RAAS Report
RAAS REPORT
Friday, December 18, 2020
RAAS REPORT
Special end-of-term edition
Friday, December 18, 2020
PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
RAAS has reached a tentative agreement with the Employer!
The final settlement document is being produced by the Employer for our review in early January. Once we have reviewed the document, we will hold information sessions with RAAS Members to review the terms of the settlement.
While full details will be provided in January, we would like to highlight that the tentative agreement includes:
0% scale increase with full PTR (usually referred to as SIU) in the amount of $4,006 for all Members with Satisfactory APR retroactive to May, 2020;
1% scale increase with full PTR for May, 2021 and May, 2022 (PTR also increases by 1% per year of the agreement);
Board of Governors (BoG) final determination on financial exigency only after full consideration of the arm's length recommendations of a Financial Exigency Committee (FEC), a 2/3 vote by the BoG for declaration of financial exigency, and clear reasoning for any departure from FEC recommendations
Following a review of the agreement by our Members late in January, RAAS will call a ratification vote (date TBD).
Huge thanks to our Negotiation Team: Rob Case, Jason Blokhuis, Trish Van Katwyk, Daniel Bratton (and Kristina Llewellyn too – ed.). Special thanks to our Lead Negotiator, Rob Case, for his incredible dedication to this work.
We also owe a great deal of gratitude to Andrea Harrington from CAUT and all the CAUT staff for their guidance in this process. And thank you to FAUW and OCUFA for their tremendous support in reaching a tentative deal.
We wish to thank all our Members for your faith in the Negotiation Team and for your solidarity and support.
This is a time for celebration. We hope you will take a moment to celebrate in your own way!
Kristina Llewellyn
RAAS President
GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE
On Wednesday, December 9, 2020, the RAAS Grievance Committee (RGC) held its inaugural meeting.
The RGC is a standing committee of the RAAS Executive. It is composed of the Grievance Officer (chair), the RAAS President or Vice-President (ex officio), a minimum of two RAAS Members, and the FAUW Representative (ex officio). As much as possible, RGC members should reflect the academic programs at Renison University College. They should be knowledgeable about diversity issues, our Collective Agreement, and our grievance policies and procedures.
RAAS is responsible for negotiating our working conditions on behalf of all members of the bargaining unit. Once we have a Collective Agreement in place, the work of RAAS shifts to protecting its integrity. If this work is about the interpretation of provisions of the Collective Agreement for the bargaining unit as a whole, it is dealt with by the Joint Faculty Relations Committee (JFRC). If this work is done on behalf of one or more Members to address their particular circumstances or concerns, it is ‘grievance’ work.
A ‘grievance’ is a dispute that arises over a difference of interpretation or an alleged violation of the Collective Agreement, which outlines the terms and conditions of employment for RAAS Members. Among other things, tenure and promotion, discipline, workload, and leaves are covered by the Collective Agreement. RAAS may call a 'grievance' anything from an informal inquiry to a formal complaint. You should not be concerned, therefore, if RAAS refers to your matter as a 'grievance' when you make an informal inquiry.
We are RAAS. As academic members of a certified trade union, we stand together to defend our rights under our Collective Agreement and associated provincial legislation, in accordance with the principles of shared governance, academic freedom, and natural justice.
With gratitude to all Members who have volunteered to serve, either immediately or in the future, I am delighted to present your RAAS Grievance Committee:
Amir Al-Azraki (CLS)
Colleen McMillan (SSW)
Jason Blokhuis (SDS) (Chair)
Lori Curtis (FAUW) (ex officio)
Kristina Lewellyn (ex officio)
kristina.llewellyn@uwaterloo.ca
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to any member of the RGC. RAAS treats all enquiries from Members as confidential, informing only those who need to know of your identity in seeking a resolution. Please note that RAAS owes a duty of fair representation to all Members under s. 74 of the Ontario Labour Relations Act. We take these responsibilities seriously.
For details on the important work of the RGC, please go to https://eagle-raccoon-wgwp.squarespace.com. You can find our draft Grievance Policies and Procedures under the ‘Our Documents’ tab and draft Member FAQs under the ‘Member Support’ tab. You can also find an archive of back issues of RAAS Reports.
Jason Blokhuis
RAAS Grievance Officer
BOARD UPDATE
Edwin Ng (edwin.ng@uwaterloo.ca) has been elected as the Faculty Appointee to the Board as of January 1, 2021. Congratulations, Edwin!
SATIRE
Report: Best way to discover embarrassing errors in email* is to click “send” [*or in RAAS Reports – ed.]
Claire Blackwood, The Beaverton (December 14, 2020)
According to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the most effective way for employees to uncover horrifying typos in important company-wide emails is to simply send them. “We found that regardless of how many times a test subject would read, re-read, and edit the email, the only statistically proven method of immediately detecting crucial errors was to just click that “send” button,” explained the study’s lead researcher Dr. Amy Kwan. “What was even more fascinating was the discovery that the more important the email, the more embarrassing typos our subjects would find.”
NOT SATIRE
Ontario to tie funding of universities and colleges to labour-market needs
Joe Friesen, The Globe and Mail (November 27, 2020)
The Ontario government is moving ahead with performance-based funding for postsecondary institutions but will delay its implementation for another two years as schools deal with the impacts of the pandemic. The government said its goal is to make postsecondary institutions more responsive to labour-market needs. It aims to do so by making a substantial portion of provincial funding for universities and colleges dependent on outcomes for students, rather than enrolments.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
CAUT WELCOMES SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN THE FALL ECONOMIC UPDATE
December 1, 2020
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) welcomes measures in the Fall Economic Update to help vulnerable Canadians, including students, but calls on the government to make more concrete, robust and transformative commitments to research and post-secondary education in Budget 2021.
NOTE: The final 2020 issue of the CAUT Bulletin is available for download here.
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
OCUFA condemns the Ford government for granting Canada Christian College university status
OCUFA (December 7, 2020)
“The Ontario government has ignored and undermined the quality assessment process it said it would follow before conferring university status to Canada Christian College. The Ford government is putting its seal of approval on an institution that degrades the meaning and integrity of Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees,” said Rahul Sapra, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.
Millions of Canadians working from home could qualify for new tax deduction
Elizabeth Thompson, CBC News (December 15, 2020)
The Canada Revenue Agency has simplified the rules to make millions of Canadians working from home eligible for a tax deduction. Under the new rules, those who worked from home more than 50 per cent of the time over a period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 as a result of the pandemic will be now be eligible for the deduction.
Enrollment by International Students in US Colleges Plummets
Kavitha Cardoza, National Public Radio (December 2, 2020)
The US has historically been a top destination for international students. At last count, there were more than a million. They're attracted by the high-tech facilities and opportunities for research; the easy, non-hierarchical interaction between faculty and students; and the open, social environment on campuses. But this year, in a survey of more than 700 colleges and universities, the Institute of International Education found total international enrollment plummeted 16% between fall of 2019 and fall of 2020. Statistics on new international students was even grimmer — a 43% drop.
Cheating skyrockets at UW amid pandemic
Paula Duhatschek, CBC News (December 14, 2020)
Cheating at the University of Waterloo more than doubled during the 2019-2020 academic year, according to a report on student discipline that went before the university Senate last month. Students were found guilty of cheating 1340 times between September 2019 and August 2020. That's up from 544 incidents of cheating during the 2018-2019 academic year.
Student evaluations inherently biased, says UWOFA
Ashley Gouveas, Western Gazette (November 30, 2020)
Professors are not required to report their scores from student evaluations this year, as the University looks to accommodate faculty through the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic. Students are usually encouraged to complete teaching evaluations for each of their professors for the semester, rating their learning experience out of seven. While evaluations will still be conducted this semester, the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association pushed to reduce their influence on hiring decisions.
OSAP not suspending payments for students through second wave of COVID-19
Clarrie Feinstein, Daily Hive (November 30, 2020)
It looks like students that use the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) will not have their payments suspended during the second COVID-19 wave. However, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion recently to reintroduce moratoriums on the federal student loan repayments until May 31, 2021. Once actioned by the government, this will freeze repayments and interest for federal student loan borrowers during the pandemic.