The Association and the Administration are still working on the final copy of the new Collective Agreement and we expect to have it posted, printed, and distributed in the coming weeks. That said, the new CA is in full effect as of the date of ratification and we want to make sure that Faculty Members are aware of some new details that may affect you over the next couple of weeks.
Retroactive Salary Increases
One issue that is on many members’ minds is the back pay for salary increases, which will affect all tenured and tenure track, and many limited-term Academic Associate Faculty Members. We expect these to be paid out in your April pay.
Teaching Faculty Members’ July 1, 2018 salary increases were all paid out as per their previous 2017-2020 CA.
Annual Performance Reviews and CV Submission
Previously, some Deans were requiring updated CVs and other details to be included with members Annual Performance Reports. The process of submitting an updated CV may be of some value for Faculty Members as they prepare for career review processes during the early stages of their career.
The newly agreed-to CA language now requires tenure-track and pre-continuing appointment Faculty Members to provide a CV along with their annual activity report. However, it is optional for those who have achieved tenure or continuing appointment. All other Faculty Members may include an updated CV for further career advice or recommendations for awards from your Dean if they so choose.
As well, one or more of the Deans have requested the “combined scores” from the student course feedback form. These do not exist on the new forms, and the Association’s agreement with the Administration specifically states that aggregated scores are not to be used. You can find the final report and recommendations of the Student Course Evaluation Working Group here: https://uoitfa.wpengine.com/student-course-evaluation-working-group-final-report/
Workload and Course Assignment
As reported earlier, there are no major changes to the CA language regarding workload for TTTF and TF members. A joint working group of the Association and Administration was established to explore Teaching Faculty workload. Some things stemming from the recommendations made by the Standard Course Equivalencies Working Group include:
- A standard course, regardless of mode (i.e. face-to-face, hybrid or online), will have equal weighting.
- The University will implement best practices in scheduling in order to provide optimal schedules. Best practices include, but are not limited to early meaningful consultation with instructors and work-life balance will be meaningfully considered as a part of scheduling.
The Faculty Association did successfully negotiate new workload language for Academic Associate members. This language includes:
- The workload split may consist of a combination of Teaching 10-70%, Research 0-90%, Service 0-90%, and/or Other 0-90%, and deviations from this weighting are permitted to reflect an Academic Associate’s activities and priorities as determined by the Dean in discussion with the Faculty Member.
- No contract shall exceed the equivalent of a maximum of seven standard courses per year.
- By agreement between the Faculty member and the Dean, a limited-term Faculty Member may undertake 2 overload courses each Academic Year for a reduced teaching load assignment no later than the following academic year or for an overload payment.
Hiring and Appointment Processes
Negotiated changes to Article 15: Appointments include the process for establishing search committees for faculty hires, and for administrative appointments within Faculties. Search committees are now to have two (2) elected Faculty Members on them. This requires that the search committee be announced and Faculty Members be given the opportunity to express interest to sit on such committees.
Regarding administrative appointments to Department Chair, Program Director and Program Coordinator positions, the Deans are now required to “put out a call for Faculty Members to submit a notice of interest for the Dean’s consideration.” Further, if more than one does express interest, the Dean must strike a committee to review and make a recommendation for the position.
Please feel free to contact the Faculty Association at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. Once again, the Faculty Association hopes to have the final version of the new Collective Agreement posted to the website shortly and we will notify members via email once it has been released.