CUASA Update – March 23
March 23, 2020
CUASA Update – March 23
The Prime Minister of Canada announced today that there will be more money for research into modeling the COVID-19 pandemic as well as research into the production of vaccines. For this and other related matters click here.
Premier Doug Ford announced today that non-essential workplaces will be closed effective 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, March 24. The list of businesses declared essential will be released on March 24. Please watch for more updates from the university and CUASA about the impact.
Also, this afternoon the government also made an announcement about schools not re-opening on April 6, CUASA asked the University about what plans are being made for the inevitable accommodation and special-timetabling requests our members will need in order to re-balance their home/work realities. The university has done some preliminary planning and has committed to responding soon with options for faculty.
CUASA has also been informed that sometime this week you will be receiving an announcement from Betsy Springer, Chair of the Carleton University Pension Committee, regarding some projections for the Pension plan this year and related information to help you with planning a possible retirement.
As it relates to the Provost’s email indicating that letters will be provided by Deans in lieu of student teaching evaluations, please note that these letters are for other types of employees such as Contract Instructors, etc. CUASA and the university will be having additional discussions about possible tenure clock extensions at this week’s upcoming JCAA meeting.
CUASA asked the university, for the sake of all workers, to set up a dedicated fund for workers to access to be able to seek reimbursement for out of pocket expenses incurred while continuing work during this COVID-19 period.
Members are strongly encouraged to remember and make use of the employee assistance program. The mental health of our members remains very important to us. These are difficult times so please remember to take care of yourselves. To find information on how to access help, click here.
CUASA continues to hear your concerns regarding the newly proposed online Summer term and will relay them to the employer. We encourage our members to express their concerns to their Deans. Below is a reproduction (with permission) of a letter from our members in the English department outlining their concerns over the online delivery of classes during the Summer 2020 term.
Dear Dean Rankin, March 20, 2020
We have some concerns regarding the message from the Provost we received yesterday evening, and the President’s reiteration of it this morning. “Given the still-evolving COVID-19 situation and the continuing need to flatten the curve, all summer 2020 courses at Carleton will be offered through online and other methods of distance learning.”
As both of these messages indicate, the COVD-19 situation is still “evolving.” The University is responding hourly to a quickly changing set of problems and challenges. We are not yet finished the first week of an experiment in virtual learning; how has the experiment affected teaching and learning across the university—for undergraduate and graduate students; for students in the sciences; for students in the humanities; for students with special needs; for students who live in rural areas without adequate bandwidth?
The short answer is that we don’t know. Given this, it would be very reasonable for the University to cancel the early summer 2020 term while we:
- assess the public health situation
- consult with faculty and students about how the crisis has affected their working and personal lives (many faculty currently have children at home or aging parents to care for)
- listen to faculty and student feedback regarding the sudden shift to virtual learning that occurred during the last week
We are particularly concerned that the unions of the faculty and Contract Instructors who will be teaching these courses do not seem to have been consulted as this decision was made.
We are deeply concerned by the University’s hasty decision to move the summer term online. These are extraordinary times and the consensus seems to be that they call for dramatic measures. However, broad consultation and communication remain core principles of the university, as do labour rights and collegial governance.
Sincerely yours,
Dana Dragunoiu
Associate Professor, Department of English
Jody Mason
Associate Professor, Department of English
Jodie Medd
Associate Professor, Department of English
Brenda Vellino
Associate Professor, Department of English
