Questions & Answers on the SJAC Teaching Stream Agreement

March 3, 2015
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SJAC Teaching Stream Policy Changes

Q & A revised February 2, 2015

On December 2, 2014, in a historically significant negotiation, facilitated by Retired Supreme court Justice Frank Iacobucci, the Special Joint Advisory committee reached a tentative agreement on unprecedented revisions to the teaching stream appointments policy. For the first time in the history of the University of Toronto, full-time members of the teaching stream will hold professional titles. Their academic appointments will be governed by an appointments policy featuring a rigorous and competitive teaching stream appointment category analogous to that of professors in the tenure stream.

The following Q & A is meant to provide a guide to the tentative agreement. Note that the agreed-upon revisions to the Policy and Procedures on Academic Appointments (PPAA) will affect full-time teaching stream faculty only, that is, faculty with FTEs of at least .76.

In the near future, UTFA hopes to negotiate improvements to the policy governing part-time appointments.

The tentative agreement on teaching stream policy changes is part of a suite of items tentatively agreed to by UTFA and the University of Toronto administration via the SJAC process. At its December 15, 2014, meeting, UTFA Council approved the package of changes, including significant revisions to the UTFA Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). The tentative agreement and subsequent policy changes must be approved by the University of Toronto Governing Council.

The full text of the SJAC teaching stream tentative agreement, together with the other elements of the SJAC tentative agreement, is also posted on the UTFA website.

Q & A:

1.    I am a Senior Lecturer. When may I start using the new title, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream?

Not until July 1, 2015. The new policy must be approved by Governing Council. It is the intention of UTFA and the University administration to have the new policy in place by July 1, 2015. Senior lecturers will receive written communication from the administration, outlining the steps that need to be taken by each faculty member who wishes to be covered by the new policy.

2.    When will I receive a letter inviting me to elect to be covered by the revised appointments policy?

UTFA will post information on its website once UTFA and the Administration have agreed to a protocol and a timeline.

3.    I am a full-time member of the teaching stream with the rank of Lecturer.   I am in the fourth year of my contract. My appointment letter states that I will be reviewed for promotion to continuing status in year five. Which policy will cover me, the current one or the newly revised one?

A Lecturer who is in the fourth year of an appointment, and who is scheduled to be reviewed for promotion to Senior Lecturer in the fall of 2015, will continue to be covered by the existing policy until the review for promotion has been completed. The review for promotion will be conducted under the terms of the existing policy.

If the review for promotion is successful, the candidate will be promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer. She or he may then immediately elect to be covered by the revised policy, which includes use of the title Associate Professor, Teaching Stream. This election will take effect January 1, 2016.

4.    I am a full-time member of the teaching stream with the rank of Lecturer. I am in the second year of my contract. My appointment letter states that I will be reviewed for promotion to continuing status in year five. Which policy will cover me, the current one or the newly revised one?  Do I get to choose between the two policies?

A Lecturer in the first, second or third year of a continuing stream appointment may elect to be covered by the revised policy, including use of the title Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream. If the election is made, the review for promotion to Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, will be conducted under the revised policy. The election to be covered by the revised policy must be made before December 31, 2015, and will take effect January 1, 2016.

A Lecturer in the first, second or third year of a continuing stream appointment may decide NOT to elect to be covered by the revised policy. In this case, the appointment would continue under the terms of the existing policy. The review for promotion to the rank of Senior Lecturer would be conducted under the terms of the existing policy. In this case, the option to be covered by the revised policy would NOT be available at a later date, and the Senior Lecturer would NOT have the option of using the title Associate Professor, Teaching Stream OR of eventually applying to be promoted to the rank of Professor, Teaching Stream.

5.    I am a full-time member of the teaching stream on a two-year limited term contract that ends on June 30, 2015. I have just been offered a renewal of my two-year contract. My new contract will end on June 30, 2017. How will the revised policy affect me?

The contract will be renewed under the revised policy. In other words, the appointment spanning 2015-2017 will be a contractually limited appointment made at the rank of Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, and will be governed by the terms of the revised policy. Faculty may hold contractually limited appointments for a maximum of five years (unless the contract is externally funded). Years spent at the rank of Lecturer will count toward the five-year maximum.

6.    I am a long-serving Senior Lecturer who would like to be considered for advancement to full professor. When will that advancement process be in place?  What are the criteria for promotion to full?  Will I be given a salary increase when I am promoted to the rank of Professor, Teaching Stream?

The process for promotion to the rank of Professor, Teaching Stream, has not been developed. UTFA and the Administration have agreed to negotiate, on an expedited basis, a process for promotion to full professor.

The criteria for promotion will excellent teaching, educational leadership and/or achievement, and ongoing pedagogical/professional development, sustained over many years.

Salary increases are subject to negotiation in Salary, Benefits and Pensions negotiations. At the present time, no salary increase accompanies promotion to the rank of Professor in the tenure stream.

7.    I am a part-time member of the teaching stream. My FTE is .75. Does the revised policy cover me?

No. The existing and revised terms of the Policy and Procedures on Academic Appointments apply only to full-time appointments. Part-time appointments are made under the Policy and Procedures on Employment Conditions of Part-Time Academic Staff. UTFA acknowledges the deficiencies of the part-time policy, and in the near future will seek to enter negotiations with the University administration to improve working conditions and security for faculty in part-time positions.

8.    Does the tentative agreement improve security of teaching stream faculty?

Security takes two forms: security of the initial appointment and security of the continuing appointment. We were unable to agree on improvements to the security of initial full-time appointments on the continuing track. UTFA successfully argued that these initial appointments should be analogous to initial appointments in the tenure stream. This means that full-time faculty in the teaching stream who are hired into continuing track appointments must be hired on an initial four-year contract – and not a one- or two-year contract. After a successful review in the fourth year of the contract, the faculty member will be given an additional two-year contract to bring her or him to year six and the review for promotion to continuing status. A successful promotion is automatically accompanied by the rank of Associate Professor, Teaching Stream.

We were unable to reach agreement on improving security of the continuing appointment. UTFA has argued for years that academic freedom in research and teaching depends on the security of the academic appointment. We will continue to advocate for improvements to the security of post-promotion appointments in the years to come.

9.    Does the tentative agreement protect the right to count discipline-based scholarship?

Yes, discipline-based scholarship related to, or relevant to, your area of teaching must be credited in all reviews, including the annual PTR review and the review for promotion to Associate Professor, Teaching Stream. UTFA fought a prolonged Association Grievance several years ago to win the right to have discipline-based scholarship counted as professional/pedagogical activity. That fight will now be enshrined in policy. Please note that no member of the teaching stream is compelled to engage in discipline-based scholarship. Many work only on pedagogy.