This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the University's appointment policies and related matters. This includes policies, procedures, and guidelines for hiring, promotion, tenure, and dismissal.
One of the principal responsibilities of the Appointments Committee is facilitating an annual workshop on Tenure and Promotion. This year’s workshop will be held on May 29, 2025, and will provide an overview of all relevant University policies and review procedures, as well as useful tips on compiling a successful dossier. UTFA’s workshops are always lively, well-attended, and highly informative; they are also an excellent opportunity to build community and collectively envision a more equitable University. Don’t forget to register.
A key concern of our Committee, and UTFA more generally, is the ever-growing use of precarious, part-time employment of faculty members at the University of Toronto. As a result, UTFA formed a Part-Time & Contractually Limited Term Appointments (PT-CLTA) Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Kim MacKinnon, UTFA Member-at-Large. The Ad-hoc Committee is gathering data on the terms and conditions of employment of precarious faculty in the sector, and the issues that our part-time and CLTA colleagues are experiencing at the University so that we can collectively advocate and bargain with the Administration for improvements in our colleagues’ terms and conditions of employment. To that end, the Ad-hoc Committee is drafting a survey for part-time and CLTA members. Members are also encouraged to attend the Information Session for Faculty with Part-Time & CLTA Appointments, scheduled for June 5, 2025.
Recently, Girish Daswani, UTFA Member-at-Large, and I presented to the UTFA Council on the professional and ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. We have been having informal discussions with colleagues from across the University about AI and the rollout of surveillance technologies. We are all in agreement that AI is here to stay and, when used thoughtfully, can accelerate and improve research. Our concern lies with the uncritical adoption of AI technologies and their impact on our intellectual property rights, pedagogy, and academic freedom. The collective expertise of the UTFA membership is needed to proactively address the issues of privacy, transparency, and accountability with the University Administration.
Many thanks to the members of the Appointments Committee, the Ad-hoc Committee, Terezia Zorić and the rest of the UTFA Executive, Nellie De Lorenzi, and UTFA Staff for their hard work and support.
Max Mishler
Chair, Appointments Committee