Weekly Update – February 18, 2022 – Carleton University Academic Staff Association

Weekly Update – February 18, 2022

February 18, 2022

Weekly Update – February 18, 2022

CUASA Office Closure and Pause on Update

Please note the virtual CUASA Office will close at 4:30pm today for the Family Day long weekend. The office will reopen on Tuesday, February 22, at 9:00am.

Further, during the Reading Week break, the virtual CUASA Office will close at 1:00pm daily from February 22 to February 25.

Accordingly, there will be no Weekly Update next Friday, February 25. Updates will resume on Friday, March 4. Should there be any urgent topics that arise, we will share those as needed.

CUASA Statement on the Siege of Ottawa

In case you missed it, CUASA released the following statement earlier this week:

CUASA roundly condemns the hatred and violence promoted over the last three weeks through the siege of Ottawa. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues, friends, and neighbours whose lives have been deeply disrupted by these events and who have been made to feel unsafe in their own communities. We call on our governments at all levels to take action immediately to secure all sites of siege encampment, secure the affected neighbourhoods and end this occupation. We will also speak with the employer about a campus safety plan that ensures the return to campus does not put any community member in harm’s way.

Following reports that occupiers have been using the parking lot of the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, CUASA asked at the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) about the situation and the University’s response to these reports. We have been told there is an enhanced security plan for Dominion-Chalmers, especially for weekends, to secure the entrance and blocking the use of the parking lot. We were also told there is an enhanced security plan for the main campus as well, especially for weekends and for areas close to the entrances.

Ease of COVID Measures

This week, the Ontario government announced the gradual ease of public health measures related to the pandemic effective yesterday, February 17.

The government also announced the ease of additional measures as of March 1, if public health and health system indicators continue to improve. This includes lifting capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings. The province announced it will also lift proof of vaccination requirements for all settings at this time. Businesses and other settings may choose to continue to require proof of vaccination. Masking requirements will remain in place at this time, with a specific timeline to lift this measure to be communicated at a later date.

Following an inquiry at the University’s Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC), CUASA has confirmed that mask requirements continue for students and course instructors at Carleton.

The federal government has also announced an ease of COVID measures effective February 28, including no longer recommending that Canadians avoid travel for non-essential purposes.

CUASA will be following up with the Carleton administration on how this will affect the University’s travel advisories, which currently limits international travel for university-related business, including research and fieldwork. Specifically, we will be looking for information on whether the University’s health plan provides coverage for COVID-related issues that arise while travelling, and whether any extra travel insurance will be needed and can be claimed through the PER fund. Updates will provided as they become available.

Member Drop-in Sessions

CUASA is excited to invite our members to two drop-ins continuing our outreach and educational initiatives. Both drop-ins will happen after reading week, dates to be confirmed. Registration info to follow.

Drop-in one: Calling all allies! This drop-in is for those who have lived experience as white settlers and want to talk through and learn more about how to be a good ally to our colleagues with lived experiences of discrimination based on race, culture, ancestry, Indigeneity, or ethnicity. This drop-in will be held on Monday, February 28.

Drop-in two: Calling all folks with lived experiences of discrimination based on race, culture, ancestry, Indigeneity, or ethnicity. This one-hour drop-in will create a welcoming space for you to discuss your experiences of discrimination and also your relationship to CUASA as well as what you wish CUASA could do or do better for you. This drop-in will be held on Thursday, March 10 at 1:30pm.

Both groups will be closed, meaning that the group discussion and attendance will remain private and at a high-level only, with actionable items brought to the CUASA leadership.

CUASA is thrilled to be developing this progressive equity-based initiative of consultation and education. We also have exciting developments to come including workshops on ableism, LBGTQ+ issues and caregivers in and after the pandemic.

CUASA is LISTENING. If you have any thoughts on these initiatives, or ideas for different kinds of trainings or initiatives, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your equity officer ([email protected]) or any member of CUASA staff ([email protected]) or Steering. We are your association!

Student Experience Questionnaires for Winter Term

Last week, CUSAS announced that it has received confirmation that Carleton will allow student experience questionnaires (SEQs) for the Winter term to not be used for career decisions. This agreement in principle is still subject to formal agreement by means of a Letter of Understanding (LOU) between the parties at the JCAA.

We have received messages from members asking if they will continue to have the option to opt-out from administering the SEQs entirely, as has been an option in previous terms under the COVID-19 pandemic. As this is still subject to a formal agreement, we do not yet know if that option will remain. Our previous Letters of Understanding on the SEQs have allowed for course instructors to opt-out administering the questionnaires, and we are asking the University to just renew the LOU. We will provide more details once an LOU has been formalized.

In its message to CUASA, the University did indicate that, moving forward to the Summer and Fall 2022 terms, it will return to using the SEQ results for career-related decisions.

Constitution and Bylaws Review 2022

Your CUASA Internal Affairs Committee is currently preparing for an upcoming constitution and bylaws review process. All members are encouraged to watch for more updates and to participate in this important governance exercise. Separate communications with instructions on how to submit motions for constitutional or bylaw changes will be provided, as well as an information session.

In the interim, members who wish to participate in this internal administration activity of the union must ensure that they have signed their membership card for the Association. If you are unsure if you still need to sign your membership card, please email [email protected] or complete the card found here and submit it to the CUASA Office.

We also strongly encourage members to take the time to read the constitution and bylaws and refresh their memories in preparation for the upcoming governance activity.

Nominations for Steering Positions

We are accepting nominations for the following Steering Committee positions for terms beginning on July 1, 2022 (click on the position title to view the description):

Nominations for President are due to the virtual CUASA Office by Thursday, March 31, 2022. Nominations for all other positions are due by Friday, April 29, 2022. All nominations must be made using the form found here (PDF) or here (Word).

Information on the nominations process can be found on our How to Volunteer page. Remember that our Association is only as strong as its membership, so we count on the time and commitment of our members to achieve our goals. Some of these positions come with a course release subject to the availability of funds (please ask if interested).

If you have any questions about the positions or the process, please contact CUASA’s Chair, Nominations and Elections, Marylynn Steckley, at [email protected].

Strikes continue for UOITFA, AUFA, and ULFA

Our colleagues at three sister faculty associations, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA), the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA), and the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) remain on strike.

CUASA’s External Relations Officer, Raj Singh, has written letters of support for UOITFA, AUFA, and ULFA members. Below, you’ll find brief statements from CAUT regarding each of the strikes, as well as ways to show your support. To read CAUT’s full statements on these strikes, click here and here.

UOITFA

UOITFA members walked off the job on Thursday after negotiating for nine months and almost 30 sessions at the bargaining table. They key issue for the more than 280 faculty members at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa is workload. “Overworked, burned out and on strike” – the posters being carried by striking staff sum up what drove the majority of UOITFA’s member to support strike action.

Show your support for UOITFA by sending a message to Ontario Tech’s University’s President, Provost, and Chair of the Board of Governors.

AUFA

AUFA is seeking to increase the number of tenure-track faculty to meet rising student enrolment, make hiring and working conditions gains for precarious and Indigenous faculty, and keep salary improvements in line with cost-of-living increases.

Stand with AUFA and send a message to Acadia’s President, Provost, and Chair of the Board.

ULFA

ULFA says that faculty compensation is 10 to 15 percent behind that of comparable universities—and this does not account for inflation. Other issues on the table for the 500 members of ULFA include protection of benefits and collegial governance.

You can show your solidarity with ULFA by sending a message to the University of Lethbridge Board of Governors.