Table of Contents
- Important Information for the Winter 2025 Term
- Association of Professors Retired from the University of Ottawa (APRUO)
- APUO Office Closure for Winter Break
1) Important Information for the Winter 2025 Term
As you finalize preparations for the Winter 2025 Term, the APUO wishes to remind you of certain rights you are afforded by the Collective Agreement. Should you have any questions, we encourage you to contact the APUO at apuo@apuo.ca or michel@apuo.ca.
a. Course Syllabi (Articles 9 and 21)
Each term, the APUO is informed by Members that some Faculties and units request that specific statements and timelines be included in course syllabi. Some Faculties and units also send members course syllabi templates, claiming their use is mandatory. As the APUO has repeatedly made clear, in accord with Article 9 and Article 21 of the Collective Agreement, imposing the inclusion of specific statements and/or the use of specific templates for course syllabi constitutes an infringement on your academic freedom.
APUO members are certainly free, but are in no way obliged, to use Faculty or unit course syllabi templates or to include statements and/or any other information provided by their Faculty or unit in their syllabi. Nor are APUO members required to submit their course syllabi to their Faculty or unit for approval or to adhere to submission deadlines for these documents. Article 21.1.2 (b) of the Collective Agreement is unequivocal about this matter. It specifies that members have the right and responsibility to:
“organize course content and classroom or laboratory activities and employ methodology and didactic material, including textbooks for the courses assigned to her, in a manner appropriate to the course and consistent with relevant academic standards and course descriptions approved by the Senate, it being understood that in the case of multi-section courses the Chair and the departmental assembly may jointly choose common didactic materials, including textbooks, where it can be shown that this choice is justified by valid academic reasons and does not impose ideological conformity on the members concerned.”
Furthermore, as per the applicable sections of Article 21.1.3, a Faculty Member shall:
“(b) determine a reasonable number of regularly scheduled office hours when she will be available to students for consultation, post these at her office door, and communicate them to the students and to her chair;
(c) inform her students, at the beginning of a course, regarding course requirements, instructional and evaluation methods, and the nature and timing of assignments, projects and examinations;
(d) not schedule final examinations outside the period designated for that purpose by the appropriate authority;”.
Put simply, members have the right both to choose whether to include information produced by their respective Faculty or unit in their course syllabi, and/or whether to disseminate such information by other means.
b. Unconventional Methods of Teaching (Article 22)
With the assignment of teaching workloads for 2025-2026 on the horizon, the APUO reminds members of their rights as per Article 22 of the Collective Agreement.
Article 22.2.3.1 specifies:
“courses which:
a. are taught by correspondence or at off-campus locations, or
b. are videotaped, recorded, broadcast or televised, or
c. call for unconventional methods such as teleconference teaching,
d. delivered entirely or partially via the Internet,
may be included in a member’s teaching load only with the prior consent of the member and, if applicable, once any special arrangements that may be required have been agreed upon.”
It is equally important that you be aware of the other rights afforded by Article 22:
Distribution of teaching duties
Article 22.2.2.1 states: “A Faculty Member’s scheduled teaching duties shall be distributed over two (2) of the three (3) terms of an academic year, it being understood that:
a) the above provisions may be set aside with the prior consent of the Member concerned;
…
d) where a Member’s Dean requests that the Member accept the spring/summer term as one of the two (2) terms comprising scheduled teaching duties, the Member shall not unreasonably refuse.”
Furthermore, as per Article 22.2.2.2: “As far as possible, the Employer shall not — unless the Member agrees otherwise — include in the Member’s workload more than one (1) course per term finishing after 7 p.m., it being understood that more than one (1) course will not be included without prior consultation with the Member, and unless justified by reasons related to the nature of the student clientele.”
Modifications to your workload assignment
As per Article 22.2.4.4:
“A Member’s workload shall not be changed after May 1, unless the change is made clearly necessary by the circumstances. Such change is to be made as far in advance as possible and shall always be preceded by consultation with the Member concerned.”
Workload disputes and changes
If you wish to dispute your workload, you may activate the FWRC process detailed in Article 22.2.6.1. This article specifies that:
“When a disagreement exists concerning a Member’s workload assignment, the Member shall inform the Dean, within ten (10) working days of receipt of the assignment…, by sending a letter of disagreement.”
Student requests to have in-person sessions recorded and made available online
Members continue to receive ongoing demands from students to have in-person class sessions recorded and made available online. Please be advised that, with the exception of formal accommodation requests issued through the Academic Accommodations Service, the choice of what to make accessible, and how, is entirely at your discretion.
If you are considering disputing your workload assignment or have questions about teaching obligations, do not hesitate to communicate with the APUO as soon as possible.
c. Vacation leave, holidays and absences (Article 28)
The APUO is aware that since the transition to Workday, some academic staff are being asked to “request” vacations, leaves or other absences using the Workday platform. This directly contradicts Article 28.1, which covers vacation leave for all professors and language teachers.
For professors and language teachers, Article 28.1.5 specifies that:
“A Member may take vacation leave at any time(s) provided:
(a) she notifies her Dean in advance of each vacation period;
(b) the vacation will not interfere with the Member’s assigned duties as included in the Member’s workload pursuant to article 22.”
As per this article, academic staff are not required to “request” vacation leave.
We also wish to remind members of other rights outlined in Article 28.4, which covers a few related subjects under the umbrella of authorized absences:
- Article 28.4.1 specifies that a member’s residence must not be so far from uOttawa as to limit the carrying out of their workload duties.
- Article 28.4.3 specifies that a member who is not on academic leave or other leave is required to be present on campus:
- when their presence is necessary for the performance of scheduled or teaching duties, which are included in their workload pursuant to Article 22.1.2.2(a) or for the guidance of graduate students whose work they supervise; and
- for a reasonable number of regularly scheduled office hours in accordance with Article 21.1.3(b); and
- to assume a fair share of academic service activities required for the proper functioning of their academic unit and the University of Ottawa; and
- when their Dean, Chair or immediate supervisor gives them reasonable notice that, for good and valid reasons, their presence on campus is required.
- Article 28.4.4 specifies that a member is not required to be present on campus to fulfill their workload obligations, whenever another location is more appropriate for that purpose and when their absence from campus does not interfere with the application of Article 28.4.3.
- The APUO wishes to remind members that librarians are included in the application of Article 28.4 (just like Article 28.3 and other sections of Article 28.4).
- The APUO encourages librarians who believe they have been put in a position that contradicts Article 28.4 to contact us directly or through your APUO Board Representatives.
- Article 28.4.5 specifies that, except when on vacation, a Member shall ensure that her chair is aware of how and where the Member can be contacted without delay.
- Article 28.4.6 details the concept of an authorized absence. During an authorized absence, all rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities of Members remain unchanged except for the added right to be absent without being subject to recall to the campus.
2) Association of Professors Retired from the University of Ottawa (APRUO)
To those retiring from uOttawa in coming weeks or months, we remind you that the Association of Professors Retired from the University of Ottawa (APRUO) is the official representative of retired professors, librarians, and counsellors at uOttawa. It offers retiring and retired APUO Members valuable support regarding pension- and benefits-related questions, as well as other useful resources. Do not hesitate to get in touch with the APRUO.
3) APUO Office Closure for Winter Break
The APUO office will be closed from Friday, December 20, to Friday, January 3, inclusive. The office will reopen with our regular 8:30 am to 4:30 pm hours on Monday, January 6, 2025. The APUO Executive and staff wish all members a happy and safe Winter Break and holiday season!