This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the concerns of retired members of the faculty and academic librarians.
by Stephen Rupp
Access to Microsoft’s Suite of Tools
Last year, the University Administration precipitously decided that retirees would no longer have automatic access to Microsoft 365 as they had in the past, although all retirees could keep their Utoronto email accounts. Many retirees suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves without access to Microsoft 365, even retirees who continue to be quite active in research and teaching.
The UTFA Retired Members Committee (RMC) and the Executive protested this change, and the University Administration agreed in August 2022 to extend access until April 2023. The Administration has said that after that date, it will cover the cost of access to Microsoft 365 only for those retirees who are “actively engaged in teaching and research.” One justification that the University Administration offers for this limitation is that “continuing to be active at U of T is a requirement under our [the University's] current agreement with Microsoft.” They further justify this restriction on the grounds of “the cost of storing and keeping secure data that no longer belongs to the University” and “the resource implications of the technical support that non-active retirees require” without specifying the costs or resource implications in any way.
The RMC and Executive will continue to press the Administration for a more expansive and open approach to providing access to Microsoft 365 for those retirees who want it and will endeavour to ensure that any process for distinguishing ‘active’ from ‘inactive’ retirees is based on open and fair procedures.
Annual Retiree Reception
The Retired Members Committee is holding UTFA’s Annual Retiree Reception on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m via Zoom. Our featured keynote speaker will be Uahikea Maile, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Politics in the Department of Political Science. Professor Maile is the founder of the Ziibiing Lab, the new Indigenous politics “collaboratory” launched in October 2022. The event also provides retirees with an opportunity to chat with other retirees and to hear important updates from the UTFA leadership, including in relation to health benefits, travel benefits, and post-retirement access to Microsoft 365. As a retiree, if you wish to register for this session, please click here.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my deep appreciation to all the members of the UTFA RMC for their active participation in the Committee, and to the RMC and Executive for their strong advocacy for retired faculty and librarians.