Anne-Marie Allison, PhD
Department of Mathematics
Contract Faculty
Current service roles:
* WLU:
- Contract Faculty Rep. Mathematics Department-in-Council and Science Divisional Council
* WLUFA:
- Executive Committee (VP: Internal)
- Joint Liaison Committee (meets with University Administration)
- Governance Committee (Chair)
- Wilfrid Laurier International College (WLIC) Bilateral Committee
* Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA):
- University Governance Committee
- Contract Faculty Committee
A dedicated and passionate instructor for more than 15 years at Laurier, Anne-Marie has observed that faculty face many obstacles in their efforts to achieve excellence in their teaching, research, and service. These obstacles have been particularly daunting during the pandemic.
Collaborative and communicative in her working style, Anne-Marie holds herself and others to a high level of accountability and integrity. Principled, she continues to ask questions and foster discussion in order to best serve her colleagues and students. She has been a Contract Faculty Representative for the Mathematics Department-in-Council and for the Science Divisional Council for most of her time at WLU. Her WLUFA service started in 2013 as a member of the Strategy Committee for Contract Faculty negotiations, and expanded to include the Communications Committee (2015–2017), the Negotiating Team for Contract Faculty (2016, 2019, 2022—including being Co-chief Negotiator in 2022), the Joint Liaison Committee (2017–present), and the Executive Committee (2016–present). She was co-chair of the Contract Faculty Bilateral Committee (2021-2022), serves as chair of WLUFA’s Governance Committee, and co-chair of the WLIC Bilateral Committee. She has served as a liaison to WLUFA’s Diversity and Equity Committee and is a liaison to WLUFA’s Climate Action Committee. She was the sole Contract Faculty member on WLU’s Freedom of Expression Task Force in 2018. And she has been serving as the sole Contract Faculty member on OCUFA’s University Governance Committee for the past five years and is a member of OCUFA’s Contract Faculty Committee.
Anne-Marie’s varied service has been informative work, enabling her to see the numerous ways that WLUFA can proactively and positively serve its diverse membership. Her WLUFA and OCUFA experiences have provided deeper insight into how decisions made by University Administration impact students, faculty, librarians, and staff. That work has also reinforced how vital it is for faculty and librarians to work together in the relentless climate of funding and governance challenges.
Anne-Marie seeks to preserve the integrity of academic programs and to improve the environment in which faculty and librarians conduct their duties and responsibilities, while holding central the importance of students and their learning conditions. She welcomes the opportunity to continue serving on the Executive Committee, tackling issues faced by faculty and librarians.
Kimberly Ellis-Hale
Department of Sociology
Contract Faculty
I am seeking to continue my work on the Executive because I am committed to creating a stronger, more inclusive, and responsive union. I believe that now more than ever, WLUFA needs to support, protect, and represent its members and their concerns.
While the budget, Milton, full-time negotiations, and the pension are among the most pressing concerns, I will also continue to advocate for reasonable workloads, employment equity and security, increased faculty renewal (we are wash in senior admin!), more responsive governance, protection of academic freedom, and fairness for contract faculty.
The experience I bring to WLUFA:
- 25 years teaching at Laurier (in class and online)
- 9 years on the WLUFA Exec and as CF Liaison Officer
- 4 years representing WLUFA as its VP External (working with internal and external labour groups)
- 4 years advocating for all faculty at the provincial level as Chair of the OCUFA Contract Faculty and Faculty Complement Committee
- I year OCUFA Employment Equity Working Group
- 2 years as an OCUFA Member-at-Large
I look forward to continuing my work on your behalf.
Paquita Freire
Lazaridis School of Business
Full-time Faculty
I have been teaching at the Laurier School of Business and Economics for around 10 years. During this time, I have taught a variety of courses at both the undergraduate (BBA) and graduate (MBA and MFIN) levels. I have also coordinated large multi-section courses. My educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Economics, an MBA, a Master of Economics, and a Master of Statistics. Prior to my time at Laurier, I taught at the University of Waterloo, Arizona State University, CIDE of Mexico, and Salesian University in Ecuador. My non-academic work experience mainly focuses on financial consulting and financial analysis.
At Laurier, I had the opportunity to serve on several committees including the Lazaridis Undergraduate Business Curriculum Committee, and Laurier Scholar Awards Committee. I hope to leverage my knowledge and experience to help the WLUFA Executive Committee improve the working conditions of Laurier faculty in general and LTA faculty in particular.
Jim Gerlach
Faculty of Science
Contract Faculty
Now that Laurier has returned to in-person learning, WLUFA is facing a new set of challenges. Some of these are related to the Administration’s demands that faculty do more with less in one of a never-ending series of budget crises. Another relates to our escalating legal costs as we continue to represent our Members in grievances and arbitrations. If re-elected, I promise to represent all faculty at Laurier during this difficult period. And, as Treasurer, to work to ensure that your dues are being used in a fiscally responsible manner.
Now, a little bit about me. After joining Laurier in the fall of 2006, I became involved with WLUFA during bargaining for Contract Faculty in 2007. Initially I was a member of the Strategy Committee and then, during the ensuing strike (2008), worked in the strike office tracking picketing duties and managing strike pay. I have served on the negotiating teams for the last five Contract Faculty collective agreements and was privileged to serve as the Chief Negotiator for two rounds of bargaining and was Co-chief Negotiator for the latest round.
I was first elected to the WLUFA Executive Committee in 2011 and since then have served as association Treasurer. As Treasurer I have endeavoured to provide fiscal responsibility with full transparency to our members. The demands on the financial resources of WLUFA have increased steadily and this represents an ongoing challenge to your Executive. If re-elected, I will work to ensure that WLUFA continues to provide its members with the services they need in the most cost-efficient manner possible.
I believe it is imperative that as a faculty association we form strong alliances with our colleagues in Ontario and across Canada. I have also served on the CAUT Executive as Chair of the Contract Academic Staff committee. We must continue to form partnerships to ensure our voices are heard. As a member of the Executive, I have emphasized the need to form bonds with other labour groups at the national, provincial and local levels. If re-elected, I will work to strengthen WLUFA’s ties with existing groups and to forge new alliances.
I remain firmly committed to improving working conditions for all faculty at Laurier. I believe this can only be accomplished by a united Laurier faculty, one that fights for the rights of both its continuing and contract members. If re-elected, I will continue working to represent ALL members of WLUFA and to ensure ALL voices are heard.
Stacey Hannem
Department of Criminology
Full-time Faculty
Stacey Hannem is a full professor in the Department of Criminology at the Brantford Campus, where she has worked since 2009, and a member of the MA program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory. She was previously Department Chair from 2016-22 and served as Senate Representative for Brantford/FHSS for 8 years (2010-15 and 2016-19). She has been active in a wide range of multi-campus service work. As a critical sociologist, Stacey’s scholarly work throughout her career has excavated the ways that law, institutional regulations, and the practices of the criminal legal system are implicated in marginalizing targeted and non-dominant groups, and she is passionate about equity and social justice concerns.
Karen Lochead. PhD
Department of Political Science
Contract Faculty
Karen Lochead: PhD Simon Fraser University; research specialization: comparative Indigenous-State relations.
As a long-time CTF (I’ve taught in the Political Science Department since 2004) and current staff member, I have good knowledge of the full-time, contract faculty/part-time librarian, and WLUSA (staff) Collective Agreements as well as of Laurier’s administrative structure and institutional culture.
I know the increasing pressures you face in your research, teaching, and service activities and how they align with strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in your Collective Agreement. I am dedicated to supporting you and advocating for your rights and interests both during contract negotiations and throughout the years between.
I value open communication, fairness, equity, inclusivity, and transparency and am committed to helping your union work for you.
If elected to serve as a member of the WLUFA Executive Committee I will dedicate my time and talents to pursuing fair, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable working conditions for all members of the full-time and contract faculty/part-time librarian bargaining units.
Together we are stronger.
Robert Mathieu
Lazaridis School – Accounting
Full-time Faculty
I have been on the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics faculty since 1998 and am a full Professor in the Accounting Area. During that time, I have served on many search committees for senior administrators and been a regular member of the BDAP. I have also been Area Coordinator for about nine years, and Chair of the Business Department for two years.
These service positions have given me broad and valuable insights into issues surrounding hiring, working and policy-making at Laurier—particularly the importance of advocating for equity, diversity and inclusion. Thus, I am deeply committed to transparency in decision-making processes and to creating a supportive and collegial working environment.
I am an FCPA, FCA and FCMA. I am a 2022-2023 member of the WLUFA Executive Committee and have also contributed my expertise to the WLUFA Finance Committee, which recently produced a report on the University’s financial situation. Results of that report were presented to both the WLUFA Executive and Senate Finance committees. A second presentation was made available to all members of WLUFA.
Based on the foregoing highlights and my ongoing interest in promoting the vital issues mentioned, I would like to continue contributing to the WLUFA.
Sara Matthews
Department of Communication Studies
Full-time Faculty
I am Associate Professor in Communication Studies and Global Studies and current Coordinator of the Anthropology Program. Over the past 16 years of employment at Laurier my institutional experience includes the following roles: Faculty Senator, Senate Academic Planning Committee (senate rep), Board of Governors (senate rep), Faculty of Arts Curriculum Committee, Faculty of Arts Merit Committee, University Undergraduate Teaching Award Committee, WLUFA Equity and Diversity Committee as well as several senior administrative search committees (Dean, Faculty of Arts; VP Academic and Provost; Assistant Vice Provost Academic). I attended the 2019 CAUT Harry Crowe Conference “Free Speech on Campus” as a WLUFA rep. I also bring experience from officer roles in several professional associations (Canadian Association for Cultural Studies, Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies) and as a Trustee for CUPE 3903 (York University) for six years. In addition to institutional service, I am Managing Editor of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies.
Statement:
If I were elected to serve on the WLUFA executive, my interests would be around accountability in university governance, challenging structural inequities in the workplace, confronting the increasing financialization of the academic mission, and equity in collective bargaining.
Cameron McKenzie
Faculty of Social Work
Full-time Faculty
Cameron McKenzie (he/him) is seeking re-election to the WLUFA executive committee. He has been an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work since July 2018. Cameron’s research examines the structural basis of social and health inequities experienced by the 2SLGBTQ+ community, with a particular interest in the impact of social and labour movements on social policy. He is active in the university community as a member of the Senate Committee on Research and Publication, and the Research Theme Ambassador for Psychological and Social Determinants of Health and Well-being.
Cameron is excited to continue to add his progressive voice to the WLUFA executive committee!
Christine Neill
Department of Economics
Full-time Faculty
Christine Neill is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, where she has worked since 2005. Her research focuses on post-secondary funding and student financial aid, as well as other applied microeconomic policy analysis. She has advised federal and provincial governments on matters of access to post-secondary education and on the design of student financial aid and student loan repayments. At Wilfrid Laurier University, she has been a member of Senate and Associate Chair of the Economics Department, and the Laurier delegate to the Council of Ontario Universities Academic Colleagues group. She has been a member of WLUFA`s Equity and Diversity Committee, a WLUFA representative on committees on Student Evaluation of Teaching, and has advised WLUFA on the implications of an RCM finance system, and been the Women’s Faculty Colleague. Outside Laurier, she is currently a member of the Best Practices Sub-Committee and Mentoring Sub-Committee of the Canadian Economics Diversity Committee (part of the Canadian Economics Association), and was formerly the President of the Canadian Women Economists Network.
Marcia Oliver
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Full-time Faculty
I am an Associate Professor in the Law & Society program at Laurier Brantford, where I teach courses on law, globalization and justice; law, gender and sexuality; and feminist socio-legal theories. Since joining Laurier, I have served on WLUFA’s Executive Committee for three years (2017-2018, 2020-2021, 2021-2022), the WLUFA Governance Committee and liaison for WLUFA Diversity and Equity Committee, a member of the Provost and VP Academic Search Committee, VP: Student Affairs Search Committee, Taskforce for Free Expression (2018), Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures Working Group (2015-2016), and on various program-related committees in Law & Society (PCC, PTAC, curriculum, LSSA faculty advisor) and Social Justice and Community Engagement (graduate coordinator, admissions). I am excited to join WLUFA’s Executive Committee for another year to contribute to existing conversations and efforts to advance equity on campus and better working conditions for full-time and contract faculty members.
Matt Rohweder
Librarian
Full-time
Matt Rohweder joined Laurier in 2018 and became active with WLUFA in 2019 when he joined the Diversity and Equity Committee. Since then, he has worked as part of the committee to highlight and advance equity, diversity, and inclusion at Laurier. In September 2021, he was appointed chair of the D&E committee and in the winter of 2023 helped launch a D&E Lunch and Learn series for WLUFA members. He also serves on the Grievance Committee, Research Grants Appeal Committee, and the Bilateral University-Association Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. He is also active within CAUT, specifically on issues faced by academic Librarians and Archivists, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion. In 2022, he was awarded an Award of Distinction by OCUFA.
Zilin Wang
Department of Mathematics
Full-time Faculty
I joined the Department of Mathematics at Laurier in 2004. I have served on many department and university committees. My WLUFA experience started in 2005 as the Department of Mathematics Full-time Bargaining Liaison. During 2015 and 2016, I served as a member of the Bilateral Committee for Full-time Faculty Salary Anomalies and Pay Equity. In 2017 and 2018, I served as a member of the WLUFA Executive Committee and a WLUFA representative of the System Gender Equity Committee (2017). Currently, I am serving as the EDI faculty colleague and the WLUFA representative of the EDI Salary Committee.
In the last 19 years, I have been blessed to have help and support from the university community at each of my life and professional milestones when I needed them. The reason for me to join the WLUFA executive committee is to give back to the University community and help my fellow colleagues. I believe that my long service in the community would be an asset to creating and maintaining inclusive cultures at Laurier.