Weekly Update – November 27
November 27, 2020
Weekly Update – November 27
CUASA to Present on Bill 213
We wish to inform you that CUASA’s virtual appearance before the Standing Committee on General Government regarding Bill 213, An Act to reduce burdens on people and businesses by enacting, amending and repealing various Acts and revoking a regulation, has been approved.
CUASA will be presenting on its concerns about Ford government’s ongoing attempt to discreetly pass legislation through an omnibus bill that would allow Charles McVety’s private Canada Christian College to call itself a university and award degrees. CUASA previously sent a letter on this topic to the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Ross Romano, which you can read here.
CUASA is scheduled to appear at 2:00pm on Monday, November 30, 2020. For more information on this Standing Committee, click here. CUASA also made a written submission to the committee today, November 27. To read that submission, click here.
CUASA’s submissions will form part of the public record and Hansard transcripts. For more information, please contact CUASA’s External Affairs Officer, Raj Singh at [email protected].
Cautions in CDI Letters
The Association has been informed by the University that some of our members have received cautions (the university calls these developmental feedback) related to their performance or development in the CDI letters they received for the academic year 2019-2020. The University has refused to identify these members to the union. The Association has numerous agreements in place or clear statements made by the University that its members were not going to be prejudiced against during the pandemic period. Since the 2019-2020 was greatly disrupted, making any negative individual comments about CUASA’s members is untoward.
Members are reminded that they have rights if any adverse comment is made about them in any career decision process. If you have received a comment or concern or some form of developmental feedback in your 2019-2020 decanal correspondence, please email a copy to [email protected] for immediate review.
Last Call: CBC COVID-19 Survey
This is the last call for submissions to the CUASA Collective Bargaining Committee’s survey to learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on our members and to determine priorities for bargaining.
The survey will close Monday, November 30 at 11:59pm. If you haven’t had the chance to respond yet, please consider taking a few moments to do so. Your input is extremely valuable to the CBC and will help as we prepare for bargaining.
Members can find the link to the survey in their email. Please note that this survey is meant only for CUASA bargaining unit members. We kindly ask that you please not share the link to the survey.
Note: if you can’t find the link to the survey in your email, please contact [email protected].
Thank you to those who have completed the survey thus far.
CUASA Anti-Racism and BIPOC Community Members’ Experience Survey
CUASA’s Anti-Racism Working Group has launched a survey to seek input from CUASA members about how we can promote specific changes to protect the rights of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) community members and other marginalized communities at Carleton. This is only one step in CUASA’s ongoing commitment to support and learn from grassroots movements to redress colonial oppression, anti-Black racism, and white supremacy in CUASA, Carleton and the wider community.
The survey will be open until Monday, December 14.
Members can find the link to the survey in their email. Please note that this survey is meant only for CUASA bargaining unit members. We kindly ask that you please not share the link to the survey.
Note: if you can’t find the link to the survey in your email, please contact [email protected].
Support for Scholars at Risk
December is almost here, which means that it’s time for Giving Tuesday! Carleton Scholars at Risk has launched a Future Funder campaign to help fund supports for endangered scholars.
Carleton will be matching the gifts made through FutureFunder.ca on a first-come, first-serve basis, and we hope that you will consider donating to SAR here.
For more information about how your generosity supports the SAR program, we invite you to read the Annual Report here.
“Doing My Best”
On October 15 CUASA launched its “Doing My Best” campaign to share the challenges our members have been facing due to the increased workload caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are actively seeking CUASA members willing to share their stories. Please send videos, photos, or stories to Dawn by emailing [email protected].
Nominations for Steering Positions
We are still accepting nominations for the following Steering positions:
- Communications Officer
- Chair, Nominations and Elections
- Chair, Internal Affairs
Information on the nominations process can be found on our How to Volunteer page. The work of the Association continues, despite the current environment we find ourselves in. Remember that our Association is only as strong as its membership, so we count on the time and commitment of our members to achieve our goals. Some of these positions come with a course release subject to the availability of funds.
Call for Volunteers
We are seeking one CUASA member to serve on the Joint Committee on Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JCEE). Details on the mandate of this important committee can be found here. If you are interested in serving on the JCEE, please email [email protected].
We are also seeking CUASA members to serve on the Association’s internal Equity Committee. Please send an email to [email protected] if you are interested.
Pandemic has caused decline in education quality according to new poll of university students and faculty
From OCUFA:
“University students, faculty, and academic librarians are struggling with social isolation, stress, and a lack of institutional support according to the results of a new poll which finds that those working and studying at Ontario’s universities believe the shift to online education has negatively impacted quality. Without immediate action from universities and the Ontario government to address these concerns, it is likely that quality will degrade even further.
‘These results demonstrate that meaningful engagement between students and faculty is fundamental to the learning process,’ said Rahul Sapra, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. ‘As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the scramble to move courses online, we have lost that human connection and educational quality has suffered.’”
Click here to read more.
Collective strength in precarious times – New issue of Academic Matters
The latest issue of Academic Matters explores how collective negotiation has helped to ensure that the principles of the university are upheld and that academic staff are treated and compensated fairly. In the shadow of COVID-19, it is through this process that faculty associations are working to protect their members so that they can effectively carry on teaching, research, and librarianship during the pandemic. Read the issue for free online.
A Survey of Workers’ Experiences during a Pandemic
CUASA received a request from the Ottawa and District Labour Council to share the following survey:
The survey was put together by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), with help from researchers at the Institute of Work & Health and Duke University in North Carolina. We also had input from a number of health and safety union staff representatives, who told us about the concerns and questions their members have.
To access the survey please select the appropriate link:
for all workers either working from home (i.e. remotely), or at a non-healthcare workplace:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Pandemic_survey2 (EN)
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/sondage2_pandemie (FR)
If you feel uncomfortable answering a particular question, please just skip it.
All the information collected in this survey is confidential. Only the researchers directly involved in this project will see all the answers. The team will not keep any information that could identify you or others. All the data collected will be stored on a secure server.
The data collected will be used for research and to share with research organizations for the end purpose of improving pandemic working conditions. The data, analysis and related information may be used in presentations, websites, and union, trade, and academic publications.
If you have questions, please contact John Oudyk at [email protected].
