July, 2005

What we’ll do on our summer vacation

We know that faculty and librarians don’t just sit around in the summer! Classes and graduate research projects go on, there is finally a chance to readTuesday 2005-08-16 10:28ures ready for next semester. Perhaps a conference – and maybe even some vacation time!

Vacation Entitlements

Years of Service	Working Days
1 – 12	22 working days
13 – 20	25 working days
21 and more years	30 working days

In addition, your UGFA Council and Executive have a number of projects on the go this summer, including Council committees to look at LTS&B (Long Term Salary and Benefits) Plan, the costs of benefits, retirement issues, and a certification committee to report on our Special Plan arrangement. A two-day retreat in late June began working on a UGFA mission statement and looking at how it can be applied to some arising issues.

We have a lot of Committees!

In the last salary settlement, we agreed to establish Joint Committees with the Administration to examine the Long Term Salary and Benefits Plan (LTS&B) , and also to look at ways in which the costs of benefits might be reduced. The issues are clearly complex and will affect all faculty and librarians, so UGFA Council has established two internal committees to study the issues and advise the UGFA members who will be negotiating for us on those Joint Committees. A new Fact Sheet has been prepared, giving some background on the LTS&B, and the UGFA website has more details. (Note that while it is called “LTS&B”, the plan really only deals with the salary part.)

UGFA has also been involved in discussions with the Administration on retirement issues . The impact of recently introduced provincial legislation that would remove mandatory retirement at age 65 is a major interest, including how it will affect pensions, benefits, Faculty Policies and university planning and renewal. Retirement issues also concern how inducements for early retirements and options for phasing-in of retirement, or continued association of retirees might work.

A Council certification review committee was established to consider how the Faculty Association’s Special Plan Agreement with the University Administration compares with union certification. This “CRC” is expected to report back to Council in the fall, with information from discussions they have had with various people.

Finally, many members of Executive and Council attended a two-day Strategic Planning Session in Elora , June 28-29. A facilitator, Françoise Morissette, worked with the group to develop a UGFA mission statement, and to plan how it could be applied to identify and meet the challenges of the coming year. (A full report of the session and subsequent work on strategic planning will be coming!)

Our core values are:

Vigilance
Integrity
Advocacy
Academic Freedom
Scholarly Approach
Respect
Fairness
Accountability
Integrity of the Academic Process
Effectiveness

Contractually-Limited Faculty

A duck is a duck is a duck....?

In June, UGFA sent six delegates to a one-day CAUT conference at the University of Western Ontario, on “Achieving Equity for Contract Academic Staff” . The term “contract staff” includes a range of appointments in universities and colleges, from the per-course sessional instructor to full-time faculty appointments with limited terms (Contractually-Limited, CL). There is limited information about how many people are in such appointments in Canada, who they are, and the extent to which teaching in various institutions depends on contract staff.

Concerns for individual contract academics include the basic fairness of the system - security of employment, adequate compensation and benefits, workload protection, and the chance to develop professionally and qualify for future opportunities. Contract faculty teaching at more than one institution have been described as “roads scholars”, while a panellist talked of part timers “whizzing around like Molly Maids”. The appointments usually involve quite heavy teaching assignments, so there is limited time and energy for the research and writing that is needed for a CL to be competitive for tenure-track positions. Although the appointments may be viewed as “a foot in the door”, conversion to tenure track positions (“regularization”) is not common, and indeed it was suggested that when there is an opening in a department, “familiarity can breed contempt” when considering current CLs. Meanwhile, CLs may feel vulnerable, and fear to raise issues concerning work conditions and opportunities, in case it endangers the next contract.

‘I really love my job. We know that faculty and librarians don’t just sit around in the summer! Classes and graduate research projects go on, there is finally a chance to read – or write! – that book or paper, and maybe even get some lectures ready for next semester. Perhaps a conference – and maybe even some vacation time!”

The associations and unions that represent contract staff also have substantial concerns

Bargaining units need to be able to reconcile competing interests and priorities among the members represented, as well as dealing with employers who may see CLs as a “cheap, disposable workforce”, or find “just-in-time teachers” an excellent way of dealing with budget restraints. Comments suggested that there could be “passive complicity by regular faculty in allowing the employer to exploit CLs”. It was noted that the university is a hierarchy, with teaching being below research, and “teaching only” fellows and sessional appointments, particularly for junior level courses, being on the bottom. One long-term implication of using CLs to cover teaching needs is an “unbundling” of teaching from the rest of the professorial role. Thus, “contracting out” has impact on the work of other faculty. Although student numbers have increased, department sizes have not. With greater emphasis on research and graduate programs, contractually-limited academic staff have become increasingly important for keeping the ship afloat.

At the University of Guelph

“CL” faculty and librarians are included as members of UGFA . Their contracts are generally for at least a year, and can be multi-year. The intent, at least as a matter of policy, is to provide an opportunity for the individual to pursue a full range of activities in teaching, scholarship and service ie. To develop as faculty. Instructors appointed on a sessional basis to present one or more courses are unionized members of Unit 2 of CUPE Local 3913. (Unit 1 is composed of graduate teaching assistants.) Some teaching is done by members of the Professional Staff Association, but the Special Plan Agreement (Article 17.5.3) limits their number to 15.

The senior university administration has made a significant effort to ensure CLs are treated as valued members of the academic community. The contracts define distributions of effort in teaching, scholarship, and service, and CLs are eligible for one study semester each year and for professional development allowances. Significant recent progress has been made in assessing performance for step increases under TAPSI guidelines.

However, the bottom line is that a CL has a time-limited contract, despite suggestions that “there may be something beyond ….”. Conversion of CL positions to tenure-stream (“regularization”) is rare, and it can be difficult for a CL who has had a teaching emphasis to be competitive for tenure-stream appointments.

Policy and procedures have changed for the better, but practices are not always consistent with policy. Also, some benefits are reduced, delayed or not available for CL’s and in fact; any difference in benefits is a salary reduction. Most important for the well-being of the institution is the constraints felt by contractually-limited faculty in their ability to be faculty in the full sense of the word. Faculty pressured by concerns for contract renewals and the need for a continued job search cannot put their full energies into their current position at the University of Guelph.

Intellectual Property

Many bits of paper hit your “in-box” …and often move quickly to an “out-box” or similar receptacle. A June 14, 2005 memorandum from the Joint Faculty Policies Committee does deserve some attention. It concerns proposed changes to intellectual property and ownership issues, forming Parts 2 and 3 of Section O of Faculty Policies. Part 2 is a new Preamble, while Part 3 specifically concerns Courseware and Distance Education Courses. In the future, the intention is to add more sections, on Inventions Policy (Part 4), Software Policy (Part 5) and Policy with respect to Student Intellectual Property Rights (Part 6).

Policies concerning Intellectual Property clearly fall into the category of “terms and conditions of employment’, as they define who “owns” inventions, publications, ideas, and “courseware”. In developing new or revised policies, Joint Faculty Policies Committee requests input from faculty and librarians on proposed policies. On these amendments, they are requesting comments by Friday August 26th, 2005. (Address to: JFPC, c/o Tracey Alberico, Secretary of JFPC, Provost’s Office, UC Level 4, or email to t.alberico@exec.uoguelph.ca). And yes, we can get you a copy if you misplaced it!

UGFA has consulted with the Association’s lawyers and will be submitting comments to JFPC.

Health and Safety Committee

Last year, UGFA members were involved in a number of issues that concerned Environmental Health and Safety (“radio towers, asbestos and fences” might trigger your memory!). These matters made us recognize that as an association, we needed to be more aware of workplace safety issues, particularly as faculty may be considered both “employee” and “employer” (e.g. laboratory supervision). On the University’s Central Joint Health and Safety Committee, Dr. Larry Grovum has represented our employee group very ably for many years, and we are pleased that he has been willing to chair the new UGFA Standing Committee on Health and Safety.

Earlier this year, proposals were made concerning the structure of the Joint Health and Safety Committee, including appointment of six EHS campus inspectors for radiation, biosafety, laboratory, facilities, industrial and agricultural, occupational hygiene safety inspections. A concern was the apparent move to disband the Local (Departmental) Health and Safety Committees, as these provide immediate and effective action in high risk areas (e.g. laboratories and workshops) and can be very effective in establishing good two-way communications between workers and EHS. The various employee groups, including UGFA, must sign off on the proposed changes before a restructured Terms of Reference document can be submitted to the Ministry of Labour. Both UGFA and Steelworkers Local 4120 have expressed reservations about the proposals.

We invite additional faculty and Librarians to volunteer for membership on the UGFA Health and Safety Committee.

Steelworkers LOCAL 4120

UGFA members are likely aware that USW Local 4120, the University Staff Association, are negotiating their Collective Agreement with the Administration, and that a general membership gave a strike mandate to their negotiating team. This does not mean that there will be a strike, but does mean that there could be one if they cannot negotiate a satisfactory collective agreement. UGFA is maintaining contact with the Steelworkers on the situation, and will keep you informed as necessary. (In very brief form: In the event of a strike, faculty and librarians are required to cross picket lines to go to work (e.g. teach classes), as long as it is safe to do so. Faculty and Librarians would not be expected to do work that is normally done by striking staff. )

UGFA President Ed Carter took a letter to the July 6th meeting of Steelworkers Local 4120, which said:

“Faculty and Librarians recognize the significant role staff play in ensuring the University of Guelph functions as well as it does, and we are grateful for the immense efforts of all staff members to deal with the inevitable increase in workloads that result from more students and financial restraints. We recognize the importance of ensuring that the University continues to have a strong and sufficient support staff. We are happy to be working with you to ensure the continued success of our University.”

Coming Up....

In the next “News & Views” you will hear about:

UGFA Retreat report....our mission statement and strategic priorities
Integrative Planning (The other IP!)
Assessing undergraduate Student experience (Rae of sunshine)
How this place runs....organizational chart “Fact Sheet”

Feedback....

We invite your comments on the issues presented in this Newsletter as well as other items of interest. Just contact us via e-mail (facassoc@uoguelph.ca), phone (ext. 52126) or snail mail!!