censured, explaining that the CAUT must vote on whether to delay censure again before voting on it.
“We are a part of a university, and a university debates things, and minority opinions matter, and we have open, civil, collegial dialogues. It matters,” Gorelick said.
In an emailed statement, Reid said the university “has had discussions” with the CAUT about amending the BoG’s code of conduct.
“Changes to the wording of the code will be presented at a future Board of Governors meeting for review,” Reid stated.
The CAUT is scheduled to vote on the matter on Nov. 25.
Photo by Meagan Casalino
