Popular prof can’t get tenure

Eco instructor Briony Penn won’t be back this year

by Ashley Akins

She was known for a day as Lady Godiva, riding naked on a horse through downtown Vancouver to protest the logging of an old-growth forest on Saltspring Island.

Some recognize her name because she won Canadian Geographic’s Silver Award for Environmental Education, and others because she founded The Land Conservancy of B.C.

But despite her numerous accolades and achievements, Briony Penn, a well-known environmental activist, writer, and educator, didn’t return to UVic this fall. Because of UVic’s hiring policy regarding academic research, scholars like Penn with multi-faceted careers aren’t qualified to teach as tenured professors.

“People like me don’t get jobs there, because we don’t fit into the square,” said Penn. “It’s an interesting conundrum.”

The UVic Framework Agreement, which governs all hiring policies on campus, requires tenured professors to have published works in peer-reviewed academic journals, as part of the research component of evaluation. Penn’s published works include her bestselling book A Year on the Wild Side, and articles in publications such as Monday Magazine and Canadian Geographic, but she has no publications intended strictly for an academic audience. Therefore, her research cannot be included in her curriculum vitae (CV), an academic record of research such as speeches and publications.

Penn’s academic credentials and contributions to her community and institution—the two other components of evaluation—are not an issue. She received a PhD in geography from Edinburgh University in Scotland. Among other achievements, she has mapped ecosystems in several communities, documented trade networks in Belize, developed an environmental design firm—Penn & Gunn Associates—and founded the Garry Oak Preservation Society. But she hasn’t created a substantial CV.

“There’s no way I could have done what I’ve done if I were publishing in academic journals as well,” said Penn.

But Peter Keller, dean of social sciences and a key voice in the UVic hiring procedure, disagrees.

“If her wishes are for an academic career, then I’m surprised she wouldn’t have found the time to publish,” he said.

Penn has taught several environmental studies (ES) courses at UVic over the past decade and was hired as an assistant professor last year on an eight-month limited-term appointment. Though she qualifies as a sessional or senior instructor if a position opens, she says she can’t settle for anything less than a tenured position, because it would ensure long-term job security—a tenured position can only be terminated by resignation, retirement, or death.

Unlike tenure-track professors, sessional and senior instructors do not have research obligations and no scholarship requirements, according to the Framework Agreement, but their salaries are on average $30,000 less and they do not provide job security. Sessional positions are open to individuals who have credentials to teach specific courses, while senior instructors in the ES.

“All you have is the teaching,” said Penn of the pitfalls of senior teaching positions. “There’s no time to do those really important things like community work, inspiring change.”

Penn believes the university should consider candidates’ community-based research when evaluating their academic qualifications because it plays an important role in conveying the research found in the academic community to the public.

“I’m very sympathetic to scholars like Briony,” said Keller. “But I’m a realist; academic jobs are very few and far between. There are so many people who bid for these jobs that you need to be sure you have the qualifications.”

Chloe Ash-Anderson, a fourth-year student who studied under Penn last year, doesn’t understand how Penn could be unqualified. She thinks it is beneficial for ES professors to bring in different experiences since the department requires students to double-major in preparation for a multi-disciplinary career. She adds that Penn was a role model because she not only preached about inspiring change, but actually lived what she taught rather than “staying in her intellectual corner.”

“She seemed to have this huge knowledge base,” said Ash-Anderson. “She was so passionate. She had amazing enthusiasm in every lecture.”

Keller acknowledges that there are several scholars like Penn who may not have the academic scholarship required but who would add valuable insight to the faculty. But he questions how those types of achievements could be judged if not in a CV.

“What the academy needs to think about is if there are other ways to recognize those who don’t wish to engage in academic research, especially those who are leaders in community-based research,” he said. “That type of scholarship is perceived to be different than academic research, but those are very valid forms of academic inquiries.”

Eric Higgs, director of the school of environmental studies, agrees that the university is losing an irreplaceable mentor, but he understands that Penn’s role as a sessional or senior instructor would limit what she could do outside of class.

“Being a teacher is just a part of who she is,” said Higgs. “Her vision is just too much.”

Higgs, who hired Penn last year, would love to find a position that would suit her experience and qualifications, but there’s no way to get through university loopholes. Unless the administration and board of directors decide to change their policy, “there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” said Penn.

Even though Penn is on a teaching hiatus, she has not disappeared. She is volunteering with community groups on Saltspring Island to explore how environmental knowledge is being transferred to the next generation. She will teach an intensive field-study course at UVic in February as a guest ES professor and the school of environmental studies has given her a formal position as an adjunct professor—an unpaid honour for qualified individuals to work with grad students and serve on thesis committees.

“It’s just a way to keep connected to the students,” said Penn. “I loved teaching. You get to a stage where you want to give back, but it’s just not possible.”