RAAS Report
Friday, April 29, 2022
Ann Dennis, Editor
PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
Congratulations to everyone for making it through another term of pandemic work! It is my hope that you are getting a small break between terms, including enjoying time outside as the warmer weather begins.
Post-secondary Education Advocacy
Despite being lured outside by the sun, I am spending several days this month and next at annual meetings for CAUT and OCUFA. As I write this report, I am listening to a moving talk by Risa Lieberwitz, General Counsel, American Association of University Professors. She is speaking about the regressive regulations and laws being enacted to prevent equity, diversity, and inclusion on university campuses (e.g., attacks on critical race theory, don’t say gay law, and far more). Post-secondary educators who are engaged in EDI teaching and research face attacks on their job security (i.e., threatening the idea of tenure) and academic freedom. It is not an accident that education leading to real social change is under threat. Faculty associations, including RAAS, have an obligation to build alliances to fight this intellectual repression. We have a responsibility to fight for students’ rights to learn about injustice and for justice. I am proud that RAAS is working alongside CAUT and OUFA to address increasing threats to post-secondary education in Canada.
One of the ways that we can stand united is speaking out about the rights of labourers and the prioritization of post-secondary education during the upcoming election. I continue to work with local unions to develop plans for advocacy events during the election. Some of our initial plans have changed due to the current wave of COVID. There are actions that we can take today and in the coming days.
If you have not already done so, please take a minute to use OCUFA’s email action to send a message to your local Ontario election candidates to tell them it's time to revitalize public postsecondary education in Ontario.
Join the Ontario Federation of Labour in your area on May 1st (THIS SUNDAY) for a province-wide day of action for a better Ontario. The full list of events can be found here: https://ofl.ca/event/may-1/. Kitchener-Waterloo will host a rally and carnival of resistance. The event will be at the Waterloo Region Courthouse from 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM (85 Frederick St, Kitchener, ON).
Display an OCUFA poster that calls for the prioritization of post-secondary education. The poster is attached to this newsletter. You can hang this on your office door or in the windows of your home. If you are attending a rally, please bring a poster with you to the event.
CAUT Dedicated Service Awards
Thank you to everyone who attended our AGM on April 6th. While we engaged in regular business, we also took a special moment to recognize Agnieszka Wolczuk and Jason Blokhuis as the recipients of the CAUT Dedicated Service Award. Aga was recognized for her incredible dedication to supporting the interests of lecturers in our association and across our campus. Jason was recognized for his incredible dedication to our association’s drive to certify and in building our communications and grievance capacities. I will be ensuring that their certificates are delivered to them in the coming weeks.
Memorandum of Understanding
RAAS has again signed an MoU with the administration (pending a signature by President Fletcher this week). This MoU extends COVID-related family status and medical accommodations for faculty to teach remotely during the Spring term. We are so pleased that this negotiated provision supported some faculty during the winter term. The text of the agreement for the spring term is below:
RUC and RAAS agree to Covid-related workplace accommodations for exceptional and extenuating circumstances regarding Family Status and/or medical reasons that may negatively impact a Member’s ability to teach an in-person course. The Member must initiate an accommodation request, in writing, to the Vice President Academic and Dean and the Director, Human Resources and Infrastructure, who will triage requests in a fair, consistent, and expedient manner. Members may be asked to provide verifiable evidence supporting the request. Renison University College shall exercise empathy and compassion when considering accommodation requests on a case-by-case basis. Upon approval, the workplace accommodation(s) will be negotiated in coordination with the affected academic unit and consideration of student needs.
Service to RAAS
As you know, Rob, Trish, and Jason have been elected as the New Executive for RAAS starting July 1st. I will stay on a Past-President for the Executive, although I will be taking a one-year break from that role during my sabbatical this year. Your new Executive will also include a Lead Negotiator and a Grievance Officer. These are appointed roles.
RAAS is collective work. We can only remain strong as a union, including protecting our collective rights, if we all engage in the work. So many of you have or continue to dedicate a great deal of service to RAAS. We need, however, even more faculty to dedicate some of their service time to RAAS. Remember service to RAAS counts as service to Renison in accordance with the Collective Agreement.
Please consider indicating to any member of the new Executive your interest in:
The Grievance Committee
The Negotiation Team
The Equity and Inclusion Committee
Again, I am so appreciative of all the members who volunteer their time and energy to the important work of RAAS. Thank you!
Kristina Llewellyn
RAAS President
BRASS TACKS AND RAAS FAQs
Please consider taking part in the virtual OCUFA Workshop on University Governance scheduled for May 6th from 9 AM to 5 PM (now via Zoom). It’s not too late to register.
The Erosion of Collegial Governance: Reclaiming Lost Ground will provide hands-on training to support faculty associations and faculty representatives on governing bodies and committees. This workshop accompanies a resource document released in February by OCUFA’s University Governance Committee (see attached). These initiatives reflect OCUFA’s commitment to supporting faculty representation and strengthening the systems of shared / collegial governance which are vital to publicly-funded universities.
Jason Blokhuis
Grievance Committee Member
BOARD UPDATE
The Board of Governors met on Wednesday, March 30th. The agenda was lengthy. The meeting was hybrid, with a mix of in-person and remote attendees.
Tenure and Promotion: Congratulations to Amir Al-Azraki, Meg Gibson, and Edwin Ng on their promotion to the rank of Associate Professor (with tenure) and to Jason Blokhuis and Kevin Cai on their promotion to the rank of Full Professor. Wendy offered glowing citations. Motions to approve the five promotions were unanimously carried.
Budget: Motions to approve the 2022-2023 budget were carried. Of note, a new accountability-based budget model will be used for the upcoming fiscal year. The current budget includes support from uW in the amount of $1,102,740. This will help address debt service ratio challenges while the equity agreement is renegotiated. A projected small cash surplus has been directed to four funds (Capital, Unplanned Urgent Need, Mission Development, and Stabilization). These funds are dedicated to financial recovery and future planning. Despite the revenue assistance and small cash surplus, an overall deficit of over $700,000 is projected.
Investment Policy: A motion to approve the draft Renison University College Investment Policy was carried. Renison will manage its our own endowment funds after this fiscal year and needed an investment policy before issuing an RFP for an investment manager. Of the note, the policy includes commitments to ethical and socially responsible investment.
Steering Committee: A Steering Committee has been commissioned by the Board to work on (a) re-storying our narratives and self-understanding for a postcolonial era; (b) our connection to the Anglican church; (c) our College name; and (d) our commitment to the ongoing work of reconciliation. Kelly Laurila and Arshi Shaikh were elected to serve as faculty representatives.
Edwin Ng and Jason Blokhuis
Faculty Board Representatives
EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE
To begin: please join me in extending a big and warm welcome to Kelly Laurila, who has joined the Equity and Inclusion Committee! It is wonderful, Kelly, that you have offered your knowledge and wisdom to this committee. Thank you.
This morning I attended a workshop that was hosted by OCUFA’s Status of Women and Equity committee. This workshop explored activism and allyship in the academy – specifically thinking about the cultural and structural barriers to these connections and the complexities of allyship between academics and communities. Three panelists talked about their experiences of activism within the university, as well as their community-based efforts. The discussion also considered equity work, and the role of the union in this kind of work. We talked together about the kinds of environments that we want to support:
where actions and values match up;
where communities engage in practices of radical care;
where community members come together in solidarity to organize for positive change;
where community members support one another when there has been harm and also support one another in becoming more and more accountable.
There was much conversation, as well, about how the equity work that happens in universities needs to be tied in to, guided by, and done in collaboration with community-based efforts for change. It was a very inspiring conversation. If you have any questions/reflections, please feel free to drop me a line: pvankatwyk@uwaterloo.ca.
AND: Please do consider joining us on this committee.
Trish Van Katwyk
RAAS Representative
SATIRE
New law forbids tourists from leaving Montreal until they eat a poutine
Vinny Francois, The Beaverton, April 4, 2022
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante announced a new measure where tourists will no longer be allowed to leave the city limits unless they have eaten one of the city’s signature dishes, a poutine.
NOT SATIRE
Federal Budget 2022: No major investments in PSE
CAUT, April 11, 2022
https://www.caut.ca/content/federal-budget-2022-no-major-investments-pse
Despite welcome commitments to expanded public health services, including dental care, pharmacare and mental health care, investments in public post-secondary education were notably absent. We urgently need a national post-secondary education strategy with the provinces and territories that includes a minimum of $3 billion in direct federal funding.
CAUT NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a nation-wide association of our peers.
Ruling from Arbitrator Results in Significant Gains for UMFA Members
A key element of ending UMFA’s 35-day strike in 2021 was agreeing to binding interest arbitration to determine general scale increases (GSI) and recruitment and retention adjustments in each of 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. The terms of the arbitration stated that the arbitrator would ignore any government mandates and be guided by “reasonable advancement towards” the 25th percentile in the U15. The arbitrator was also to rule on other unresolved items, including salary for duties performed to complete the Fall semester’s teaching, and research and service requirements. The arbitration took place March 11-12.
Today arbitrator William Kaplan issued his decision, including the notable ruling on pay for back-teaching that was required to complete the Fall term, as well as lump-sum payments for research and service that were required to continue, or be made up, after the strike.
Highlights from the decision that may be of interest include:
General Salary Increase* to Achieve Reasonable Progress Towards the 25th Percentile.
April 1, 2021: 2.25%
April 1, 2022: 2.25%
April 1, 2023: 2.25%
Pay for post-strike back-teaching
When the strike was over the University had options. It could have truncated the academic year and the teaching that would take place within it. Instead, it chose to compress [the Fall term]. In the result, faculty were required to perform all their assigned teaching, which self-evidently now included the teaching that had not occurred during the strike.
One hundred percent of the teaching assigned was performed and so 100% of the teaching must be paid for. Accordingly, faculty with teaching assignments are to be compensated for whatever proportion of their workload assignment was teaching, prorated for the period of the strike when they were obviously not paid. Any amounts paid are subject to union dues.
Pay for research and service done during the strike
Kaplan described that he does “not accept that research and service can be easily turned on and off. The University asserts that teaching duties were prioritized by the University after the strike and that research and service were deemphasized – a proposition which [Kaplan] rejects, for experience in these matters indicates first, that the cadence of academic life is otherwise, and second, that any such rearrangement was not communicated in any formal manner.”
He then ruled for a “lump sum of $1,000 for Professors and $500 for Instructors and Librarians”.
Ability to make pension contributions
After the 2016 strike, the university’s administration did not permit UMFA members to make contributions to the pension plan for the period of the strike. As part of his ruling, Kaplan directs the university’s administration “to facilitate employees making both employer and employee contributions to the pension plan for the period of the strike – even if an amendment to the pension plan is required”
Summary of UMFA/UM Arbitration Proposals, and the Arbitrator’s Decision
Although the arbitrator did not give us everything we included in our arbitration proposal, we are pleased with this result. The gains made in this decision were only possible because of the persistence and strength of UMFA’s 1,245 professors, instructors, and librarians on the in-person and virtual picket lines.
The full ruling by arbitrator Kaplan is available here. For more information on the arbitration, visit the UMFA website.
In solidarity,
Orvie Dingwall
she/her
President
University of Manitoba Faculty Association
president@umfa.ca
New private members’ bill offers essential support for PSE
CAUT News, April 2022
CAUT welcomed a private members’ bill introduced in Parliament last month that would spur federal action on affordability and accessibility of post-secondary education and research.
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
Why the name ‘Toronto Metropolitan University’ reflects our school’s values and aspirations
Mohamed Lachemi, The Toronto Star, April 26, 2022
Ryerson will be named Toronto Metropolitan University after board approves name change.
Seven-week strike comes to an end at Sainte-Anne
CAUT News, April 22, 2022
Academic staff at Université Sainte-Anne have ended their seven-week strike earlier after agreeing to resolve remaining issues through binding arbitration.
Are there ever really ‘financial reasons’ to fire faculty? Laurentian University, academic freedom and the disciplining of the professoriate
Honor Brabazon, St Jerome’s University, Academic Matters, April 19, 2022
The 2020–21 academic year saw two incidents of Ontario professors being effectively fired: the termination of 116 of the 345 professors at Laurentian University in an unprecedented use of the Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act (CCAA) at a public institution and the donor interference that reversed the decision to hire Dr. Valentina Azarova as Director of the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program because her research was seen to be critical of Israel.
Laurentian faculty union president says auditor’s report a ‘complete validation of pretty much everything that we’ve said’
Heidi Ulrichsen, Sudbury.com, April 19, 2022
The president of Laurentian University’s faculty association says a report on the insolvent university released by Ontario’s auditor general Wednesday is a “complete validation of pretty much everything we’ve said during the past 14 months.”
Acadia to pay students for classes lost to faculty strike
Adam Innis, CBC News, April 14, 2022
A one-time payment of $600 for domestic students and $700 for international students has been offered to those who lost time in class during the month-long faculty strike earlier this year.
Students’ Welcome Tuition Fee Freeze but Ontario Universities Need a Funding Increase
Sault This Week, April 1, 2022
The recent announcement of a tuition fee freeze for Ontario’s university students will provide some necessary short-term relief, however the Ford Government must reverse its cuts and provide necessary funding to the provinces universities, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 30,000 workers in universities across Ontario.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Aga Wolczuk and Jason Blokhuis who are recipients of the CAUT Dedicated Service Award for their extraordinary efforts, commitment, and service to RAAS. This award was established to recognize exceptional service provided by individuals who have been dedicated members of the association and have served it with distinction. You can see their name in lights in the CAUT Bulletin and on the CAUT website: https://www.caut.ca/about-us/awards-scholarships/lists/awards-and-scholarships/dedicated-service-award
Member Spotlight
by Amir Al-Azraki
My scholarship contributes to an emerging field of Arab postcolonial theatre through investigating the socio-political and cultural dynamics that have contoured modern and contemporary Arab theater after Western colonialism. I am currently collaborating with Dr. James al-Shamma on a book entitled, Theatre in Iraq under Occupation, 2003-2011: Lamentation, Homeland, Identity. This book examines the theatre of Iraq under occupation as one of lamentation over a lost homeland and an identity. The book is in progress and scheduled to be published by the University of Iowa Press in 2022.
Also, I am actively researching the effectiveness of the Theatre of the Oppressed in transforming pedagogy and addressing social justice issues. On May 14th & 15th, I will be facilitating a workshop (“Forum Theatre as Transitive Pedagogy”) on utilizing Forum Theatre as a pedagogical tool in the classroom. Funded by Renison Research Grant, this workshop is part of a research project which aims to synthesize how best to train faculty to be Forum Theatre facilitators; the strengths, weaknesses, and best practices of utilizing Forum Theatre in the classroom; and the impact of Forum Theatre on students’ attitude, knowledge, and behavior.
Moreover, as a community-engaged scholar, I respond to social problems by working alongside community partners to raise awareness of anti-black racism. One of my emerging areas of research investigates the roots of anti-Blackness in my Arab culture, and supports the Afro-Iraqi community by researching, translating, and documenting their heritage on threat of extinction. I am currently translating (from Arabic to English) Representations of the Other: The Image of Black People in the Medieval Arab Imaginary by a Bahraini scholar and critic Nader Kadhim to be published by McGill-Queen’s UP in 2022. Further, I am the principal investigator of a UW-SSHRC Explore Grant on a project, titled “Afro-Iraqi Cultural Heritage: Documenting, Preserving and Sharing”, which aims to bridge the capacity of Afro-Iraqi researchers to collect digital cultural heritage that will advance knowledge, recognition, and preserve a heritage on the threat of extinction. The ultimate goal is to increase representation, visibility, and recognition of Afro-Iraqis in Iraqi society.