University teachers organization issues scathing report after investigating academic freedom at TRU

In July 2018, TRU suspended Pyne and barred him from the university’s campus. At the time, TRU told Pyne the suspension was due to “defamatory language and accusations.”

In its report made public Tuesday (Nov. 19), CAUT’s investigatory committee finds the school failed to understand academic freedom beyond a narrow application. It goes on to conclude TRU administrators “failed to properly consider [Pyne’s] academic freedom as it applies to his… criticisms of the School of Business and Economics, its administrators and its faculty” in dealing with workplace complaints against him.

“What was really, particularly troubling in this case, was what the committee referred to as ‘a broad institutional failure to recognize the breadth of academic freedom,'” noted CAUT Executive Director David Robinson. “There simply seemed to be no understanding of the importance of academic freedom in being able to criticize and judge academic decisions made by the institution.”

“In this case, Professor Pyne’s comments, however offensive they may have been about the quality of the program and the quality of his colleagues, were protected by academic freedom, but the university didn’t seem to take steps to recognize that,” said Robinson.

But TRU maintains Pyne’s academic freedom was not restricted.

TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Brett Fairbairn says CAUT didn’t have a window into how the school’s collective agreements protect academic freedom.

“CAUT is really outside of those processes. They don’t have access to the same information that our university and our union do and they’re not part of the conversations with our own faculty,” Fairbairn told CFJC Today. “So while I appreciate that there is a report and a number of perspectives on it, I’m most interested in what our own faculty think and in consulting our own faculty.”

The investigatory committee also concludes TRU and the TRU Faculty Association both breached Pyne’s privacy on multiple occasions.

Fairbairn noted privacy was at the heart of why TRU refused to participate in the CAUT investigation, as the school didn’t want to share “personal and private information with an outside body.”

“I’m confident in our business school and in its faculty,” said Fairbairn. “When I talk to the faculty in the business school, they don’t seem to me to be weak on academic freedom or on understanding of quality. Quite the opposite, I have the impression of a strong group.”

The report makes 11 recommendations, including that TRU “remove the constraints it has placed on Professor Pyne’s speech and other communications as a condition of his continuing employment as a faculty member.”

Fairbairn did not commit to implementing the report’s recommendations, instead saying he’s more interested in the opinions of those inside the TRU community.

“Things like this come up in the university world. There have been a number of CAUT investigations in the past of other universities and there will be in the future of others — and perhaps even of our own. So those things come and go,” said Fairbairn. “But what I’m concerned about is what our own faculty think and that’s where I’m focusing my attention.”

The full report can be read here.

by James Peters

University teachers organization issues scathing report after investigating academic freedom at TRU

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