Expanded Definition of Scholarly Activity in New CA
Dear Teaching Stream Members,
I hope that all is well with you. I am writing to you because I know that a number of you are going up for promotion in the fall, and are preparing your files now. I am also aware that there has been some confusion as to what does and does not “count” as scholarly activity. In the recent round of bargaining, we did our best to expand and clarify what can count as scholarly activity to better represent the wide range of contributions that our members provide in their specific disciplines. This language has come into effect with the ratification of the new Collective Agreement in late June. I have therefore attached to this email the relevant changes to the Collective Agreement language related to Scholarly Activity, as found in Article 25. New language (or language that has been moved) is bolded and underlined, and language that has been deleted is crossed out.
Below you will also find existing language in the Collective Agreement (it was in article 25 before, and now it’s in article 13, but it says the same thing):
(under 13.6) NEW 3
A Member may be assessed as “meeting” or “exceeding” expectations in Scholarly Activity, and can meet Scholarly Activity requirements for Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure, through any combination of the types of Scholarly Activity described in s. 25.19 and 25.19.1;
This language makes it clear that you can focus on those types of Scholarly Activity that are most appropriate for your career and experience. This could include discipline specific research, but it could also focus instead on equally crucial work in other more teaching-related kinds of scholarly activity described in 25.19 and 25.19.1, and the outputs described in 25.20 (see attached).
While the definitions in 25.19, 25.19.1 and 25.20 are clear, we acknowledge that there has been some confusion as to what the boundaries are between what “counts” for teaching and what counts for scholarly activity for teaching stream faculty members. To address this concern, both for teaching stream members going up for promotion, and for RPT committees, I have attached article 29 (re tenure and promotion for teaching stream), which includes a key change, which states that:
NEW Specific activities or outputs should be claimed under only one of a) [teaching], b) [scholarly activity] or c) [service], though Members may also identify relevant overlap.
While it has always been important to clarify what you are defining as scholarly activity and what you are defining as teaching in your major achievements statement and other aspects of your dossier, this language does make it more crucial that this distinction is clearly outlined in your application for RPT while allowing you to identify elements of teaching-related activities (e.g., development of curriculum, new programs and courses using scholarly methods and other activities defined in 25.19.1) as scholarly activity.
If you have any questions about this communication, please let me know. If you think it would be useful, the FA could offer a Q and A session on zoom sometime over the next two weeks to answer any questions you may have about this matter.
All the very best,
Lynne
[sent to Teaching Stream Members July 21, 2026]
