Faculty Times Archive
March 19, 2018
Browse current and past issues of Faculty Times, UWOFA's official publication
UWOFA Voices: ‘A better choice is to get up and do my part, however small that might be’
June 24, 2019
When I stand up in the face of injustice, I know that I will be supported by my union, and for that I am very grateful. When I’m talking to my students I frequently tell them that the problems of this world are so big that they often seem unresolvable, and therefore it might feel that the best thing to do is roll over in the morning and go back to sleep, or spend hours watching Netflix. But, in my opinion, a better choice is to get up and do my part, however small that might be. I think that while it might be possible for me to make a big splash, what is more important is that I make little splashes every day.
Every great university has a library at its centre
June 20, 2019
Every great university has a library at its centre; and, as I have tried to argue here, the library is above all an institution sustained by the knowledge and skills of the professionals who staff it. Western faculty like me are enormously privileged to carry on our research at Weldon and at the university’s other libraries; as our librarian colleagues enter what may be a difficult set of contract negotiations, we owe them our unconditional support.
UWOFA Voices: 'It feels right to work toward better stewardship'
June 17, 2019
In his graduate course, Forest Decline Concepts, Dr. Manion asked us “How much tree mortality is normal in a forest and how can you know when and where that baseline level is exceeded?” I took the question to heart and started as his graduate student to trek through the woods, measure thousands of trees, read papers, and sweat through analyzing data. At forest pathology conferences I took pride in knowing that our lab dealt with big picture questions and the health of the forest, while most presentations I heard were about maladies of individual trees. Predictably, when I reflect on my past mindset now, I am most struck by my own myopia. I wanted a professorial career based solely on a love of science and was naïve to the workings of the precarious academy that houses science. It never occurred to me that, as a professor, I’d want to work to support my labour union.
