How to keep up with campus news

There’s a lot happening on campus. Here are a few ways to make sure you don’t miss anything.

1. Read the Daily Bulletin and listen to Beyond the Bulletin.

You can have this campus-wide update sent directly to your email every morning, and the accompanying podcast delivered directly to your podcast app every Friday. Beyond the Bulletin is available via RSS, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and probably any other way you listen to your podcasts.

2. Follow newsletters.

Here are a few that we know of. Please link to any we missed in the comments!

Tip: Like newsletters but don’t want to add more to your inbox? Try using Unroll.me to collect all your newsletters into one email every day. Hint: don’t include emails from people, offices (or, say, faculty associations) that send you time-sensitive or important emails, because you won’t get those emails right away.

3. Follow RSS feeds

Every UWaterloo website has an RSS feed for its News, Events, and Blog sections. You can find the RSS link at the top of each of those pages.

4. Add events directly to your calendar

The “add to calendar” button

When you find an event you’re interested in, add it to your calendar with just a couple of clicks—no typing required! Look for the little calendar icon with a plus sign at the top of any event listing on any UWaterloo website. Click it to download an “.ics” file, which you can open with any calendar app. (Here are the instructions for Google Calendar.)

Want to add all of the events from a website to your calendar at once? Use the “Export” button at the top of the Events page of that site.

5. Subscribe to this blog!

If you haven’t yet, hit “subscribe” to get these posts in your inbox as they’re published.

Why I participate in extra-curricular activities with students

Diana Skrzydlo explains how she benefits from joining student organizations.

It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be a student. I’m not talking about late night assignments, last minute study sessions, and cramped living spaces; I’m talking about forming communities of common interest, developing lifelong friendships, and exploring your passions.

In my 12 years as a faculty member, I have been involved in FASS (the Faculty, Alumni, Staff, and Students theatre company), the Chamber and University choirs, and the AcaBellas. They’re not just student groups; they’re university community groups—most clubs are open to any UW community members, including faculty. I’ve been behind the scenes and I’ve performed on stage, and through it all, it has been a delight to share the experience with a variety of other members of the campus community.

The pursuit of a shared passion will build real empathy, and empathy for your students will make you a better educator.

Here are some of the benefits of participating in student organizations:

Continue reading “Why I participate in extra-curricular activities with students” →

Ethical Behaviour policy consultation + more from the September 26 Board meeting

A draft of Policy 33 (Ethical Behaviour) is out for consultation. Since this is the first policy that’s made its way to Faculty Relations Committee (FRC) for approval in a while, let’s review how this will work:

  1. Policy 33 is an “FS” policy, meaning that it affects both faculty and staff working conditions. FRC (that’s the group of FAUW Board members and admin that meets every two weeks to hash out working conditions, fix problems, and approve policies) and the Staff Relations Committee (SRC) jointly strike drafting committees for and then approve FS policies. 
  2. FRC and SRC will send the draft policy out for consultation to other groups. They will review all the feedback and tell the drafting committee what changes to make. 
  3. The updated draft policy then goes back to FRC and SRC for approval. Approval at FRC requires a double majority, which means both FAUW and admin have a veto.
  4. After FRC and SRC approve the policy, it goes on to be approved by the Board of Governors.

In the case of Policy 33, faculty and staff members will get a draft of the policy soon. We encourage you to provide feedback through the soon-to-be-announced process set up by the Secretariat. If necessary, we will also collect anonymous input through our FRC reps and Lori Curtis, AF&T Committee chair.

What else is going on right now?

  1. The Holistic Benefits Review is moving along—you’ll get a survey soon, asking for your input about University employee benefits.
  2. As we reported last time, Finance (incorrectly) used a new Consumer Price Index (CPI) source for indexing the 2018-2019 Faculty Professional Expense Reimbursement (FPER) amount, which led to each member getting $8.00 less than you should have last year. We’ve worked collegially with Finance to find a solution: reverting back to the previous CPI source moving forward and also making a one-time addition of $8.00 to your 2019-2020 FPER. This was the Board’s preferred solution. Special thanks to the member who investigated this thoroughly and brought it to our attention!
  3. We gave feedback on draft conflict of interest guidelines that FRC is working on. These apply to faculty hiring, performance review, tenure and promotion, and chair search committees. You can expect to see those later this term.
  4. We had a quick debrief about the New Faculty and Family Dinner that we co-hosted with the University on September 20. (The gist: it was great; everyone had fun; we’re looking forward to next year.)
  5. The Lecturers Committee held its first meeting of the year and is working on setting goals for the next few months. Let them know if you have suggestions.
  6. The Board approved FAUW’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year 2018–19. 

We’ll be talking about the progress made so far by the Complementary Teaching Assessment Project Team (CTAPT) (see the “Documents” sidebar) at an upcoming Board meeting. If you have input you’d like us to consider, let us know!

What’s on the FAUW agenda for 2019-20

Our Board meeting summary posts are back! Tune in every two weeks to find out what the FAUW Board of Directors is doing for you. Subscribe to get the posts right away.

FAUW’s priorities for 2019-2020

These are the key items we’re aiming to get through this year, in addition to preparing for negotiations at the end of 2020 and inevitably weighing in on more proposals from the provincial government.

  • Policy development: Improvements and clarity around the policy drafting process, better supporting our representatives on policy drafting committees, and getting a few policies into (if not through) the approval process. Candidates are the policies on ethical behaviour (33), parental leave (14), accommodations (57, new), and faculty appointments (76).
  • Conflict of interest guidelines: See item #3 from the September 12 Board meeting below. 
  • Workload: We want to see clear and consistent definitions (and monitoring) of how teaching and other faculty work is counted across campus.
  • Representation: We plan to issue position statements on our relationship with research professors and sessional instructors.

September 12 Board of Directors meeting

Here’s what was on the agenda on September 12, the first meeting of the 2019–20 academic year. We welcome your input on any of these topics! 

Continue reading “What’s on the FAUW agenda for 2019-20” →

UW responds to the climate crisis

From paper straws to the “Green New Deal” to the arrival of Greta Thunberg in North America, the climate crisis is a regular topic in the national and international media. But you might not know how UWaterloo is responding. Here’s a high-level overview about the status of the University’s responsible investing commitments, a faculty member’s role in the City of Kitchener declaring a climate emergency, and the September 27 global climate strike.

Continue reading “UW responds to the climate crisis” →

Indigenization Reading Circle Notebook: “Decolonization is not a Metaphor”

The FAUW Indigenization Reading Circle meets monthly to discuss readings relating to Indigenization and reconciliation in the university context.

During the June meeting of the Reading Circle, we considered how land acknowledgements make visible the Indigenous peoples of a region and their histories. The performance of a land acknowledgment expresses a commitment to a reconciled future that is prosperous for settlers and Indigenous peoples. But does reconciliation accept settler colonialism?

In our July article, “Decolonization is not a metaphor” (Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society Vol.1 No.1 2012 pp.1-40), Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang attempt to show that when educators work to ‘decolonize’ thinking, teaching, and universities, they treat decolonization as a metaphor and jeopardize solidarity with Indigenous struggles against settler colonialism. The authors do not argue for decolonization. They show that respect for that framework requires that we refuse to absorb it into other anti-oppression projects.

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FAUW responds to MTCU proposal to reduce salary of faculty members collecting pensions

FAUW sent a written submission to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) on July 31 regarding proposed MTCU regulations that would reduce the salary of university sector employees who are collecting a pension.

Key points

  • The proposed changes discriminate on the basis of age.
  • The net savings to either the University or the province are not clearly established.
  • Many scholars over age 71 provide more funding and jobs through their research programs than would be freed up by their retirement.
  • Because university faculty start their careers later, they cannot be compared against other sectors on the basis of retirement age.
  • The regulations would disproportionately disadvantage women and members of other equity-seeking groups whose career advancement is often further delayed.
  • The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has a higher percentage of sitting MPPs age 71 or older than the University of Waterloo has of faculty age 71 or older.

Thank you to the many members who provided feedback on this issue and shaped our response, included in full below.

Continue reading “FAUW responds to MTCU proposal to reduce salary of faculty members collecting pensions” →