September 2018 Bulletin
Updates to the Collective Agreement
As reported on June 27, we are very pleased to have ratified our new Collective Agreement, which is in effect from May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2021. Here is a summary of the main modifications to the Collective Agreement.
Workload
For the duration of the new Collective Agreement, the complement of faculty appointments will continue to be 1,311. It is worth noting that the APUO is one of the few academic staff unions that has successfully negotiated a minimal complement in its Collective Agreement in recent years.
Equity
The following paragraph has been added to the Collective Agreement.
Preamble (article 2):
(c) With respect to the University’s mission to recognise diversity and foster respect, and in accordance with the University’s equity goals, the parties intend to continue playing a key role in promoting members of equity seeking groups in all sectors of university life.
We also bargained changes to language to emphasize the need to increase the representation of “equity groups” rather than focusing on “gender representation.”
For those of you who are members of Appointment Committees, you will now be required to participate in a soon-to-be-developed equity training. All Appointment Committees shall now have at least one Member who is from an equity group (woman, Aboriginal, Member with a disability, Visible Minority).
We have reinforced the language around the need for the Central Administration to provide data to the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee as it relates to the proportion of Equity Group members.
The APUO and the Central Administration signed a Letter of understanding on the creation of a Teaching Personnel Equity Committee. The Committee will be tasked with investigating potential constitutional, by-law and procedural changes to Teaching Personnel Committees (DTPC, FTPC, LPC, TPCI) that could make our hiring practices more equitable.
Finally, there is a Letter of Understanding to study the Gender Salary Differentials. The APUO and the Central Administration will create a Gender Wage Gap Committee (GWGC) to identify and correct gender-based salary anomalies.
Librarians
Following a posting, the Librarian selection committee will consider internal candidates holding continuing appointments before external candidates.
Before revising a job description, the University Librarian shall now have to consult with the affected Librarian Member.
Continuing Special Appointment Professors (CSAP)
Once every five years, a CSAP member may apply for a four-month professional leave, with no reduction in remuneration, to enhance their teaching or perform scholarly activities.
Pilot project: Grievances
The APUO and the Central administration have agreed to implement a pilot project, for the duration of the Collective Agreement, replacing Step 2: Formal Grievance Committee (FGC) with a mediation session.
Student Evaluation data
The APUO and the Central Administration agree that for the next three academic years, the University may utilize the student evaluation data collected as authorized by the Senate in making career recommendations and decisions. The APUO has not provided its authorisation for any student evaluation collected electronically prior to July 2018. The two Parties will meet in May of each academic year to review whether issues arise from the use of student evaluations data in making career recommendations and decisions.
Salaries and benefits
Members will benefit from a two percent (2%) economic increase every year of the Collective Agreement. The same increase will be applied every year to the Progress-thru-the-Ranks amounts.
Changes to the Extended Health Plan
| Coverage type | Implementation date | Change |
| Extended Health Plan | May 1, 2019 |
|
| May 1, 2020 |
|
|
| May 1, 2021 |
|
Pension contributions
As of January 1, 2019, employee contributions to the pension will go up by 0.8% with full salary offset.
Retirees’ privileges and benefits
Retirees may receive, at no cost, a parking permit as per the negotiated agreement between the University and the Association of Professors Retired from the University of Ottawa (APRUO). The Central Administration will also provide the APRUO with suitable rooms as required for association business, free of charge, provided reasonable notice is given and space is available.
Other
There will be an inventory of compensation for Members who take on various administrative tasks. This inventory will look at whether or not Members have, for example, salary top-ups, course releases, or research funds for the extra administrative duties they sometimes take on. The results of this inventory will put the APUO in a stronger position to include compensation for administrative duties in future collective agreements.
Salary Increases – Memorandum of Settlement
As mentioned above, Members will benefit from a two percent (2%) economic increase every year of the Collective Agreement as well as a two percent (2%) increase to the Progress-thru-the-Ranks amounts. As the Collective Agreement took effect on May 1, 2018, you should have noticed the above-mentioned increase on your September 15 paycheck, and a retroactive pay will be issued no later than October 5, 2018.
Accommodating Students with Disabilities
As outlined in the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on accessible education for students with disabilities, education providers have a duty to accommodate students with disabilities. Our duty to accommodate is based on three principles: respect for dignity, individualization, and integration and full participation. Each student’s needs are unique and must be considered individually when accommodation requests are made. When providing accommodations, it is key that students be able to participate in the process, and have an opportunity to express their needs.
The University’s SASS (Student Academic Success Service)–Academic Accommodations runs a Portal for professors called “Ventus”. Through this portal, you can view the students from each of your courses who are registered with SASS–Academic Accommodations, their accommodations, view and verify confirmations of academic accommodation letters, submit and modify notices of examinations and proctor instruction sheets, and view uploaded exam files.
We encourage all Members to work with SASS–Academic Accommodations to ensure accommodations are delivered in a timely manner, and in a way that supports the success of all students. We also recommend looking through the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on Accessible Education for Students with disabilities, specifically, Section 8 which outlines education providers’ duties to accommodate. Finally, please let us know if SASS does not have the resources to provide you with all the support you need.
The Ontario Government’s Free Speech Policy
On August 30, the Government of Ontario announced that Universities and Colleges will be mandated to adopt Free Speech policies by January 1, 2019. In its announcement, the Government further declared that these policies and their implementation on campus would be linked to operating and grant funding.
The APUO will continue to monitor the situation and will keep you informed of developments as the Central Administration takes steps to implement its own policy.
University of Ottawa 2017-2018 Financial Results
Earlier this week, Members should have received a communication from the Office of the President reporting a budgetary surplus of $15 million for the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2018. While Jacques Frémont seemed surprised by this outcome, the APUO would like to remind you that over the last decade, the University of Ottawa has recorded cumulative surpluses now amounting to $362 million.
While the President emphasized that this surplus is the result of austerity measures in the form of vacant positions, especially among support staff, we stress that this represents an increase in our workload and a deterioration of our working conditions. It appears that despite the continued financial health of our institution, the Central administration does not plan on addressing the concerns we’ve raised with regards to the quality of education being impacted by continued clawbacks to funding and resources that allow us to focus on teaching and research.
As has been the case in previous years, we will continue to monitor the financial situation of the University, and to advocate for additional support staff with the goal of fully carrying out the University’s mission and strategic goals.