The Communiqué: Volume 46, No. 8 – Dec. 15, 2023 – Carleton University Academic Staff Association

The Communiqué: Volume 46, No. 8 – Dec. 15, 2023

In this Issue:

CUASA Office Holiday Closure
Meet Your Collective Bargaining Committee Members: Brett Stevens
CUASA Member Dawn Moore receives CAUT Equity Award
Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA
CUASA Disability Caucus and CUASA 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Caucus Upcoming Meetings
Updates from OCUFA and CAUT
Discount offer – Outerbridge Magic: ‘Mysteries of The Keyhole House’ @ Ottawa Little Theatre – Dec 26-31

CUASA Office Holiday Closure

Please note that the virtual CUASA Office will be closed as of 4:30 pm next Friday, December 22, and will reopen on Thursday, January 4, 2024, at 9:00 am.

If you need to contact us, please email the following and we will get back to you when the office reopens in January:

for general matters, please email [email protected]
for grievance concerns or matters, please email [email protected]

We wish all members and your families a safe, happy, and healthy holiday break. Thank you for your patience and understanding during the holiday closure.

Meet Your Collective Bargaining Committee Members

The CUASA Collective Bargaining Committee is hard at work ahead of the expiration of the collective agreement on April 30, 2024. Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing you to the volunteers serving on the CBC who are dedicating their time in support of CUASA members as we prepare for the upcoming round of negotiations. In this issue, we’d like you to meet Brett Stevens:

Photo credit: Brett Stevens

Brett has been a professor in mathematics in 2001. With CUASA he has served as Salary and Benefits officer (2006-2007, 2020-Present), Chair of Collective Bargaining (2007-2010), and Chair of Internal Affairs (2019-2020). He has been at the negotiating table with the employer four times. Although he recognizes the importance of salary for CUASA members, he is also interested in non-monetary items, including intellectual property, privacy, mental health, and pay equity.

CUASA Member Dawn Moore receives CAUT Equity Award

CUASA member, and previous Chair of Equity on the CUASA Steering Committee, Dr. Dawn Moore, is the 2023 recipient of the Equity Award of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

As the CAUT Equity Committee noted in its recommendation of Dawn, in her capacity as Equity Chair until June 2023, “Dr. Moore has worked tirelessly to transform CUASA and Carleton University to be more equitable, inclusive, and diverse. She championed the creation of an Equity Officer paid position within CUASA, anti-racism and anti-oppression training, caucuses to inform CUASA of the lived experiences of equity-deserving members, and campus tables and coalitions such as the Anti-Racism Working Group”.

We extend our most heartfelt congratulations to Dawn on this outstanding honour and hope to honour her legacy in the years to come.

Read the CAUT Equity Committee’s full recommendation here.

Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA

The Association is only as strong as its membership, so we count on the time and commitment of our members to achieve our goals. If you’d like to contribute to CUASA’s work, 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.

… 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.

Updates from OCUFA and CAUT

Funding solutions for Ontario universities top priority at conference

Earlier this month, OCUFA brought together a diverse group of more than 80 high-profile stakeholders in postsecondary education to find funding solutions for Ontario’s public universities at the “Funding our Future: Keeping Universities Public” conference. CUASA’s External Relations Officer, Dipto Sarkar, was in attendance.

In his opening remarks, OCUFA President Nigmendra Narain emphasized the value of gathering in pursuit of a common goal: the sustainability and necessity of publicly funded universities.

“We have seen the impact chronic underfunding in our sector has had in the form of increased reliance on tuition fees—especially international fees—increased privatization, the rise of precarious employment in teaching, diminishing research funding, the proliferation of student debt, and the greater inaccessibility of higher education for all,” said Narain. “It is time to harness the minds of stakeholders to imagine ways to reverse the trend of underfunding and to imagine long-term funding solutions that allow our institutions to thrive.”

Read the full release from OCUFA.

Application Portal open for 2023-2024 OCUFA Awards of Distinction

OCUFA is now accepting nominations and applications for the 2023-2024 OCUFA Awards of Distinction.

Nomination and application deadline: March 8, 2024

The following awards are open for nominations:

Nominate someone for the Equity and Social Justice Award
Nominate someone for the OCUFA Service Award
Nominate someone for the Lorimer Collective Bargaining Award
Nominate someone for a Teaching and Academic Librarianship Award

The following fellowships are open for applications:

Read more about the purpose and guidelines for the OCUFA Awards of Distinction and past winners.

CAUT urges Feds to do more to protect international students

CAUT is calling on the federal government to do more to protect international students from fraud and abuse.

Last week, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that beginning the next academic year international students will need to prove they have $20,635 for living costs to qualify for study permits, more than double the previous requirement and in addition to the money needed to cover tuition fees and travel costs.

“We agree with the Minister that international students are being targeted for abuse and exploitation by unscrupulous actors, and that is hurting the global reputation of Canada’s universities and colleges,” said CAUT executive director David Robinson. “But raising the financial threshold of studying in Canada isn’t going to solve the problem. We need more concrete measures to crack down on misleading and unethical international student recruitment agents and low quality private educational institutions. They are selling false promises of pathways to permanent residency.”

Read the full statement from CAUT.

Academic staff associations adopt strike mandates at UdeM, McGill Law and Mount St. Vincent

The Syndicat général des professeurs et professeures de l’Université de Montréal (SGPUM), the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL), and the Mount Saint Vincent University Faculty Association (MSVUFA) each voted last week in favour of strike mandates for their bargaining teams.

Read the full update from CAUT.

Discount offer – Outerbridge Magic: ‘Mysteries of The Keyhole House’ @ Ottawa Little Theatre – Dec 26-31

Grand Illusionists and Hollywood’s Magic Castle headliners Ted & Marion Outerbridge are set to cast their spell with their new Family Magic Show, “Mysteries of the Keyhole House” at the Ottawa Little Theatre, Dec. 26-31 – a perfect way to close out the Holidays and ring in the New Year!

Ted and Marion would love to have you as our guest and are offering a 50% discount for all CUASA members (with the code: save50).

Outerbridge Magic – Mysteries of the Keyhole House is a world-class magic show with grand illusions, comedy-magic and mind-bending mentalism that will amaze and thrill audiences of all ages.

The Keyhole House is an enchanting sanctuary inhabited by Ted and Marion Outerbridge, who have restored the once-dilapidated home to be guardians of this historic Ottawa Valley gem. As they meticulously refinished the creaking floors that carried the weight of countless footsteps, a treasure trove of cherished, historic relics materialized before their eyes.

Each artifact whispered tales of bygone eras, from delicate skeleton keys to faded photographs. But it was Ted’s compelling social media videos, marrying history with the digital age, that transported the Keyhole House into the viral universe. With over 30 million views on social media and appearances on the CTV National News, a TVO documentary, and NBC’s The Golf Channel (Brooke Henderson’s grandparents had a 54-year connection to the house), the Keyhole House became international news!

Now birthed into a full production featuring enthralling illusions, theatre, music, Canadian history and dance, they’d love the opportunity to share the new show with the community.

WHAT:
Outerbridge Magic – Mysteries of the Keyhole House featuring Ted and Marion Outerbridge

WHERE:
Ottawa Little Theatre, 400 King Edward Ave, Ottawa, K1N 7M7

WHEN:
Dec. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 @ 7:30pm
Dec. 31 @ 3:00pm

SHOW LENGTH:
100 minutes, including a 20 minute intermission

TICKETS:
https://outerbridge.eventbrite.com or call 613-430-4626
$49.64 | Senior 60 and over- $39.40 | Youth 25 and under – $26.78 (all prices include taxes/fees)
CUASA members get a 50% discount with the code: save50