Retirement for University of Prince Edward Island Professors
2010-03-01 |
Early last week, the PEI Human Rights Commission struck down the provision in the collective agreement that all UPEI professors and staff are required to retire when they reach the age of 65.
This provision know as compulsory retirement is being struck down in provinces across Canada as being a discrimination based on age and contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
You cannot argue against the law but one issue that was not talked about in the media reports was tenure. All full-time university professors have tenure, which allows them, within reasonable guidelines, to decide how they teach their courses, the articles they write or don’t write, the research they do or don’t do, which are all under the guise of academic freedom.
There is a valid public policy principles behind this concept although we all area aware of situations were that right is abused.
When this decision was announced, UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan indicated that the University would have to carry out more “robust evaluations” on all professors. The UPEI Student Union disagreed with the decision of the commission and their position is that all professors should retire at 65. The Faculty Association has so far been silent.
Although I agree with the legal concept, the implementation within a university faculty will, in my opinion, cause some long-term difficulties for the university, the students and the remaining faculty. When does tenure end? Does it end at 70, 80, 90, or 95? Everyone can see clearly the challenges that will have to be faced as this policy is implemented.
