Weekly Update – May 28
May 28, 2021
Weekly Update – May 28
CUASA Office Summer Hours
We wish to remind members that the virtual CUASA Office is now under summer hours. This means that until the end of August, the office will close at 12:00pm on Fridays for the summer.
CUASA Business
Last Call: Annual Tenure/Confirmation and Promotion Workshops
Each spring CUASA presents Tenure/Confirmation and Promotion workshops, which cover the process for applying for tenure/confirmation and/or promotion, the preparation of dossiers, and the appeals process in the event of a denial. We will also cover your options on tenure/confirmation and promotion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dates and times for the workshops are as follows:
- Librarian Confirmation and Promotion – Monday, May 31, 9:00-11:00am
- Instructor Confirmation and Promotion – Monday, May 31, 1:00-3:30pm
- Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor – Tuesday, June 1, 9:30am-12:00pm
- Promotion to Full Professor – Tuesday, June 1, 1:00-3:30pm
- Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor – Wednesday, June 2, 1:00-3:30pm
All workshops will be held virtually on Zoom. If you plan to attend, please email [email protected] to RSVP.
Steering Elections and Vacant Positions
Elections for Steering positions were held at yesterday’s meeting of CUASA Council. We are pleased to announce the following members will begin terms of office on July 1, 2021:
- Chair, Collective Bargaining: Chantal Dion (incumbent)
- Chair, Equity: Dawn Moore (incumbent)
- Salary and Benefits Officer: Brett Stevens (incumbent)
- Chair, Nominations and Elections: Marylynn Steckley (Marylynn also serves as the Instructor Representative on Steering)
We also wish to sincerely thank our outgoing Vice President, Brenda Vellino, for her time and dedication over the past year. Brenda will be going on sabbatical this year, and thus we are seeking a member to volunteer for Vice President beginning July 1*. We are also seeking volunteers for the positions of Communications Officer and Chair, Internal Affairs.
Click on the title below to see the description for available positions:
* The Steering committee has allocated a 0.5 course release for the Vice President and Chair, Internal Affairs positions, respectively.
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. If you are interested in one of these positions, or wish to nominate a colleague, please contact us for a nomination form at [email protected].
Call for Volunteers: JHSC
We are seeking two CUASA members to volunteer to be the Association’s representatives on the University’s Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC). If you are interested, please contact [email protected].
Accommodations for Fall 2021
In our update last week, we asked our members for feedback on how their accommodation requests with regards to the Fall 2021 term were being handled by their Chairs/Directors. We were pleased to hear that the majority of those who contacted us have been having their requests for the fall accommodated by their Chairs/Directors. Most reported that their requests, whether to teach online or in-person, have been honoured.
However, we are still hearing reports that some members are being hold they must teach in-person in the fall. We have also continued to receive questions about vaccination requirements. It is our intention to seek further clarification from the University on these issues. As always, we will share updates as they become available. Members can continue sharing any comments or concerns with us at [email protected].
Grievance Update: Access to Health Services
In a CUASA newsletter dated August 28, 2020, CUASA informed its members that Carleton University’s Health and Counselling Services had announced the appointment of a new family physician to the campus clinic who will be dedicated to serving employees of the University. Dr. Michael Power began his work at Carleton Health Services on August 31, 2020, with virtual appointments only (due to the current COVID-19 pandemic) and would relocate to Ottawa in 2021. Carleton University further indicated that any CUASA member that did not currently have a family physician was asked to call 613-520-6674 to book an appointment.
It has now come to the Associations attention, that the Health and Counselling Services website includes the following message:
“Appointments with HCS doctors are reserved for current students at Carleton University. Professional services employees, faculty and continuing employees, contract instructors, post-doctorate fellows, researchers, visitors (e.g. guest lecturers, athletes from visiting teams) can come to see the walk-in doctor for medical problems that are episodic in nature – a cold, an infection, an allergic reaction and so on. They cannot make one of the physicians here their regular doctor”.
Concerns about the University’s continued insistence to exclude faculty from getting proper medical services at the clinic is already the subject of a grievance and is at the arbitration level, currently in scheduling. The matter was delayed due to complications in scheduling caused by the pandemic. More information on this matter will be communicated to all members in CUASA’s weekly updates as they become available. Members are encouraged to continue sharing their concerns or experiences by emailing [email protected].
On-Campus Vaccination Clinic
Beginning June 2, 2021, Carleton Health and Counselling Services will begin administering first-dose Moderna vaccines for eligible people aged 18 or older in 2021. Those interested are asked to pre-register soon as possible, which you can do here. For more information and eligibility, you can visit Carleton’s COVID-19 vaccine website here.
Academic Community Updates
CUASA and OCUFA pleased with decision to deny university status to Canada Christian College
CUASA and OCUFA are pleased that Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano has accepted the recommendation of Ontario’s Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB) and, as a result, will deny university status to the Canada Christian College (CCC). After conducting an in-depth review of the private college’s operations and educational programming, PEQAB found that the CCC did not meet the standards required for it to be given university status or grant additional degrees.
As we wrote previously, CUASA Vice President Brenda Vellino, and Director Christal Côté presented at Queen’s Park on the Association’s concerns about the attempt to allow Canada Christian College to call itself a university and award degrees.
To read OCUFA’s full statement, click here.
Join OCUFA and the OFL for the Education Assembly on June 26
Join OCUFA and the OFL for another virtual Province-Wide Education Assembly to discuss what Ontarians need from our education systems during COVID-19 and beyond. The assembly takes place on Saturday, June 26 from 10 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Parents, teachers, students, child care workers, faculty, and support staff across education sectors are invited to come together to envision and discuss a seamless plan that works for the entire education sector, from child care to postsecondary education.
For more information and to register, click here.
CAUT welcomes creation of standing science committee
This week’s vote by Parliamentarians to create a new standing committee on science and research is a positive move to help ensure a robust, sustainable Canadian research system, according to CAUT.
To keep reading, click here.
