RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
A biweekly newsletter from your
Association of Academic Staff
Friday, April 5, 2019
LEAD NEGOTIATOR’S UPDATE
Negotiations continue towards a Memorandum of Understanding between RAAS and Renison. In the most recent (April 3) negotiation meeting, RAAS introduced a proposal describing the basic terms of Lecturer (definite term and continuing), tenure-track, librarian appointments, and special appointments, which consolidates, builds on, and clarifies past practice and existing draft policies. This proposal is a prerequisite for workload negotiations, which the RAAS team intends to introduce at the next negotiating session on April 16. Discussion of the Appointments proposal with the Admin team was productive, and RAAS expects to receive a counter-proposal on this at a subsequent session.
At the April 3 negotiating session, the RAAS team also introduced a counter-proposal on Grievance and Arbitration, and Admin introduced a proposal on Discipline. The RAAS team intends to respond of the proposal on Discipline at the April 16th negotiation session. For more details on any of this, please contact your RAAS Lead Negotiator, Rob Case.
BOARD UPDATE
The Board met on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. The Board received and reviewed the draft 2019-20 budget. The President is required by board policy to present a balanced budget. In anticipation of the impacts of the 10% tuition reduction, the proposed budget limits new hires and course development to "mission critical" only, and holds salary increases to an average of 3.8%, which is a lower increase than anticipated for RAAS members. The RAAS Executive is in dialogue with the President and has taken the position that increases should continue this year as anticipated by past practice established by Academic Council, while we negotiate an MoA. The draft budget will return to the Board of Governors for final approval at the April meeting.
The Board gave the President a unanimous go-ahead to pursue a proposal for Renison to serve as the Secretariat for a youth mental health research knowledge exchange and mobilization hub, funded through the Public Health Authority. With links to our School of Social Work in particular, the hub is expected to national generate profile, faculty research, and student practicum opportunities with the Secretariat and with 15-20 research projects that are ongoing across the country for mental health interventions with children and youth. The Secretariat will require Renison to find space for 1 office and to contribute some administrative support, but its staffing and operations are fully funded through the Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund.
The Board By-Law Committee continues its work, as does the related Academic Council By-Law Subcommittee. The AC Subcommittee has been in consultation with the RAAS Executive. At the request of the AC Subcommittee, development and approval of bylaw updates has been extended from April until the May meeting of the Board of Governors. The Board also approved the President's recommendation for four sabbatical leaves. For further information or to provide input, please contact your Board faculty representative, Rob Case.
RAAS PRESIDENT’S Q&A
What is bicameral governance?
Bicameral governance is part and parcel of collegial governance. You can’t have one without the other. Consider this statement from George Freeman, former president of FAUW, on how collegial governance works at the University of Waterloo:
“The University of Waterloo is organized on a bicameral model. Loosely, this means that our Board of Governors looks after the institution as a non-profit corporation with an annual cash flow of about a billion dollars, and our Senate looks after the institution as an educational community of about 40,000 scholars (faculty, students, many staff).”
What does bicameral governance mean?
Bicameral governance means a Board of Governors takes care of the financial side of the institution as a not-for-profit corporation anda Senate takes care of academic matters, in keeping the institution’s academic identity and public educational purposes.
Some people say Renison can’t have bicameral governance because we are a not-for-profit corporation and ‘not a university’. Is that right?
The claim that Renison is not or cannot be a university because it is a not-for-profit corporation is false. There are hundreds of organizations, large and small, that are structured as not-for-profit corporations, including churches, universities, colleges, hospitals, community organizations, benevolent societies, social service agencies, and professional associations. Renison is both an academic institution and a not-for-profit corporation. So is the University of Waterloo. So is every other university and college in this country. It does not matter whether an academic institution exists by virtue of a provincial charter or articles of incorporation. As a not-for-profit corporation, every college and university has a Board of Governors. As an academic institution, every university and college has a Senate.
-Kristina Llewellyn
SATIRE
Thousands of Students Forced to Attend Iowa State after University Sets Acceptance Rate at 140%
The Onion (March 18, 2019)
AMES, IA—In part of an ongoing effort to foster a more inclusive academic community, thousands of students from across the nation were forced to attend Iowa State Monday after the university set its acceptance rate to 140 percent.
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.
Budget 2019 takes steps to improve access to post-secondary education
CAUT News (March 19, 2019)
Today’s budget makes some welcome investments in learners, but does not take the bold steps needed to ensure that all Canadians can access affordable quality post-secondary education opportunities, says the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).
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 dues each month.
A generation waiting to be heard: Massive walkout shows reach of engaged student activists
Jamie Strashin, CBC News (March 5, 2019)
'Pay attention to what the students are doing here and how passionate we are,' says walkout leader.
Towards ethical universities via ethical governing boardsPeter D. Eckel, University World News (March 20, 2019)
As independent governing boards continue to become more common across nations, so do instances of and possibilities for ethical lapses by these boards… Unethical governance behaviours can be an immediate and time-consuming distraction for a university.
Ford government plan would make student fees to support accessibility on some campuses optionalTravis Dhanraj, Global News (March 28, 2019)
Fees to support students with disabilities and accessibility issues will now be deemed optional on some campuses across Ontario.
Post-secondary education cuts could mean more reliance on international studentsCTV London (March 27, 2019)
With provincial funding cuts to post-secondary education, some feel there will be an even greater reliance on the revenues received from international students studying here. International students are definitely a fixture in Canada’s education landscape.
University of Waterloo raising tuition rates for international studentsBill Jackson, The Record (March 28, 2019)
Term tuition for first-year computer science to increase by almost $10,000. On the heels of the provincial government’s announcement to reduce domestic tuition fees by 10 per cent, the University of Waterloo is increasing tuition rates for international students.
MUFA makes significant gains in faculty benefits in latest agreement
The McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) has ratified a three-year agreement with their university administration. Significant achievements include extensive improvements to benefits in areas such as mental health, hearing aids, and medical device coverage. MUFA also successfully negotiated increases to its professional development allowance and dependant tuition bursary program. Among other improvements, the association achieved across-the-board salary increases comparable to other faculty associations.
CONFERENCE
Worldviews 2019: An Unconventional Convention
Taking place June 12-14 at the University of Toronto, the three-day conference will focus on democracy and the changing power relations of higher education and the media in the global north and south – specifically examining the concept of expertise in a “post-truth” world and the types of voices amplified by emerging technologies.
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.
Making the Most of Your Mid-Career Years
This half-day workshop (April 8, 2019, 12:00–3:30 PM) will explore the unique opportunities and challenges of being an associate professor or continuing lecturer—and help you plan for the next steps in your career. Register for the mid-career workshop here.
FEATURE:
RAAS Member Profiles
In this issue, we are very pleased to feature Daniel Bratton, Lecturer in Culture and Language Studies (CEL)
What brought you to Renison?
I had been a full professor in two Japanese universities for eleven years prior to imposed retirement, at which time it seemed best to return to our farm outside Elora. I co-founded a poetry centre but soon realized how much I missed teaching. Stumbling upon a post for a three-year limited term appointment in English at Renison, I submitted an application. The rest is history.
What do you like about Renison?
I grew up in a small town in Ohio, where my family had lived since the early 1840s. Coming to Canada as an undergraduate student during the War in Vietnam, I was thankful to be here but missed the atmosphere of the liberal arts college I’d been attending. My wife and I moved to Elora in 1984 because it was a somewhat bohemian village: Elora’s slogan on license plate frames is “a world away.” I love close communities, and I love gardening. When I walked through the front doors of Renison on my way to the interview and viewed the East Meets West Garden, I felt as though I were coming home.
What do you like about RAAS?
Before spending 17 years in the Far East, I taught at Ryerson and U of T. Ryerson horribly exploited its non-tenured faculty, so not surprisingly there was a big strike by CUEW, our union. I remember standing next to Jack Layton on the picket line as he shook his fist at the 14th floor of Jorgenson Hall, which housed the administration, shouting “May the ruling class tremble!” Although I was not a dyed-in-the-wool union man the way Jack was, I certainly appreciated the need for faculty to look after each other, and while RAAS is not certified, as a faculty association we can develop a Memorandum of Agreement and consistent policies that will benefit the whole Renison community.
What are you passionate about in your work?
I love teaching—I always have. I began at Ryerson when I was only twenty-five years old, which means I’ve been teaching nearly forty-five years! However, it’s unfortunate if some folks assume that contract faculty are not actively engaged in research. My first book received Honourable Mention from Quill and Quire for “Best Book (Non-Fiction) in 1996,” losing out to David Foot’s Boom, Bust & Echo — something of which I am rather proud. In other words, I’m also passionate about my research, which is also true of others on my floor, even if our contracts do not require us to perform research.
Could you tell us a 'fun fact' about yourself?
I wrote the script to a musical titled Riding Off in All Directions, which was performed in Mississauga in 2017.
Do you have any pets?
Animals are my life preserver. I used to show jump a part Arabian mare, and at one time we had 17 horses in our barn outside Elora. We also bred bull mastiffs. Right now we board two horses and have a Cane Corso named Bosco, who was a rescue from the Montreal SPCA. The two of us greatly enjoy roaming around the farm, which runs down to the Elora Gorge.