RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
A biweekly newsletter from your
Association of Academic Staff
Friday, April 24, 2020
RAAS PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
I hope this edition of RAAS Report finds you all safe and well in these complicated and stressful times. While RAAS is an association that seeks to protect your labour rights, we are also a community of educators that care about each other's well-being. Please consider ways we can support one another or share resources of support during this time. We are happy to pass along these supports in our bi-weekly reports or in other appropriate ways. Tony Tin has offered some support for Members moving to remote teaching in his report (see below).
We are very thankful for the large turnout for our RAAS Annual General Meeting. There was thoughtful and positive engagement by all members. If you were unable to attend and would like an update on current issues then please reach out to us. We are currently pursuing obtaining more financial information to bargain effectively and we have been in touch with CAUT regarding the Defense Fund (updates to follow in the near future).
I would like to draw your attention to the attached CAUT legal update on Academic Freedom. Please take the time to read the brief summary of recent academic freedom cases that CAUT has pursued. You may be surprised by some aspects of cases, including the need to protect your ownership of course notes, your right to express personal views in public as a recognized employee of the university, and much more.
For RAAS Members who are Definite-Term Lecturers, you will be receiving an email from us today that invites you to a Zoom meeting on Monday, April 27th at 10 AM. We have been notified about potential issues regarding DTL working conditions both from the administration and from other sources. We need to hear your perspective on these issues and how we can support you right now. Please attend if possible. If you are unable to attend given this short notice, please reach out to me (kristina.llewellyn@uwaterloo.ca) or to Rob Case (rob.case@uwaterloo.ca) as soon as possible.
Kristina Llewellyn
RAAS President
FROM OUR LIBRARIAN
I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe at home. For faculty members in need of some support from the Library to locate online resources to support their shift to online teaching, I have just completed a guide which I am happy to share with you. This the weblink:
https://online.flipbuilder.com/wglr/bbog/
I hope this is helpful!
Tony Tin
REN Librarian
SATIRE
Friend with young kids wants to throttle you as you describe how boring isolation has been
Luke Gordon Field, The Beaverton (April 17, 2020)
Sofie, your friend with two children under the age of five, clearly spent most of last night’s Zoom call thinking of throttling you as you talked about how calm and uneventful isolating at home has been.
NOT SATIRE
We Need Great Leadership Now, and Here’s What It Looks Like
Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times (April 22, 2020) [may require subscription]
In moments like these, when the choices we make are so impactful, people desperately want to believe that their leaders know what they’re doing. But they quickly learn that in times like these, leaders either grow or swell — they either grow out of their weaknesses and rise to the level of the challenge or all of their worst weaknesses swell to new levels.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
CAUT WELCOMES NEW MEASURES FOR POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS
CAUT News (April 22, 2020)
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) welcomes Wednesday’s announcement by the federal government of new supports for students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The financial support initially provided through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) left out many students,” says CAUT Executive Director David Robinson. “Today’s announcement of nearly $9 billion in funding for the new Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) and the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) will help students replace income, find summer jobs and launch careers.”
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
Higher Education and the Public Good
Catharine Bond Hill, Inside Higher Education (April 21, 2020)
As the country grapples with severe economic challenges, this is the time to enroll people laid off during the COVID-19 crisis so they can improve their skills.
OCUFA News (April 23, 2020)
OCUFA is concerned about the erosion of democratic, transparent, and accountable collegial governance practices at Ontario’s universities as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. With it becoming abundantly clear that universities will not be able to return to their usual operations in the foreseeable future, some administrations are foregoing their responsibility to respect the shared governance structures of their institutions and, instead, are making academic decisions without the involvement of senates and academic councils or proper consultation with faculty.
Early journal submission data suggests COVID-19 is impacting women’s research output
Academica Group (April 22, 2020)
“It was easy to foresee: within academe, female professors would bear the professional brunt of social distancing during COVID-19, in the form of decreased research productivity,” writes Collen Flaherty. However, some journal editors are beginning to notice unusual gendered patterns in submissions where women are submitting single-authored papers less frequently since the pandemic, potentially providing early evidence to support the idea of the motherhood penalty.
Trudeau announces $9B in aid for students struggling because of pandemic
Kathleen Harris, CBC News (April 22, 2020)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced $9 billion in financial aid for post-secondary students in response to claims that too many young people were falling through the cracks in existing COVID-19 support programs. Students will be eligible for $1,250 a month from May through August. That sum can go up to $1,750 if the student is taking care of someone or has a disability.
Pass/fail grades should be the only option during the coronavirus
Jonah Dunch, Macleans (April 21, 2020)
Universities in Canada and around the world have had to adjust their teaching and grading policies this semester in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have introduced “credit/no credit” (i.e. pass/fail) evaluation to replace letter grades. The University of Toronto already offered this option for some courses, allowing students to see their letter grades before deciding whether they’d prefer a credit/no credit—now, U of T has made this option available in all courses.
The future of international HE in a post-mobility world
Brent White and Jenny J. Lee, University World News (April 18, 2020)
Borders are closed. Consulates shuttered. Planes are parked. Study abroad suspended. International students are being sent home. And we are hunkered down in our homes in a sudden, harsh, no-mobility world. This complete shutdown of mobility has exposed an existing reality: We already live in a world in which mobility is not necessary, and sometimes perhaps not even desirable, for meaningful cross-border exchange or an international education.
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 News (April 9, 2020)
Congratulations to the new members of the FAUW Board of Directors!
Director from Applied Health Sciences: Joel Dubin
Director from Arts: Kate Lawson
Director from Engineering: Alfred Yu
Director from Environment: Peter Johnson
Director from Math: Nomair Naeem
Director from Science: Heidi Engelhardt
Director-at-large: Narveen Jandu
Thank you to everyone who ran, nominated, or voted in this year's Board elections for your participation in a democratic process that strengthens the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW).