Junior Academic Staff Platform

The Junior Academic Staff Platform (JASP) is an initiative by and for junior colleagues (Teaching Fellow’s / PhD Candidates), comprising two pillars: increasing academic citizenship and shaping sustainable career development. 

We believe that academic citizenship starts with our embeddedness into faculty structures. Our position vis-à-vis departments, research clusters and our peers needs a stable (communal) vision, one which accounts for the circumstances of our work: TF’s participation in department/program meetings should not be structurally hindered by their teaching obligations, and PhD’s need paths to foster cohesion and support amongst cohorts despite of their disciplinary diversity.

Building upon past achievements of our colleagues in recognizing the structural nature of our work, and in line with UM’s vision on Recognition and Rewards, we look forward to a constructive conversation about the future of our careers – one in which we seek to diversify our career paths, encourage academic leadership, and ensure a balance of quality in education/research, and personal well-being. 

This vision is based on a desire for inclusion and participation, to which direct representation is a pre-condition. Our mandate at the Faculty Council would ensure that the composition of the Council reflects the diversity within our Faculty.