Message from the President – Retirement Incentive

November 29, 2024.

Dear members of CUASA,

On November 22, Provost and Vice-President (Academic) L. Pauline Rankin and Interim Vice-President (Finance and Administration) Angela Marcotte announced a Volunteer Retirement Incentive Plan for professional staff and faculty members. The plan was presented as one component of the Financial Sustainability Framework announced on November 8.

The administration did not consult with CUASA, the certified bargaining agent representing all Faculty at Carleton since 1975, in their design of this plan. This is deeply troubling as it directly affects the terms and conditions of employment of our members. Nothing about teaching, research, supervision and scholarly service to the community should be decided without faculty members. CUASA’s Negotiating Team is currently bargaining a new collective agreement, this issue belongs at the bargaining table.

This week we wrote to the senior administration, on behalf of CUASA members, to ask for more information about the plan. The information they won’t share includes:

• How many total packages have been offered?
• What is the estimated cost of this program?
• Where is the money for the retirement incentive budgeted?
• What are the factors used by the Resource Planning Committee Chairs to determine who is approved? Who decided these factors?

Every day, you have sent even more questions to the CUASA office: What is the ratio of professional staff to faculty members who will be offered this package? Which Carleton employees are not offered the package and why? Why does Carleton continue to hire large numbers of senior administrators? How do the designers of the Financial Sustainability Framework consider that losses of faculty and administrative positions won’t compound budgetary issues by reducing the quality of education, research, and service performed at Carleton? CUASA continues to pursue answers.

While we don’t know everything we need to, those of us who learned that they are eligible to the plan, by an email from the Department of Human Resources on November 21, should know that:

• We still have the same retirement possibilities under the collective agreement that we did before the offer.
• Faculty members who have already submitted their intent to retire under Article 13.7 of the Carleton-CUASA Collective Agreement are ineligible for the new plan. Exceptions are made for members who submitted in November of 2024.
• Applications are not guaranteed acceptance: “Applications will be reviewed based on the university’s teaching, research and operational needs and will be approved at the university’s discretion accordingly.”
• Decision will be made after the close of the submission period (January 31, 2025).
• You can withdraw you application before January 31 but not after.

This retirement incentive, offered to 283 faculty, will have serious consequences for our institution no matter how few of our 990 members apply and are accepted. Since, the senior administration “is not committed to filling all vacated roles,” retirements in the short term might lead to permanent loss of classes, departments or research initiatives in the long term; the plan has the potential to close programs altogether.

CUASA is also concerned about the impact on its members of the suddenness of the offer, of the fact that it is a “limited, one-time offer … not a recurring program”, and that there was only 72 days (63 now – including 10 when the campus is closed) to make this important personal decision, at the time of year when faculty are the busiest. The stress on the mental health of our members is palpable. It is not lost on the Carleton community that the first significant budgetary sacrifices are their jobs. Better leadership would surely begin with cuts other than educators, the lifeblood of Carleton’s enterprise.

Thanks to all members who have already shared the information they received, their questions and their concerns. CUASA is committed to bringing your voice to the conversation. Please continue to share your queries and suggestions with the administration here, or with CUASA here (where it will remain anonymous) – we will pass on your messages to the Provost.

In solidarity,

Dominique