RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
A biweekly newsletter from your
Association of Academic Staff
Friday, March 27, 2020
OPEN LETTER FROM RAAS
Dear Colleagues,
As many of you know, regular faculty at Renison voted strongly in favour of the Renison Association of Academic Staff (RAAS) becoming a certified association (i.e. union) on March 11, 2020. The purpose of certification was to provide a legal framework for the work we had been doing for two years as an uncertified association, including 18 months of negotiations on a Memorandum of Agreement. With certification, the employer and employee relationship for Renison faculty is now governed by the Ontario Labour Relations Act. The Act provides tools for knowable and positive agreements for employment relationships. Our certificate came through on March 23, 2020 and is attached for your reference.
RAAS moved to certify not as a comment about our current administration, but to move us towards a status that exists for faculty associations at almost all universities across Canada.
While certification means RAAS legally represent regular faculty (i.e. definite-term lecturers, continuing lecturers, professional librarians, and tenure-track and tenured members), our mandate is to advance our shared interests in the Renison community. Our work on behalf of students and the advancement of knowledge can only be accomplished with the invaluable work of institutional colleagues.
RAAS was unaware of the current financial picture of Renison until March 16, 2020. We had not reached any discussion of financial issues at the negotiating table, so we did not have access to detailed, current financial information. And, of course, we did not foresee the COVID-19 crisis. We wanted to write an open letter, therefore, to express our concern for those directly affected by the prospect of layoffs and other forms of heightened precariousness, and to let the community know that RAAS remains committed to furthering the essential public purposes of our University College.
While negotiations are taking a pause for good reason, we will continue to be in regular conversation with the administration to determine the best ways for RAAS to support a sustainable model for the academic work of Renison in the fullest sense. While our mandate is to define (and, where relevant and reasonable, to defend) the working conditions for regular faculty at Renison specifically, we are concerned about the impact the current financial situation may have on sessional lecturers, program administrative staff, and others in our community.
Please be in touch with any member of the RAAS Executive should you have issues for which we can provide support during these very difficult times.
Please stay safe and well,
Kristina Llewellyn
On behalf of the RAAS Executive and Negotiation Committees
SATIRE
Welcome to your hastily-prepared online college course
Ryan Weber, McSweeney’s (March 16, 2020)
NOT SATIRE / NOT NEWS
Western Universities Rely on China. After the Virus, That May Not Last
Benjamin Mueller, New York Times (March 21, 2020) [may require subscription]
In Britain, the United States and Australia, the coronavirus could blow huge holes in the budgets of universities that have “become addicted to one source of income.”
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
OCUFA calls on the provincial government to ensure paid sick leave for workers
Academica Group (March 26, 2020)
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations has called on the Government of Ontario to ensure that workers across the province have access to paid sick leave. “No worker should have to pick between complying with public health guidelines and putting food on the table or covering rent.” said OCUFA President Rahul Sapra.
Ontario Student Loan Payments Deferred During Pandemic
Sherina Harris, Huffington Post Canada (March 25, 2020)
Ontario’s fiscal update, released in lieu of the 2020 budget amid the COVID-19 pandemic, contains good news for those with student loans. The province will temporarily defer loan payments and interest accrual for six months for students borrowing through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
Call for Submissions: Annual OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards
OCUFA News (February 25, 2020)
Each year, OCUFA is proud to celebrate outstanding achievement in teaching and academic librarianship at Ontario universities. Through the Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards, we recognize those individuals whose pedagogical leadership and support have made a positive and enduring difference to their students and colleagues.
Anyone within the university community can nominate a faculty member or academic librarian for an award, so long as the nominee is a member of an OCUFA affiliated faculty association. For the first time, this year’s award guidelines include special nomination criteria for contract faculty to facilitate the nomination of historically marginalized members of the academy. Award recipients are selected by an independent OCUFA committee made up of faculty, librarians, and student representatives.
This year, the deadline for nominations is May 22, 2020. Guidelines for the award can be found here:
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
Alberta urged to reverse education cuts as COVID-19 crisis takes hold
CAUT News (March 26, 2020)
CAUT is gravely concerned by the Government of Alberta’s refusal to reverse planned cuts to post-secondary education which will see over 600 workers laid off at the University of Alberta alone, most before March 31st. Despite outcries from the scientific community, and a national call to support workers and families through the COVID-19 crisis, the provincial government is proceeding with massive funding cuts to post-secondary education.
QUEBEC URGED TO REVERSE DECISION ON COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS
CAUT News (March 19, 2020)
CAUT is calling on the government of Quebec to reverse its decision to suspend the collective bargaining agreements for teachers in the province. Teachers were notified by email that agreements were no longer considered binding, and that their assignments, schedules and workplaces could be modified at any time in order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAUW NEWS
RAAS has a service agreement with the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), a campus-wide association of our peers.
FAUW Board Elections: Ballots Open
The ballots for the FAUW Board of Directors elections are now open. All voting members can vote for one Director-at-large, and members in Math and Arts will also see a second ballot, to vote for a candidate from your Faculty. The ballots will remain open until 1:00 p.m. on April 3.
Like much of the rest of campus, the FAUW offices are closed and staff and Board members are working from home. All FAUW events are postponed until further notice. The Spring General Meeting is still planned for noon on April 7, but will be delivered online. We have created a Coronavirus updates page with the latest information from us, frequently asked questions, and an archive of our emails related to the pandemic.