Weekly Update – May 20, 2022 – Carleton University Academic Staff Association

Weekly Update – May 20, 2022

May 20, 2022

Weekly Update – May 20, 2022

CUASA Office Closure and Summer Hours

The virtual CUASA Office will be closed on Monday, May 23, for Victoria Day. The office will reopen on Tuesday, May 24, at 9:00am.

Also, beginning next Friday, May 27, the CUASA Office will begin its summer schedule. This means that until Labour Day, the office will close at 12:00 pm on Fridays for the summer.

We wish to take a moment to remind members that CUASA’s physical offices in Dunton Tower remain closed for the time being and staff are continuing to work from home. If you need to reach us at any time, please contact [email protected].

Steering Elections and Vacant Position

Elections for Steering positions were held at yesterday’s meeting of CUASA Council. We are pleased to announce the following members will begin terms of office on July 1, 2022:

Treasurer: Greg Franks (incumbent)
Chair, Grievance Policy and Administration: Chinnaiah Jangam (incumbent)
Chair, Nominations and Elections: Jeni Armstrong
Instructor Representative: Ahmed Hassan (incumbent)
Librarian Representative: Martha Attridge Bufton

As previously announced, Marylynn Steckley will assume the role of CUASA President on July 1.

We wish to sincerely thank outgoing President, Angelo Mingarelli, for his long-time service and dedication to CUASA over many years, especially the last three as we navigated life through the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to welcoming Angelo as Past President on July 1.

We also thank outgoing Steering members Root Gorelick (Past President), Raj Singh (External Relations Officer), and Julie Lavigne (Librarian Representative) for their service to the Association over the course of their terms.

Please note we are still seeking a member to volunteer for the position of External Relations Officer. If you are interested, or would like to nominate a colleague, please contact Marylynn Steckley at [email protected]. More information can be found in the position description.

Annual Tenure/Confirmation and Promotion Workshops

Thank you to the members who attended our annual Tenure/Confirmation and Promotion workshops over the past two weeks. If you were unable to attend, but would like to receive the materials, please contact [email protected].

Member Engagement Survey

Our officers and staff want to ensure that CUASA members are provided access to services that help support them better. We appreciate your help in identifying how the Association can best meet your needs at Carleton by participating in occasional surveys.

We have developed this short on-line survey to learn more about the needs and preferences of our members across the university, based on recent questions and feedback from our membership. It should take you 5-8 minutes to complete.

This survey is anonymous unless you provide contact information for a follow-up conversation with a member of CUASA’s Internal Affairs Committee. Only the Internal Affairs committee will see individual responses. A composite summary of responses will be provided to CUASA’s Steering Committee and Council with all identifying information removed.

The survey will remain open until May 31, 2022.

Name and Contact Information Updates

As many of you know, CUASA has been working with CTAG, the Carleton Trans Advocacy Group, and the university to ensure Carleton’s databases no longer show old names (“deadnames”) when someone changes their name in the system. Due to the fact that CUASA gets our member data from Carleton, it has been brought to our attention that some of our own systems are currently still reflecting deadnames. We are working to ensure that this ends, both in advocating that the university do a full audit of their computer system and by updating our own name change forms.

If you would like to update your name and/or other contact information for use at CUASA, please use the name change form to update your information on our records. Note: the name you choose does not have to be your legal name or even necessarily the name you have on file with Carleton University. Please use whatever name you feel is most comfortable. When filling out your name change form, we ask that you also provide your Banner ID number so that we can find you in the system and ensure the change is done promptly and efficiently.

CUASA Caucus Groups

CUASA is expanding our caucus model and we are looking for volunteers who are interested in the following groups:

LGBTQIA2S+ Caucus: Any and all CUASA members who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, nonbinary, queer, intersex, asexual, Two-Spirit and/or Indigenous trans and nonbinary are welcome. We hope you will join us on Tuesday, May 24 from 3:00pm – 4:30pm.

The Anti-Racism Working Group: Any CUASA member interested in addressing the issue of racism at Carleton is invited to join. We are planning on having the next meeting in late August unless anything urgent comes up over the summer which needs our attention.

CUASA is also interested in setting up a caucus for women and all people who have lived experiences of misogyny. The first meeting will be scheduled based on availability of those interested in participating.

If you’re interested in joining or would like more information, please contact Max López (Research Officer for Equity) at [email protected].

Research Study on e-Proctoring

Professors and instructors from all Carleton departments are invited to participate in a research study about experiences relating to e-proctoring software.

During a 60-minute online interview over Zoom, participants will be asked about their experiences and perceptions with e-proctoring software. Interviews will be audio-recorded to ensure that comments are accurately captured, but audio-recordings will be deleted as soon as they are transcribed by the research team.

If interested, please fill out the pre-screening survey: https://carletonu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ewB0JEdLS70Q9TM.

Depending on the number of responses, only a subset of the individuals who fill out the survey may be interviewed. There is no compensation for completing the pre-screening survey. Interview participants will receive $20 CAD.

If you have any questions about this research study, entitled Student and Instructor Perceptions of e-Proctoring Software, please contact the research team via email at [email protected].

The research has been cleared by Carleton University Research Ethics Board-B (CUREB-B Clearance # 117184). If you have any ethical concerns with the study, please contact the Carleton University Research Ethics Board-B (via email at [email protected]).

Academic Community Updates

Ontario political parties respond to OCUFA’s party platform survey

In the lead-up to the Ontario election, OCUFA sent a survey to all major political parties in the province. The survey asked questions about party positions on OCUFA’s priority issues in this election.

To-date, all Ontario’s major political parties, except for the Progressive Conservative Party, have responded to the survey.

Let’s keep the pressure on our local candidates

We still have time to shape party priorities in this election and influence the mandate of Ontario’s next government.

Send an email to your local candidates to tell them it’s time to prioritize public postsecondary education, invest in Ontario’s universities, support fairness for contract faculty, and increased student aid.

Take action today.

Acadia academic staff vote “no confidence” in university leadership

Acadia University academic staff sent a strong message to the University leadership this month, as tensions remain high in the wake of February’s month-long strike.

Members of the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA) voted 89 per cent in favour of a motion to expressing “no confidence” in the senior administration’s ability to continue leading the university.