| Table of contents: – Inter-union Letter – Members’ Annual Reports – The University’s Council on French Services and Programs Dear members, Earlier today, the APUO, along with the Association of Part-Time Professors (APTPUO), the Support Staff (SSUO), Local 2626 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 2626), the University of Ottawa IT Professionals (UOITP), and the Graduate Student Association (GSAÉD) sent a follow up communication to our joint April 7 letter to President Frémont, and Provost and Vice-President Academic Scott, for which the Coalition is still awaiting a response. In this letter, we outline our dismay at: 1. claims put forward by members of the Central Administration during exchanges with individual parties of the interunion coalition that, implementing a more democratic decision-making structure to plan a partial return for the Fall 2021 semester would not be of benefit to our university community; 2. the Central Administration’s continued and seeming total disregard of our request to create a Special COVID-19 Recovery Mental Health Fund; 3. the manner in which the Central Administration has sought to reach out to the signatory organizations of our April 7 letter on an individual basis rather than as a coalition; 4. the absence of any meaningful consultation with interunion coalition members prior to the adoption of the Central Administration’s plan to offer 30-50% of courses in-person or in a bimodal format, and the subsequent pivoting away from the terminology of bimodal teaching toward “hybrid formats” in official communications about a planned partial return to campus this Fall;[1] and 5. the continued failure of the Central Administration to provide any detailed and written information demonstrating that its announced plan “to offer 30-50% of courses in-person or in hybrid formats”[2] is founded on pedagogically sound practices. Members can view the inter-union letter here. [1] See “One year later: a promise of a brighter future,” communication sent to academic staff by the Provost and Vice-President Academic Affairs and the Vice-President, Finance and Administration on May 4, 2021. [2] See “You made it! End of the academic year,” communication sent to students by the Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs on April 30, 2021. |
| Members’ Annual Reports It has been brought to the APUO’s attention that some Deans are requesting members submit their annual reports in formats other than what is prescribed in Article 23.1.2.4 and/or include information that falls outside the scope of this article. The APUO wishes to inform members that you are under no obligation to produce your annual report in any format other than that which is stipulated in Article 23.1.2.4, which reads: “Annual reports shall be made in the form of an updated curriculum vitae, using the OCGS model or a curriculum vitae that contains equivalent information, to which the Member shall append the information required under 23.1.2.2 and information concerning her academic service activities during the past academic year. As well, the Member may append all information and documentation that the Member deems pertinent.” For your reference, Article 23.1.2.2 specifies that: “Each Member shall include in her annual report a general description of the scholarly activities to which she intends to devote a portion of her time during the next academic year, it being understood that these may change due to circumstances not foreseen at the time of filing the report. Furthermore, a Member eligible to apply for tenure or promotion in the next academic year shall indicate her intention to do so, if known. A Member who intends to apply for tenure or promotion may submit the information related to outside evaluators as specified in articles 23.3.2.4 and 23.3.2.5.” This means that there is no obligation to provide informationabout intentions to, for example: apply for external funding;develop asynchronous courses;access mentoring related to one’s career path; organize an on-campus conference;receive coaching related to media relations; orparticipate in research commercialisation activities.Furthermore, members are under no obligation to use any specific portal to submit their report. Please also be advised that, as specified in the Letter of Understanding COVID-19 Performance Assessment, members have the option to indicate how “the exceptional circumstances have detrimentally impacted their teaching/professional activities, scholarly activities and/or academic service/administrative activities and, hence, their performance during the exceptional period. It is understood and agreed that the information provided by Members will not unreasonably affect the outcome of performance evaluations and career recommendations and decision processes under the Collective Agreement.” If your research productivity has been adversely affected due to the pandemic, we encourage you to inform your Dean in a written document attached to your annual report rather than by checking a box created in a web-based annual report. We invite members with further questions about this matter to communicate with the APUO. |
| The University’s Council on French Services and Programs The University’s Council on French Services and Programs, which replaces the Commission permanente des affaires francophones et des langues officielles, is seeking two APUO members to serve on the Council for a two-year term; one from the Humanities and one from the Sciences. The Council on French Services and Programs is a standing committee of the Senate that is “mandated with overseeing the planning and implementation of initiatives that will assist the University of Ottawa in fulfilling its mission and commitment to promoting and expanding the Francophonie in Ontario. The Council is also responsible for promoting the development of the University community in both official languages.”[1] The APUO invites members with an interest in serving on the University’s Council on French Services and Programs to submit a letter of intent outlining their goals for the term to the APUO no later than 4pm on Tuesday, May 11. Please send the letter of intent to apuoco@uottawa.ca [1] https://www.uottawa.ca/administration-and-governance/senate/committees/council-on-french-services-and-programs |