RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
A biweekly newsletter from your
Association of Academic Staff
Friday, January 31, 2020
RAAS PRESIDENT'S UPDATE
There are a number of important events upcoming for RAAS.
First, we will be holding an election for the positions of President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. FAUW has kindly agreed to facilitate these elections for us in the absence of a RAAS Past-President. You will receive an email from FAUW in February with a call for nominations and an outline of the elections process. We encourage all members in good standing (i.e. signed membership form and paying fees) to consider putting their names forward for the RAAS Executive!
Second, we will be holding the RAAS AGM on Tuesday, April 14th from 11am-1pm in the Dunker Family Lounge. Please accept the Outlook invitation for the meeting that was sent last week. Lunch will be provided! We will sharecritical updates on the MoA, so please make every effort to attend. Please note that we may need to call additional emergency member meetings as negotiations progress over the next couple of months.
Third, we will continue to hold our RAAS Member Lunches. Bring your own lunch or get a lunch from the cafeteria, but please plan to drop by the designated table in the corner of the Great Hall Extension to have some social time with fellow RAAS members. The next two lunches will be on Wednesday, February 12 and Friday, March 27. Many thanks to Julia Williams for organizing these events.
Fourth, February 12 is our birthday! To celebrate, there will be birthday cake at the RAAS Member Lunch that day. Please drop by and help us celebrate!
As always, please keep in touch with your RAAS Executive should you have any questions, information, or concerns about employment conditions. You can reach me at kristina.llewellyn@uwaterloo.ca.
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Negotiations broke down in December over an ongoing disagreement about recognition language, but our Negotiation Team has proposed some compromise language that has brought the Employer back to the negotiating table. The RAAS team has requested weekly negotiation meetings, starting immediately, to try and complete negotiations before Easter. The Admin team has responded with the offer, so far, of two dates in February, one at the end of March, and one at the beginning of April. The schedule for negotiations will be item #1 on our agenda when negotiations resume on Wednesday, February 5th.
BOARD UPDATE
The first meeting of the 'new' board (with three new members and Brian Hendley as Chair) took place Wednesday, January 29. The finance committee is projecting a small 2nd quarter deficit, which includes money allocated for the staff compensation remediation project. The President shared some very appreciative and moving correspondence from a staff cluster whose wages were particularly behind in comparison with market norms. A major topic of discussion (which took place in-camera) was about initiating the process of planning a new build. Please see the January 30 memo from the President's office for more information about that.
SATIRE
The U.S. Department of Education’s Updated Student Loan Repayment Plans
Chas Gillespie, McSweeney’s (January 23, 2020)
NOT SATIRE
Canada Closes Visa Offices in China Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Nicholas Keung, Toronto Star (January 29, 2020) [may require subscription]
Canada has temporarily closed its visa application centres across China and cancelled appointments in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak there. According to Visa Facilitation Services, a private company tasked with processing Canadian visa applications, all 11 of its centres will be closed… pending further notification from Chinese authorities.
UW Suspends All Travel to China on University Business
UW Communications (January 30, 2020) [no link]
On January 29, the Government of Canada raised the risk level for travel to China to “avoid non-essential travel.” In light of this change, we are suspending all travel to China on University business until further notice.
We will remain in touch with travellers in China to offer our assistance, as required, on a case-by-case basis. Students and other travellers currently in China are not required to leave the country.
If you are on a co-op term in China and you have any concerns you can contact your co-op student advisor or work term support who are standing by to offer guidance. Other travellers in China must contact safetyabroad@uwaterloo.ca to agree next steps. If you have future plans to travel to China, please contact Waterloo International for guidance on making changes.
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
Stable funding, strong universities: OCUFA makes recommendations for Ontario Budget
OCUFA News (January 27, 2020)
OCUFA has set out its priorities for the 2020 Ontario Budget in a written submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. OCUFA’s 2020 budget recommendations aim to preserve the accessibility and quality of postsecondary education in Ontario through stable, consistent, and adequate funding, as well as improved working conditions for university faculty.
UBC and faculty members reach tentative agreement
Laura Brooks, Castanet (January 29, 2020)
A tentative contract agreement has been reached between the University of British Columbia and faculty members at its Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. The agreement with the UBC Faculty Association covers almost 4,200 members, representing professors, instructors, lecturers, sessional lecturers, librarians and program directors in extended learning.
Mount Allison full-time profs could strike as early as Monday
CBC News (January 29, 2020)
After seven months of negotiating, full-time professors and librarians at Mount Allison University have voted to strike as early as Monday if a new collective agreement can't be reached. Matt Litvak, president of the Mount Allison Faculty Association, said the top issue is the number of faculty members there are to deliver programs. "Over the past ten years we've seen a drop in the number of full-time faculty and an increase in part-time faculty and this creates pressure for delivering programs."
Trent University's Part Time Academic Workers Deliver Strong Strike Mandate
The Province (January 25, 2020)
Part-time academic workers at Trent University, members of Unit 1, Local 3908 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 3908-1) have this week voted overwhelmingly to give their bargaining committee a strong mandate to take whatever action they feel is needed to achieve a fair agreement.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
Let’s Be Clear on TRANSPARENCY
CAUT Bulletin 67 (1): 9 (January, 2020) [no link]
Decision-making powers are concentrated in the hands of a few, who act behind closed doors,
while the voices of academic staff and other key stakeholders are being weakened or silenced.
Collegiality — or SHARED GOVERNANCE — is at the heart of what a university is and should be.
That’s why the Canadian Association of University Teachers is working to OPEN UP BOARD MEETINGS.
CAUT Condemns Alberta Education Cuts
CAUT Bulletin (January 24, 2020)
Deep cuts alongside imposition of an “outcomes-based” approach to funding of post-secondary education in Alberta have prompted CAUT Council to express their unanimous condemnation of the moves to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.
FAUW NEWS
RAAS has a service agreement with the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), a campus-wide association of our peers.
Indigenous Employee Lunch, February 24th at 12:00 PM
Indigenous employees of University of Waterloo and the Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo are invited to a lunch on Monday, February 24, at noon in Hagey Hall 373, sponsored by the Faculty Association of University of Waterloo (FAUW), the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA), the Renison Association of Academic Staff (RAAS), and the St. Jerome's University Academic Staff Association (SJU-ASA).
All First Nation (Status/Non-Status), Métis, Inuit, or self-identifying as Indigenous due to connection to First Nation (Status/Non-Status), Métis, or Inuit ancestry, employees are welcome. This is a great opportunity for Indigenous faculty and staff to connect with each other for informal discussion and networking. The discussion will be facilitated by Lori Campbell, director of Shatitsirótha' the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre.
RSVP is not necessary, but is helpful to ensure we order enough food. If you wish to RSVP or to let us know about your dietary preferences, please write to wisc@uwaterloo.ca or laura.mcdonald@uwaterloo.ca by Friday, February 14.
Full FAUW Events Calendar (Winter, 2020)
FAUW has a full slate of events posted on our website and open for registration, and we’ll be scheduling more, including our annual tenure workshop later in the term.