Regarding President Chakma's salary

MLIS Student Council stands with UWOFA and SOGS in their non-confidence in President Chakma and the university board of directors resulting from the recent disclosure of the unfair and exorbitant conditions of President Chakma's contract.

Class sizes are growing, Western's reputation is declining, and many Western employees are struggling to make ends meet. The terms of President Chakma's are deplorable considering the context of his employment.

Concerned parties are encouraged to sign this petition declaring non-confidence in President Chakma.

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Dear President Chakma,

We are sincerely dismayed to learn that this year you will make almost one million dollars in base salary, plus benefits. This rate of remuneration is out of sync with the salaries other workers on campus.

As members of this community, we expect to see commitments from Western that line up with the ideals of a publicly-funded university, one where teaching and research come first, and in which our society can trust.

Faculty members – much less sessional teachers, teaching assistants, research assistants and support staff – do not close even close to your base salary of 479,600, certainly not when it is double that!

Even taking into account that this bonus is part of the contract you signed with Western, it is a chilling example of Western’s priorities these days: paying for more administration before teaching and research.

The Western Strategic Plan states that this is a time of financial struggle, with lower public funding driving up tuition costs and driving Western to seek further private funding. That is now very difficult to believe.

Western must return to its priorities, pay all our teachers and researchers a living wage, fund our core academic departments adequately, and provide a responsible path to success for our community.

As the President, you lead by example. We urge you to set that example today. Help secure a better future for our university. Focus on the true priorities at Western, and make sure the Board of Governors follows.

Sincerely,

MLIS Student Council

Winter 2015