(Ottawa \u2013 November 21, 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Laurentian University Faculty Association has won an important legal battle in asserting the right to academic freedom across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In December 2015, Dr. Michael Persinger was abruptly removed from \nteaching a psychology course after the administration received a student\n complaint. An arbitrator concluded that the administration violated the\n late professor\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was improper and contrary to the Collective Agreement for the \nUniversity to have removed Dr. Persinger from teaching (\u2026) and to have \nissued the related email (\u2026) to students in that course and in doing so \nto have failed to consider Dr. Persinger\u2019s academic freedom,\u201d writes \narbitrator Kevin Burkett in a consent award rendered on November 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision also binds the administration to follow a proper \nconsultative process going forward and prior to the removal of a \nprofessor from the classroom, including assessing the responsibilities \nand duties of academics, and their right to a full and proper \ninvestigation. The University has also agreed to \u201cnot publicly invite \ncomplaints against faculty members, and (\u2026) never again utilize a stand \nalone telephone number for complaints\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is an important and precedent-setting award for academic staff \nacross the country,\u201d said CAUT Executive Director David Robinson. \n\u201cAcademic freedom is a necessary condition for the free pursuit of \nknowledge and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LUFA president Fabrice Colin added that the Association is \u201cPleased \nwith the decision because it sends a strong signal to our members, but \nit is a bittersweet victory because Dr. Persinger is no longer with us. \nWe are happy that the University has agreed to award a yearly \nscholarship in his name to celebrate Dr. Persinger\u2019s internationally \nrecognized contributions to neurosciences and the field of psychology. A\n staunch defender of academic freedom, Dr. Persinger also \nreceived prestigious awards for his teaching and research \naccomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Ottawa \u2013 November 21, 2019) The Laurentian University Faculty Association has won an important legal battle in asserting the right to academic freedom across the country. In December 2015, Dr. Michael Persinger was abruptly removed Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/915"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}