Faith and academic freedom have clashed between the Canadian Association of University Teachers and Trinity Western University.
After being investigated by CAUT, Trinity was found to have policies and practices violating academic freedom. This led to TWU being placed on a faith test list.
“We’re not questioning the right of an institution to set up as it wishes,” Jim Turk, executive director of CAUT said. “But we are saying that any school has to uphold academic freedom.”
Being placed on the faith test list means the university has either a formal or informal condition that faculty members be of a certain faith. This test can take place either as a condition of employment or a condition of continuing employment.
“TWU strongly disagrees with the conclusions of the CAUT Report of an Inquiry on a Possible Faith Test and has requested CAUT to remove the report from its website,” Erin Mussolum, senior media relations specialist at Trinity, said in a statement.
A report released on Sept. 2, found activities at the university placed restrictions on the school’s ability to exercise academic freedom.
One practice includes signing The Statement of Faith and Responsibilities of Membership, which require staff to act within the scripture. These contracts are believed by CAUT to create constraints on academic freedom— particularly in research.
Also, there were restrictions placed on hiring, including turning down candidates based on their religion. There were said to create a “homogenous community” by Turk. “This is no different than a university only hiring Marxists or neo-conservatives,” he said.
At Western, hiring decisions are unique to each faculty and involve many different inputs.
“We expect them to keep an open mind when hiring,” Alan Weedon, vice-provost of academic planning, policy and faculty, said. “We try to be inclusive not exclusive when hiring.”
“[These problems were] first brought to our attention some time ago,” Turk said.
According to Turk, CAUT received a complaint from an applicant for a teaching position, who was told by the university they did not have the proper religion to teach at the school.
This led to a general investigation, which founded CAUT’s current conclusions.
CAUT has started discussions with Trinity about changing its practices and removing many of the restrictions they believe to limit academic freedom. However, according to Turk, the university was not willing to change its policies.
In most situations, the university could be censured if it fails to make these changes. However, due to the fact Trinity is not part of CAUT, the organization has decided to place the group on their faith test list instead.
“This should create an awareness that the university does not uphold academic freedom,” Turk said.
“We don’t in anyway attempt to control what [faculty] do research on,” Weedon added. “We also need to respect the academic freedom of others, including students.”