The Communiqué: Volume 46, No. 4 – Oct. 20, 2023 – Carleton University Academic Staff Association

The Communiqué: Volume 46, No. 4 – Oct. 20, 2023

In this Issue:

Save the Date: CUASA Fall General Membership Meeting, November 2
Coming Soon to your Inbox: CUASA’s 2024 Round Pre-Bargaining Survey
Meet Our Volunteers: Safaa Bedawi & Pat Moore, new members of the Grievance Policy & Administration Committee
Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA
CUASA Disability Caucus and CUASA 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Caucus Upcoming Meetings
Carleton University Research Achievement Awards – Deadline October 31
Protect Trans Kids (again)!: Rally against anti-2SLGTBQIA+ hate
Together We Can (TWC) Mentorship Program
Updates from OCUFA and CAUT

Save the Date: CUASA Fall General Membership Meeting, November 2

CUASA’s Fall 2023 General Membership Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 2, from 1:30 to 3:30pm.

The GMM will take place over Zoom. Advance registration is required. Members can find the registration link in their emails (if you can’t find the link, please contact [email protected]).

The agenda and other materials will be released closer to the date. The meeting will include a virtual visit from OCUFA President, Nigmendra Narain, and Executive Director, Jenny Ahn.

Note: Only Association members, meaning those who have returned a completed membership form, may participate in the internal administration of CUASA. Staff will be checking GMM registrations against the membership list and will contact any registrants who have not completed a membership form to ask them to do so before their registration will be approved. If you have any questions or wish to verify your membership status, please contact [email protected].

CUASA has started a practice of asking for volunteers to give land acknowledgements for Association meetings. Accordingly, we are seeking a volunteer from the membership to give a land acknowledgement at the start of the GMM. If interested, please email [email protected].

Coming Soon to your Inbox: CUASA’s 2024 Round Pre-Bargaining Survey

The CUASA Collective Bargaining Committee has been hard at work preparing the pre-bargaining survey for the 2024 round of negotiations. We’re now putting the final touches on the survey and hope to launch it as soon as next week. It will be open until Friday, November 10.

All CUASA bargaining unit members are asked to keep an eye on your emails for the launch of the survey. Your input is very important to guide the plan for bargaining.

Meet Our Volunteers: Safaa Bedawi & Pat Moore, new members of the Grievance Policy & Administration Committee

CUASA is only as strong as its membership, so we count on the time and commitment of our members to achieve our goals. To recognize this dedication, we’re using the Communiqué to introduce some of our wonderful volunteers. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Safaa Bedawi and Pat Moore, who are new members of the Grievance Policy & Administration Committee:

Safaa Bedawi

Photo credit: Safaa Bedawi

Dr. Safaa Bedawi is an Instructor II in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering. Before arriving at Carleton in 2022, she was an Assistant Professor (teaching stream) at Wilfrid Laurier University) from Sept. 2017 to July. 2022. She also taught undergraduate as well as graduate courses and co-supervised students at Cairo University, University of Waterloo, and University of Ottawa. Dr. Bedawi’s research interest is in the areas of machine vision, remote sensing, image processing, pattern recognition and feature extraction.

Dr. Bedawi obtained her Ph.D. degree of Computer Engineering jointly from Assiut University and University of Waterloo in 2013. She obtained B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, in 1999 and 2005, respectively.

Dr. Bedawi is a strong believer of the importance of academic freedom for facilitating healthy and prosper academic environment. Therefore, she has decided to join CUASA (Academic Freedom and Grievances) to assist in providing balanced and healthy relationships at Carleton University.

Pat Moore

Patricia Moore is an academic librarian and researcher. Her current role is Scholarly Communications & Research Engagement Librarian at MacOdrum Library. She has worked and taught at post-secondary institutions in Canada and the US. She is active in a number of international research and professional initiatives. Her research areas focus around technology, information sharing and information behaviours in organizations.

Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA

Fall is right around the corner, and there’s still time to think about your service commitments for next year. If you’d like to contribute to CUASA’s work in the coming year, here are some ways you can help:

… join CUASA’s leadership with a role on the Steering Committee

The Steering Committee helps to set direction for the union, and administers Association policies. This committee meets once a month during the academic year, and roles on Steering typically include teaching releases in exchange for your service. We’re still looking for a volunteer to serve as CUASA’s Vice President.

… serve as a member of Anti-Racism Working Group

This Working Group is open to any CUASA member interested in addressing the issue of racism at Carleton. It usually meets once a month during the academic year.

… volunteer as a member of CUASA’s Investigatory Council

This Council works to address allegations of harassment between members. All members are trained on how to process complaints, investigate complaints, maintain confidentiality, and ensure procedural fairness during the investigatory and appeals processes. The Council meets as needed. The next virtual training session for potential members will take place Friday, November 10 from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] if you are interested in attending the training.

… join the new Mobilization Committee

This new Committee, approved by Council in May, is responsible for member mobilization and possible strike preparation as CUASA enters negotiations for a new collective agreement next spring 2024. The committee will likely meet once a month during the academic year.

For more information, or to volunteer for any of these positions, please contact the CUASA’s Chair, Nominations and Elections, Wasiu Raji, at [email protected].

Disability Caucus and 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Caucus Upcoming Meetings

Over the last year members have expressed interest in forming various caucus groups at CUASA. So far, we have had requests for a 2SLBGTQIA+ Pride Caucus and a Disability Caucus. If you are interested in participating in either caucus group, please contact Equity Officer Max López at [email protected] for more details. These caucus groups are intended to be a way for people from equity-seeking groups to find community connections, socialize, organize, support one another, and share ideas with each other and with CUASA. These groups typically meet once or twice a term, with the potential to meet more frequently if the members would prefer.

Carleton University Research Achievement Awards – Deadline October 31

The Carleton University Research Achievement Awards are administered by the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International). Established in 1989, the purpose of these awards is to recognize outstanding research achievements. They are defined under the CUASA Collective Agreement (Article 41.2), and are available to faculty employees only.

Each year ten (10) awards are granted to Carleton researchers
Each award is valued at $15,000
The award is intended to enhance the research productivity of the recipients

*New this year*: Please note that candidates must submit completed applications to their faculty Dean by October 31, via cuResearch, rather than the portal that was used in previous years.

The fillable application form can be found HERE.

The guidelines for the supporting materials can be found HERE.

Should you have any questions about the application process, please contact the Office of your Faculty Dean or Tony Crawford, Internal Research Programs Administrator.

Protect Trans Kids (again): Rally against anti-2SLGTBQIA+ hate

Shared from Community Solidarity Ottawa:

Protect Trans Kids (again)!
Rally against anti-2SLGTBQIA+ hate!
11:00am
Saturday, October 21
Human Rights Monument
220 Elgin Street

Once again, anti-2SLGBTQIA+ activists are planning to rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on October 21st, as well as in cities all across the country in a coordinated campaign against 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in the education system.

While they claim to be in support of “parental rights,” this is nothing more than yet another anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate rally, and the policies they advocate for would bring harm to 2SLGBQIA+ and in particular trans youth.

On October 21st, we are going to be gathering in front of the Human Rights Memorial to show our support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and our opposition to the so-called “parents rights” agenda that is nothing more than thinly veiled homophobia and transphobia.

As always, review the Safety Plan to see how to best keep yourself and your friends safe. In particular:

Do not give interviews to far right media outlets or “independent journalists”
Don’t debate far-right trolls. Drown them out with chants and noise! Especially if they are filming or livestreaming and looking for content.
Do not film supporters without their permission, and do not livestream. Do film the far right, fake journalists, and the police in order to protect yourself and your friends.
Protect your identity. Mask up, and use signs, flags, umbrellas, etc., to protect yourself from being photographed by far right activists or fake news outlets.
Do not talk to the police
Maintain situational awareness, and watch each others’ backs
Try to arrive and leave as a group
Check the weather, drive safely and dress appropriately! Give yourself plenty of time to arrive!

Together We Can (TWC) Mentorship Program

The Somali Centre for Family Services is looking for African, Caribbean, or Black professionals to participate in the Together We Can (TWC) Mentorship Program. TWC works with 14- to 18-year-old Black youth in Ottawa to support career development, as well as the development of social skills, problem solving skills, and community engagement. Mentors meet with their mentees monthly to discuss topics including education, networking, career specialization, and race/identity. Mentors would also provide relevant articles for the mentee to read and discuss on a monthly basis. For more information, please refer to the mentor packet attached here. If interested, please contact Max López at [email protected].

Updates from OCUFA and CAUT

OCUFA: Ontario faculty say campus safety and academic freedom must be upheld during international conflicts – October 18

University faculty and academic librarians stand against violence and hate, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racism in all its forms on Ontario campuses. OCUFA and its member organizations also strongly support academic freedom, and the importance of universities as spaces of safety, scholarship, and civil rights.

In the wake of the tragic events of the last few weeks in Israel and Gaza, faculty and academic librarians, students, and members of the campus community have experienced harassment and threats that infringe on their safety and academic freedom. Safety and academic freedom are foundational to a university education, and OCUFA and its member organizations strongly support these tenets of a university experience.

This is why faculty and academic librarians were alarmed to hear Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop speak in the Legislature on October 17 about the events in Israel and Gaza and take the position that the Ontario government will be monitoring statements made by student and faculty groups on campus regarding these events.

This assertion represents a move against academic freedom for Ontario universities, in the name of campus safety. Hate has no place on university campuses, and processes are in place to protect students, faculty, and staff from harassment and violence. Campus safety is paramount at any time, but particularly during any period of international or domestic strife and tension. Universities are also a place for academic freedom, which allows for debate, including that which is contentious.

Read the full statement from OCUFA.

CAUT: Call for Ontario Minister of College & Universities to apologize for comments in the legislature – October 18

CAUT is condemning Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities for naming and accusing several professors of alleged misconduct.

In a statement in the provincial legislature on October 17, Minister Jill Dunlop alleged the professors expressed pro-Hamas and antisemitic views on social media. The accusations are vehemently denied by the professors named.

As CAUT Executive Director, David Robinson, writes “It is highly unusual for allegations of misconduct on the part of professors to be made in any legislature in Canada, and for good reason. By statute, universities are granted institutional autonomy so they may fulfill their mission and conduct their internal affairs free from interference of political or other special interests.”

Read the full statement from CAUT.

Academic Freedom in Times of Conflict

CAUT has issued a new memorandum titled “Academic Freedom in Times of Conflict”:

Academic freedom, like all expressive freedoms, is particularly vulnerable during periods of war, conflict, and social unrest. The widespread dismissals of controversial professors and subsequent constraints on academic discourse during and after the two world wars of the last century serve as warning that politically motivated restrictions on academic expression must never be countenanced.

Today, the war between Israel and Hamas has become the subject of increasingly intense and acrimonious debate. The nature of this debate has prompted questions about what expression by academic staff is covered by academic freedom, what limits there may be, and what institutions and CAUT member associations can do to ensure that academic freedom rights are upheld. CAUT policies provide guidance about how we can navigate these difficult questions.

Read the full memorandum here.

Organizing for Climate Action: CAUT Virtual School Opened to all CUASA members – December 4-8

CAUT provides virtual workshops to assist associations in building active and knowledgeable memberships. From December 4 to 8, CAUT will be offering an Organizing for Climate Action course.

Climate change is the pressing challenge of our generation. Academic associations can play a leading role in organizing their members to help our universities and colleges reduce their environmental impacts. In this course, participants will explore how their association can organize their membership through climate change campaigns and as part of the collective bargaining process.

If you are interested in participating, please contact [email protected] by November 27.

To read earlier CAUT materials on climate action, see the brochure “Confronting Climate Change on Campus”.