English and Writing Studies professor Jamie Johnston has been named the 2018 recipient of the Tom Murphy Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA). This award recognizes the hard work and commitment of a contract faculty member to the work of UWOFA.
The award will be presented at the association’s annual membership meeting March 21.
“Jamie shows a deep commitment to the work of UWOFA on behalf of all of our members in all that he does and with particularly noteworthy contributions to advancing the working conditions and job security of contract faculty,” said Jeff Tennant, UWOFA’s chief negotiator. “In all of his contributions, Jamie shows the utmost collegiality and good humour, contributing to an effective and harmonious collaboration among members of the negotiating team.”
Johnston has been at Western since 2007, first as a part-time faculty member and, more recently, as a limited-term member. Since 2010, he has been actively involved with UWOFA as a member of the faculty negotiating team, Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Faculty Representatives Council.
“Jamie has provided distinguished service to UWOFA over a sustained period, especially in regard to issues affecting contract academic faculty,” said Jim Davies, a colleague on the 2014 faculty negotiating team. “His contribution is well up to the high standard that should be expected for this award.”
The Tom Murphy Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to UWOFA was established in honour of the late long-standing contract faculty member in the Department of Sociology who was involved with UWOFA since certification in 1998, serving on the Board of Directors for four terms, as a member of the Executive Committee, and as a member of the Policy and Governance Committee. Murphy also served UWOFA in other ways, notably as its representative on the Parking Appeals Committee. Perhaps most importantly, Murphy was a long-standing member and co-chair of the Committee for Contract Faculty.