RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
*Special Summer Edition*
Friday, June 26, 2020
RAAS PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
Dear Colleagues,
RAAS had a standing agreement with the Administration to have President-to-President conversations as issues outside the negotiation table emerged regarding our working conditions. Those conversations had not been happening on a regular basis.
I am pleased to report that President Fletcher has now agreed to bi-weekly meetings. The intent is to ensure that RAAS and the Administration have clearer and more positive channels of communication to discuss issues of concern for faculty. We had our first conversation this past Wednesday morning. We discussed communication, shared governance, policy development processes, and principles of academic freedom. We committed to supporting the fuller engagement of faculty in institutional governance.
Please contact me, or another member of the RAAS Executive, with issues of importance regarding faculty working conditions that should be raised during these bi-weekly meetings. RAAS will not share the individuals who raise such issues, unless they wish to be identified. As a union, we stand together and speak as one.
As with all faculty associations, RAAS has a duty to protect academic freedom. One of the main principles of academic freedom is the right to criticize one’s institution without fear of reprisal. For more information on the main tenets of academic freedom, please read the CAUT policy statement. For major cases about violations of academic freedom and the issues at stake, please see the following CAUT summaries.
As a reminder, we are holding a RAAS Membership Meeting on Tuesday, June 30 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. You will have received the meeting materials by email earlier this week. The meeting will be held via Zoom and that link will be sent to you on Monday. While we will seek to provide some of our regular reports/updates, much of the meeting time will be dedicated to open discussion among RAAS members.
Given the issues that are emerging with COVID, including financial pressures, it is extremely important to share ideas, perspectives, and concerns. We have held meetings with particular groups of RAAS members since our last membership meeting in April. We are considering, should the membership wish, to hold more regular listening sessions throughout the summer months. I look forward to seeing all of you on Tuesday.
Kristina Llewellyn
RAAS President
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Negotiations resumed on June 10th. The RAAS team presented responses to proposals from the "Employer" side at the previous meeting (February 28) on Financial Exigency, Program Redundancy, Layoffs & Terminations, Pregnancy & Parental Leave, along with revised language on Recognition, Dues Remittance, and Strikes & Lockouts (i.e., that there will be none during the term of the agreement). The Employer side brought to the table a response to the revised RAAS proposal on Recognition, and on Political Leaves (proposed by RAAS in May, 2019). We reached agreement on Jury & Witness Duty, Strikes & Lockouts, and Dues Remittance.
Prior to a second negotiation meeting (June 22), the RAAS team emailed a counter-proposal on Recognition to the "Employer" side lead negotiator (Kathryn Meehan from Hicks Morley), and at the meeting tabled a response to thePolitical Leaves proposal we received at the June 10 meeting. As the Employer side had not met in the interim, they had no counter-proposal to bring to the table. They did raise a question for our consideration regarding the article on Pregnancy & Parental Leave. We are currently awaiting the Employer team response to our proposals on Financial Exigency, Program Redundancy, Lay-offs & Terminations, Librarian (February 5, 2020), and Discipline.
The RAAS team has twice requested further negotiation dates on an accelerated schedule, and we will be following up on that request. The Employer team expressed that they share our desire to complete the negotiations, but that there are some scheduling challenges over the next few weeks.
On April 29 we requested financial information in preparation for eventual compensation negotiations. We received financial information on June 9, and we are currently reviewing it. This information is confidential, for the use of the Negotiation Team only for specific purpose of informing negotiations.
Rob Case
RAAS Lead Negotiator
BOARD UPDATE
As many of you will have heard, news of the Board’s discussion of a question from the Business Recovery Task Force concerning financial sustainability, research supports and Renison's identity, as noted in last month’s Board Update, found its way to UW Senate, forcing Wendy to address Senate to defend Renison's commitments to research and scholarship, causing considerable controversy, and generating some heated correspondence between Brian Hendley (Chair of the Board of Governors) and Bryan Tolson (President of FAUW).
At the June meeting of the Board, the Chair expressed passionate disapproval of FAUW's action in taking this matter to Senate and of what was said. Kofi, Wendy, and Brian all expressed concerns about reputational damage for Renison. The Chair read a statement fromFeridun Hamdullahpur (UW President and Vice-Chancellor) indicating that all academic program questions have a place at Senate and both the question and the response were appropriate. The Chair expressed strong disapproval for what he characterized as un-collegial action on the part of the FAUW President. In the end, it was generally agreed around the table that we should now move forward from this incident. The RAAS Executive anticipates questions and discussions at the upcoming Members’ meeting.
The official record of the discussion at the May 2020 Board meeting now reads as follows:
The Business Recovery Task Force began a conversation about the mission of the college in relation to teaching and research and asked that the Board offer its thoughts on this matter as they prepare a financial vitality plan. Historically Renison was a teaching college but over the last few years there has been a shift toward more research focused activities and the hiring of research active scholars. Renison is proud of the extensive research recognition many of its faculty group receive. The economic issue is that Renison does not receive any funding in support of research, unlike its university counterparts [this statement was debated at the request of the faculty rep, and will be revised to attribute the statement to its source so as not to suggest that it is a position the board has deliberated and agree on in relation to UW transfers for academic programs]. As such the BRTF asked for some conversation about the weighting of teaching and research in workloads. After much conversation, the Board enthusiastically affirmed the importance of both teaching and research at Renison and as core to its emergent identity. It was strongly felt that both teaching and research are necessary to effective education. The matter of funding of sabbaticals and research course relief will be an ongoing conversation. Surplus funds for many years have been allocated toward supporting this strength at Renison. In years when there is not a surplus or there is a deficit, other means will need to be explored as to how this strength remains sustainable at Renison. The President committed herself to work with this direction.
Other notable items – financial updates, the proposed new build, and the changing status of the Confucius Institute – were covered with clarity in Wendy's Town Hall presentation on June 25, 2020. Essentially, the Board has postponed making any decisions on the new build and CI pending further information and discussion in other Renison venues.
Rob Case
Faculty Representative
SATIRE
“We’re Tearing It All Down for Scrap Metal”
Lydia Fultz, McSweeney's (June 15, 2020)
A letter from the Chancellor regarding budget cuts and restructuring
NOT SATIRE
The academy’s neoliberal response to COVID-19: Why faculty should be wary
Honor Brabazon, Academic Matters (May 30, 2020)
The emergency shift to remote teaching that universities have made in response to the COVID-19 crisis has been justified as an exceptional measure for these unprecedented times.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
June 19, 2020
CAUT STATEMENT ON NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
June 10, 2020
CAUT CALLS FOR ACCESS TO CEWS FOR UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
June 3, 2020
CAUT STATEMENT ON ANTI-RACISM PROTESTS
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
Open Letter from the LUFA Executive to the Board of Governors of Laurentian University
LUFA (June 23, 2020)
We are asking you to reverse the decision you made to underfund Thorneloe University, the institution that runs these programs, through punitive changes to the funding formula of the federated universities. This cash grab is what triggered the abrupt cessation of the programs, leaving over 50 registered students stranded and leading to the termination of two professors and nine part-time instructors. There will be more program closures if the situation is not addressed – and with it, more students left adrift.
University of Toronto Instructor Group Joins CUPE
Timmins Times (June 23, 2020)
International Programs teaching staff at the University of Toronto’s New College are the newest members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Cape Breton University lays off staff, hikes tuition as it braces for shortfall
Wendy Martin, CBC News (June 23, 2020)
In a news release, the university said it is looking for ways to "creatively cut costs" during the COVID-19 pandemic… CBU has also rolled back wages by up to 10 percent for some non-union staff and senior administrators, and has frozen wages for some others.
Opinion: Defunding threatens to destroy Alberta's flagship university
Carolyn Sale, The Province (June 19, 2020)
Only in an Orwellian dystopia does radical defunding of a system equal its “renewal.”
FAUW NEWS
RAAS has a service agreement with the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), a campus-wide association of our peers.
UW statement risks chilling Black anti-racism scholarship
FAUW (June 15, 2020)
FAUW is deeply concerned about the harm that racialized students, colleagues, and community members experience because of racist language. We are also concerned about the chilling effect that the University's statement will have on University of Waterloo scholars, especially on Black, Indigenous, and other racialized scholars who research and teach about race and racism.
Notes from our June Board meetings
FAUW (June 24, 2020)
In absolutely no particular order, here are some of the things we've been working on or talking about this month.
1. The library begins pickup service starting June 26!
2. Major win: The Registrar's Office (RO) will schedule synchronous course activities on request this fall (as usual). We also got confirmation that for the RO to not provide this service would require a decision at Senate.
3. There are new remote teaching guidelines regarding privacy and intellectual property—give them a read if you haven't yet. We were not consulted about these guidelines and don't have official opinions on them yet.
4. HR has been prorating merit increases for faculty on paid sick leave. We believe this contravenes the Memorandum of Agreement and we are discussing this at Faculty Relations Committee.
5. The end is in sight: The Policy 76 drafting committee has sent a draft to FRC. FRC is advising on next steps for consultation.
6. We are sorting out what we will do in place of our usual new faculty social events in July and August. The University's new faculty orientation (in which we play a supporting role) will be fully online.
7. The Equity Office postponed its Pride celebrations in light of the Black Lives Matter protests and the vast increase in disclosures of racism from members of the UW community. The Gender and Sexual Diversity Working Group, on which FAUW is represented, has issued a statement in support of this decision. […]