The Retired Members Committee represents approximately 600 retired faculty and librarians of the University of Toronto and its federated colleges. The Committee met three times in the fall of 2019 and once in the spring of 2020, via a Zoom conference call, due to the pandemic. We confirmed four goals for the year:
The Membership Committee planned for an exciting and engaging year, with continued focus on supporting strategic outreach with respect to the salary discrimination initiative, creating a plan to fill vacant constituency seats on UTFA’s Council, and engaging our broader membership through a meet-and-greet update initiative.
In mid-March 2020 the University of Toronto libraries across our three campuses closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians and staff reverted to working from home. We were advised that no students could be hired for the summer and only eBooks could be ordered for collections. This is an exceptional time.
Looking back, it has been an exceptional year. Members of the Librarians Committee have participated in a number of important initiatives:
The Association remains in strong financial health. UTFA holds approximately $4,200,000 in its investment account (as of June 1, 2020), having substantially recovered from the recent coronavirus-induced market swoon. Until recently, the Association’s investment policy prescribed that half of the account be invested in fixed income instruments and half in equities, and that the latter be invested equally in Canadian, US, and other equities.
The Equity Committee continues to work with the Grievance, Membership, and University and External Affairs Committees on equity projects such as the Association grievance on salary discrimination and negotiations on the University’s sexual violence policy. It also focuses on other equity issues.
In the fall, I was involved in the following equity-related activities:
A central concern for the Appointments Committee is the administrative use of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) in reviews for tenure, continuing status, and promotion (in both the tenure and teaching streams) and in the assessment of PTR. Through these processes, student evaluations can have a significant impact on a faculty member’s career, including annual increases in salary. Recent institutional research has demonstrated that students can report on their experience in a course, but that such evaluations do not offer a reliable measure of the quality of instruction.
Among my many roles and activities as Vice-President, University and External Affairs, I represent UTFA on the Board of Directors of both the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). These organizations are dedicated to advancing the interests of faculty and librarians across the province and country, respectively.
July 2019–April 2020
Since I last wrote to the membership, the UTFA teams I have led have been very busy in a range of policy-related negotiations with the Administration, and we have made significant progress on several long-term and equity-focused initiatives. New and serious issues have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic—including such as relate to members’ health and safety; needs for accommodation; academic freedom; workload concerns; and, mode of course delivery. As of July 1, 2020, I will be tackling these issues as UTFA’s incoming president.
In my role as Vice-President, University and External Affairs, I represent UTFA on the Board of Directors of both the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). These organizations are dedicated to advancing the interests of faculty and librarians across the province and country, respectively.
Academic Freedom and Free Speech