2024 Summary of Sessional Academic Staff

Sessional academic staff contribute immensely to the University of Calgary community and are increasingly essential for the University to achieve its academic mission. The reliance on casual work is not unique to the University of Calgary. Sessionals here and across the country are in a very precarious position as these academics work from contract to contract, being paid for piecework with few benefits. The following is a summary of the current situation for sessionals compared to ongoing academic staff and how this situation has changed over the past 10 years.

Given the transient nature of sessional contracts, the number of sessionals fluctuates widely throughout the academic year, but we can compare data across academic years using similar dates within each year. According to a snapshot of academic staff from October 22, 2024, there are currently 694 sessional academic staff members, representing about 27 per cent of all academic staff currently employed at the University of Calgary. In October 2015, there were 460 sessionals, representing about 20 per cent of all academic staff at the University of Calgary. Based on these numbers, the number of sessionals has increased by about 50 per cent over 10 years. Meanwhile, the number of ongoing academic staff has increased by only four per cent.

The relative number of sessional staff varies widely across campus. The Faculty of Arts is by far the largest employer of sessional academic staff; about 25 per cent of all sessionals currently employed at the University of Calgary work in the Faculty of Arts. Sessionals make up more than half of all academic staff in several faculties (Architecture, Planning and Landscape; Law; Nursing; Social Work).

About 60 per cent of the current sessional academic staff identify as women and 40 per cent identify as men. This is an inversion of the picture for ongoing academic staff – about 45 per cent of the ongoing academic staff identify as women and 55 per cent identify as men.

The median age of sessionals is 42 (1981) and the median age for ongoing staff is 51 (1972). Many sessionals are experienced academics with significant teaching experience. However, there is no long-term job security for these members who need to reapply for their job every year and sometimes every semester, often knowing that the programs they teach in would collapse without them.

The pay for sessionals is low. Schedule B of the Collective Agreement establishes the minimum pay per half course equivalent. The current minimum compensation for sessionals at the base step is $6,513 per half course equivalent. This is the case for 58 per cent of the current sessionals. The minimum compensation increases with experience to $7,555 for sessionals at step 7. It is important to note that salary rates are set as minimums only, so although sessionals must be paid at least the minimum at the step at which they are hired, they can also be paid more at any given step. While the normal in some Faculties is to pay only the minimum specified by the steps, other Faculties may offer higher salaries.