RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
A biweekly newsletter from your
Association of Academic Staff
Friday, February 22, 2019
RAAS General Meeting on March 1st
Save the date! We will hold our next general meeting on Friday, March 1st from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in the DFL. Refreshments will be provided, but please feel free to bring your own lunch.
Rob Case will chair this meeting. We will have critical updates about your Memorandum of Agreement and there will be items for decision regarding proposals for the Agreement. A specific agenda will be distributed on Monday, February 25th. If you have not already done so, please respond to the Outlook invitation sent by Kristina Llewellyn last week.
In Related News: It’s Our Anniversary!
We hope you enjoyed our celebratory greeting card. RAAS was formed on February 12, 2018. According to Article 2.1 of our Constitution, the purposed of RAAS are as follows:
Negotiate a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Renison University College (“University College” or the “employer”), that addresses employer‐employee relations, including remuneration and working conditions of academic staff;
Represent academic staff members who are covered by the MoA in matters arising from the interpretation, application, administration, or alleged violation of the agreement;
Promote the welfare and equitable treatment of academic staff by negotiating and upholding sound policies, practices, and procedures;
Protect academic freedom while advancing teaching, research, and other pursuits of academic staff at the University College;
Promote collegial governance and safeguard academic integrity and human rights at the University College;
Facilitate the exchange of ideas between academic staff and the broader University College community, as well as with the general public;
Encourage co‐operation between academic staff and their counterparts at the University of Waterloo and other Universities; and
Advance the shared interests of RAAS and its affiliates.
Board Update
The Renison Board of Governors will not be meeting in February, but a committee of the Board is reviewing the bylaws.
During the last bylaw review, departing from the practice in every other institution of higher learning in this country, the Tenure Council became a Committee of the Board rather than a Committee of Academic Council. The composition was also changed to include a Board member at all stages of tenure review. Because tenure is seen as fundamentally an academic decision, the Board is supposed to be the last body to receive a recommendation about tenure after adjudication by a committee of academic peers (including arms-length external examiners).
In response to concerns raised by faculty when the tenure process started last year, the Board decided that it would appoint a member to the Tenure Council as per the new bylaws, but that individual would not participate until the final stage of the process. These bylaws are now under review.
RAAS had presented a proposal for the Memorandum of Agreement which would restore the Tenure & Promotion Committee (PTC) as a committee of Academic Council and which would exclude Board members from serving on it. The Board would still have final sign-off on all tenure recommendations. This proposal was submitted February 20 and with the complicating factor of the bylaw question, the administrative team has not yet had time to respond to it.
If you have concerns to raise about the bylaws or the bylaw review, please (at minimum) let Rob Case, your faculty board representative, know.
Negotiation Update
Negotiations have been proceeding every other Friday afternoon, plus a full day of negotiations on Wednesday Feb. 20. The Admin team is led by Kathryn Meehan, a partner at the Hicks-Morley Labour and Employment Law Firm.
Since the last negotiation update, agreement has been reached on the following articles:
ToRs of a Joint Committee for the administration of the MoA (proposed by Admin; Jan. 25, 2019)
Continued adoption of UW policy on tuition benefits (proposed by RAAS; Jan. 25, 2019)
Protocols for correspondence and sharing of information (proposed by RAAS Jan. 25, 2019)
Negotiation has been ongoing on the following articles:
Pension and group benefits (continue to follow UW plan; proposed by Admin; Jan. 25, 2019): We are agreed on continuing with the UW plan; negotiations concern the level of responsibility the Employer is willing to accept in regards to ensuring pension and benefits coverage Association members (and Renison staff)
Non-discrimination (proposed by Admin; Jan. 25, 2019): RAAS is seeking legal advice on some wording before agreeing
Association fees deduction (proposed by RAAS; Nov. 30, 2019)
The following proposals have been tabled, but not yet responded to:
Intellectual property clause (proposed by RAAS; Jan. 25, 2019)
Academic freedom clause (proposed by RAAS; Feb. 1, 2019)
Promotion & Tenure Committee (proposed by RAAS; Feb. 20, 2019)
Procedures for promotion & tenure (proposed by RAAS; Feb. 20, 2019)
Annual Review (proposed by RAAS; Feb. 20, 2019)
Listening sessions on salary and workload issues are ongoing.
For further information on negotiations and/or Association proposals, please contact Rob Case, your lead negotiator.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers. CAUT fees are included in RAAS membership dues each month.
This year, Fair Dealing Week will take place February 25 to March 1. We invite you to participate in Fair Dealing Week activities by joining CAUT, campuses, libraries and academic staff associations across Canada in raising awareness of the importance of fair dealing rights. What can you do to help? Please sign CAUT’s petition to urge Parliament to maintain fair dealing.
OCUFA News
[with thanks to Ben Lewis at OCUFA]
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers. OCUFA fees are included in RAAS membership dues each month.
Help UOIT faculty avert a strike
Faculty Members at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) recently voted 86% in favour of taking strike action if the UOIT Administration continues to ignore their concerns. The Faculty Association’s bargaining team is doing everything they can to secure a deal quickly to prevent adverse effects for students. UOIT faculty need our support. Send this letter to the UOIT administration to remind them that faculty members and students should be the university’s first priority and that they should negotiate a fair deal with the faculty association to avoid a strike.
Comprehensive report shows how women in STEM face huge disadvantages
Farah Qaiser, Salon.com, February 18, 2019
Last Friday, one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals in the world dedicated an entire issue to providing peer-reviewed evidence for the institutional and systemic barriers impacting women’s experience and advancement in science, medicine, and global health.
Leddy honoured with OCUFA Award of Distinction for advancing equity
Education News Canada, February 12, 2019
Lianne C. Leddy, Assistant Professor in Indigenous Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, has won the 2018 Status of Women and Equity Award of Distinction, presented by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).
Students and Educators hold press conference at Queen’s Park
February 22, 2019
On Tuesday, February 19, OCUFA participated in a press conference organized by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Ontario at Queen’s Park. The press conference marked the launch of the “We The Students”campaign. To find out more about the campaign and the upcoming events and actions click here.
Public outrage growing after Doug Ford's claims he can stamp out 'crazy Marxist nonsense'
Alastair Sharp, National Observer, February 13, 2019
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner suggested that Ford was getting carried away by his imagination. “We can’t allow the premier’s irrational fantasies of a red scare on campuses to lead to cuts to student services, attacks on student democracy, and cuts to university and college budgets,” he wrote on Twitter.
Students at Queen's Park 'should have their mouths washed out with soap,' Doug Ford says
Canadian Press, February 19, 2019
Doug Ford admonished protesting students for their "filthy" mouths after a group decrying cuts to post-secondary grants disrupted a session at Ontario's legislature by shouting obscenities at him.
Call for submissions: OCUFA Teaching and Librarianship Awards
Anyone within the university community can nominate a faculty member or a librarian. Award recipients are selected by an independent OCUFA committee made up of faculty, librarians, and student representatives. Deadline for nominations for 2018-2019 awards is May 24, 2019. Please submit your nomination via https://awards.ocufa.on.ca as a single PDF file.
FAUW News
We are grateful to the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) for providing support to RAAS and its members in accordance with our service agreement.
Salary changes for lecturers
The report (PDF) released last week by the Working Group on Salary Structure explains the rationale behind the recent increase to salary thresholds for lecturers, how salaries at UW work, and the effects of the changes.
CTE workshop on documenting your teaching
The Centre for Teaching Excellence will hold its annual Documenting Your Teaching for Tenure and Promotion workshop on March 26th.
2019 Hagey Lecture, March 25th
John Borrows, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, will examine how Indigenous law can shed light on Canadian law's approach to treaties, Aboriginal title, legal education, and the continuing legacy of residential schools. Registration opens February 25th.
FEATURE
RAAS Member Profiles
In this issue, we are very pleased to feature Jim Perretta,
Lecturer in Social Development Studies (SDS).
What brought you to Renison?
In 2011, I was recruited as an instructor for a course on theories of counseling. I did not realize at the time that I would go on to teach six courses at Renison!
What do you like about Renison?
Renison has a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere which is not always associated with academic settings. The interdisciplinary courses and interactive class discussions at Renison are exemplary.
What do you like about RAAS?
RAAS provides excellent resources and consultation services for a variety of academic staff members at Renison. Academic staff need a collective voice, and RAAS is meeting this much-needed goal at Renison.
What are you passionate about in your work?
In my work, I am passionate about mental health, wellness, resilience, diversity, and aging issues. In both my teaching and my clinical work, I promote collaboration and self- and group-discovery. I strongly believe that instruction is reciprocal and I try my best to be open to learning all the time -- from my students, other instructors, new research, my clients, and my community.
Could you tell us a 'fun fact' about yourself?
I write poems and song lyrics in my spare time.
Do you have any pets?
My partner and I have a four-year old cockapoo, Sammy, who is very outgoing and energetic. By contrast, our 10-year old cat, Jin, likes to scrutinize us from various perches around the house.