Letter from Michael Begg, president of the Capilano University Faculty Association (CFA)
Note: Michael Begg sent the following letter to add context to the Courier’s Homage for CapU’s Retired Faculty Members.
CapU doesn’t have a “layoff” process for faculty. So unlike universities and colleges in the news, at CapU most of the lost faculty work is hidden. But we have lost faculty, equivalent to 81 full-time faculty this past year alone—17% less work overall. And for “non-regular” (sessional) faculty, the loss is devastating: 75% of work lost.
This is based on the figures the CFA has available. We anticipate a similar number next year.
This “full-time equivalent” (FTE) number is based on volume of work. It understates the human cost in the number of individual faculty members we are losing. That number is likely higher than 81, since workload varies so much from person to person, especially for non-regulars. One FTE could include 7 or 8 “non-reg” individuals, each working a partial load, who are—or were—just starting to establish their careers as CapU faculty. In fall 2025 we had 123 fewer non-regular faculty on the employee list than in fall 2024. Not all of that is due to the loss of international students, but the CFA knows anecdotally from departments that many of their “non-regs” have gone from full-time work last year to zero work this year. In fall 2025 non-regs had 75% less work than in spring 2024 (two terms the CFA has figures for).
We are also losing longtime regular faculty. “Regular” is our version of tenure—it means they have a guaranteed amount of work ranging from half-time to full-time (for instructors, this means a range from 4 courses to 8 per year).
The loss of work for regulars is beyond anything we have seen since 2014, when the administration eliminated five departments. In 2025, 38 regulars received the closest we have to a layoff notice: involuntary “reduction” of their workload. Their reductions equate to 17 regular FTEs. On top of that are the early retirements that 18 regulars took with an incentive payment, for another ~13 FTE positions—retirements specifically to save work for junior faculty.
We face the loss of even more regular faculty this year. We won’t know the numbers until the end of May, when new reduction notices come.
This is a loss for our whole community. Lost work means lost income for CapU’s instructors, lab supervisors, instructional associates, counsellors, librarians, and other faculty. Lost work leads to the complete loss to CapU of individual faculty members. Many faculty are making sacrifices to save work for their colleagues. Some retired early to save work for their colleagues (as this article highlights). Others dramatically reduced their workload voluntarily. And the reductions noted above mean some “regular” faculty lost most or all of the work that used to be guaranteed. And dozens of “non-regular” faculty have lost their positions entirely, because they have no work. (Non-regs are similar to “sessionals” at other universities. They are essential members of our community but do not have a guaranteed minimum amount of work. Until this year, almost half of all faculty at CapU were non-regular. Many have taught here for years.)
The Faculty Association is working with the administration to minimize the losses and build a foundation for CapU to grow out of the current crisis. This includes CFA proposals for work-loss mitigation measures, and to create space for departments to adapt their programs in response to the loss of international students and to the government’s “Look West” strategy. The more faculty we lose, the harder it will be to maintain our teaching excellence and grow out of the crisis.
We are dedicated to preventing the loss of faculty wherever we can.
—Michael Begg