As described in earlier sections on grievances and COVID-19 related issues, UTFA is currently addressing the heightened concerns that our members have on Student Course Evaluations/Student Evaluations of Teaching (SCEs/SETs). The Appointments Committee continues to review and advocate in relation to issues arising from SCEs/SETs.
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.
In 2018–19 the Appointments Committee focused on three main areas: part-time appointments, cross-appointments, and age-related issues.The Policy and Procedures on Employment Conditions of Part-time Academic Staff, which was last revised in 1994, is out of date and no longer believed to reflect adequately the terms and conditions that our more than 300 part-time members require.
The Appointments Committee advises UTFA Council and Executive on matters related to the University’s many policies and procedures on appointments. This includes procedures for hiring, promotion, tenure, and termination, encompassing all librarian and faculty ranks—full-time and part-time—including tenure stream, teaching stream, contractually limited, visiting adjunct appointments, and emeriti/ae.
The Appointments Committee advises UTFA Council and Executive on all matters related to the University administration’s many policies on academic appointments. This includes procedures for hiring, promotion, tenure, and termination encompassing all librarian and faculty ranks – full-time and part-time – including tenure stream, teaching stream, contractually limited, visiting adjuncts, and emeriti/ae (sessional instructors are, of course, represented by CUPE).
The firm deadline for full-time senior lecturers to opt in to the new appointments policy for the teaching stream is DECEMBER 31, 2015. UTFA and the University administration completed negotiations on this new policy almost one year ago, in December 2014.
Both UTFA’s Q & A and the University administration’s Q & A are meant to help you understand the policy change.
You will be covered by a new policy that offers the following:
The Appointments Committee began its 2014 work at a time when the Special Joint Advisory Committee (SJAC) process was coming to an end. One of tasks of the Appointments Committee was to receive updates and to offer comments and support to the SJAC team. The committee congratulates everyone involved in the SJAC initiative for bringing those negotiations to a successful conclusion.