NEWSLETTER
January 2005
ANNOUNCEMENTS
University Council Meetings
February 24, March 17, April 21, May 19, June 16
All meetings are Thursdays at
2:30 p.m., 241 Arts (Former Place Riel Theatre)
PLAN ON ATTENDING
General Academic Assembly
11:00 a.m., Monday, April 11
241 Arts (Former Place Riel Theatre)
CAUT Executive Committee Call for Nominations
Nominations are being actively sought for election to the CAUT Executive Committee, namely: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, three Members-at-large, Chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee and Chair of the Women's Committee. The deadline for receiving nominations is March 1, 2005.
Members for CAUT Standing Committees
CAUT is seeking members who may be interested in serving on CAUT Standing Committees. The Committees are being expanded to at least eight members (including the chair) and will normally meet twice a year. The term of office is normally three years, with the possibility of one renewal. The Standing Committees are: Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (four vacancies), Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits Committee (four vacancies), Librarians' Committee (four vacancies), Women's Committee (five vacancies). It is important that names of, and information about, potential committee members be submitted as soon as possible, and no later than February 15, 2005.
Procedures and forms can be found on-line at http://www.caut.ca/en/news/nom_default.asp or by contacting the USFA office.
USFA Executive Committee Elections will be taking place in the next few months. The term of office is for two years beginning the first day of July following elections. Watch for the call for nominations.
CHAIR'S REMARKS
As you know USFA members in attendance at our Fall General Meeting voted in favour of a motion to increase membership dues from a mil rate of 5.4 to a mil rate of 8.5. This increase means that members will now pay $8.50 in union dues for every $1,000 of salary effective January 1, 2005. This also means that USFA members will have a larger tax deduction because of the higher dues paid.
Meetings with faculty in departments to emphasize the importance of faculty involvement in the collegial processes and collegial governance are continuing. USFA members are encouraged to run for election to University Council or to serve on Council committees. Without strong faculty participation in Council, we cannot have true collegial governance. I also urge all our members to attend the General Academic Assembly, which meets on April 11 .
We are also distributing two informational pamphlets at the department meetings. One, entitled Faculty Appointment Procedures, summarizes the appointment process as contained in Article 13 of the Collective Agreement. The second pamphlet is based on a 2002 CAUT discussion paper entitled "What is Fair?" which provides guidelines for conducting collegial processes. Copies of the information contained in these pamphlets is available from the USFA Office or can be found on our website (http://www.usask.ca/publications/).
The current Collective Agreement ends on June 30, 2005, and the USFA Bargaining Team is beginning preparation for upcoming negotiations. USFA members will have received a short survey from the Bargaining Team. Please take a few moments to complete the survey. Your input is vital.
The USFA had four representatives in attendance at the CAUT Western Regional Conference held in Winnipeg in October. There was an interesting session on the elimination of mandatory retirement. Experience elsewhere, mainly from the U.S., shows that performance measurement does not have to be instituted since almost all of those who continue to work are the productive scholars and teachers. Sixty-two is the average age of retiring faculty at universities that do not have mandatory retirement. Our Collective Agreement does not have mandatory retirement. Article 25.1 provides that "The Employer shall be entitled to require employees to retire on the normal retirement date, which is June 30 coincident with or next following the 67th birthday."
Delegates to the Western Regional Conference also attended a globalization conference and heard about the connection between globalization and academic freedom. Education is being touted as the next greatest investment opportunity for corporations. Curiosity-based research is losing out.
The content of this edition of our Newsletter will cover some of the many issues addressed at the CAUT November Council Meeting. A Discussion Paper on collegial governance was presented to delegates as well as a briefing with respect to the issue of the freedom to publish. CAUT also launched a national asbestos safety campaign to raise awareness of the potential health hazard that exists on university campuses across Canada. Two faculty members at the University of Manitoba died of asbestos-induced cancer where workplace asbestos was the suspected source. A task force report was released that documents the need for academic freedom for faculty at university-affiliated health care institutions.
2005 will be a year of continuing change. Impacts of the implementation of the Integrated Plan, the Administration's approach to labour relations and our upcoming negotiations will require major investments of time and energy. We need to understand the changes and ensure proper processes are followed. If you are aware of changes or decisions that have not followed proper collegial processes, contact us.
Bob Gander, Chair.
The Freedom to Publish
Delegates to the November CAUT Council Meeting were provided with a briefing to academic staff associations on the issue of the freedom to publish. CAUT has also published a bargaining advisory on the issue.
Challenges by religious, political, state and commercial interests to core academic values such as the transmission of knowledge and sharing of information are again being raised at universities. Ongoing concerns about terrorism have governments demanding research secrecy and the push to commercialize research comes with growing pressure to also be secretive so as to deter competition, ensure research results are patentable and suppress negative product information.
The drive for secrecy has research sponsors placing conditions on the funding that restrict the publication rights of researchers. Researchers may also be subjected to reducing collegial interaction and limited with respect to peer evaluation and the presentation of new knowledge. Attempts to suppress research results that show commercially unfavourable results are an illustration of the impact of this climate of secrecy. Academics can be subjected to negative career impacts because of restricted publication rights particularly those in rapidly advancing fields where small publication delays can have big consequences.
CAUT surveyed relevant contract and policy language at universities and colleges across Canada in order to gain an appreciation of publication rights at institutions. Of the 27 institutions CAUT was able to review it was found that a number of faculty associations have negotiated language to protect the right to publish. The USFA Collective Agreement provides for the right to publish as part of academic freedom. However, this right is only available if faculty members choose to use it.
The majority of policies in place at Canadian Universities allow for publication delays ranging from 3 to 24 months and some allow the delay to be extended. Calculation of a delay commences with the completion of the research project, possibly prohibiting the publication of ongoing research. At the U of S the policy with respect to research publication allows for a maximum delay of 12 months with extensions subject to the approval of the Vice-President Research.
CAUT is encouraging its member organizations to negotiate collective agreement provisions that ensure the faculty member's right to promptly publish completed research. CAUT is also advocating that universities and colleges put in place policies that transform a theoretical right to publish into an actual ban on the suppression of research findings and unreasonable delays.
BENEFITS
As a result of requests from our members, the Joint Benefits Committee has arranged for enhancements to the Drug Coverage provided to faculty members and dependents under our Extended Health Care Plan. The annual Drug Coverage increased to $2000 per person (the USFA member and each dependent) on January 1, 2005. Because the last round of negotiations increased the sum allotted by the University for Extended Health premiums to the amount required to cover 2004 premiums, for the first time in many years, the University is paying your entire Extended Health premium. The increase in funding will not cover increases to premiums after this year until a further increase in the funding is negotiated.
CAUT National Asbestos Campaign
The deaths of two professors at the University of Manitoba from mesothelioma drew attention to the magnitude of the dangers of asbestos and its impact on Canadian universities. Dr. William Morgan and Dr. John Mathiasson, both from the Anthropology Department, contracted mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos in their workplace. Their deaths led to heightened awareness at universities of the importance of developing and implementing asbestos protocols and educational programs.
Asbestos containing materials (ACM) are common in buildings built before the mid 1970's. Asbestos was a cheap, effective means of fire and sound proofing as well as thermal insulation. It may be found in insulation, ceiling and floor tiles, soundproofing material, laboratory counters, plasters, decorative paneling and electrical and telephone conduits.
Asbestos breaks down over time and, along with renovations and construction, becomes friable and can become airborne as a fine dust. This dust can be inhaled or ingested and lead to several debilitating or fatal diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Many universities and colleges are removing asbestos during the course of renovations, but because this is a huge, not to mention expensive, undertaking it will take time.
CAUT has launched a national asbestos safety campaign to protect everyone on Canada's campuses from exposure to asbestos and prevent future disease and deaths. The goal is to eliminate the presence of asbestos at universities and colleges across the country. Universities and colleges need to implement a strict asbestos management plan that identifies the location of ACM, establishes its status (friable or non-friable), provides for regular inspections and the repair or removal of ACM from the workplace. CAUT is working to ensure that all universities and colleges do an asbestos assessment, as required by law, and that they adhere to regulated protocols to provide maximum safety to staff, students and the general public.
CAUT member organizations have access to expert advice and training, which includes legislated protocols such as appropriate advisories during renovations and construction. Information, such as Issue 5 of the CAUT Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin, which is about asbestos, is provided to member organizations or can be found on the CAUT website: http://www.caut.ca/en/publications/healthandsafety/Asbestos.pdf.
The University of Saskatchewan is working to remove or safely contain ACM beginning with areas where the asbestos is most likely to become friable. There is also an asbestos awareness program consisting of information about asbestos and identification and labeling of ACM.
The location of all ACM in or near a work space will be identified by a sticker located between the top two door hinges on the inside of the nearest door frame and/or 1.7 metres from the floor. DHSE uses a numbering system to show where in the work area ACM is located. A yellow number means the area contains wrapped, enclosed or non-friable asbestos and poses minimal health hazard unless damaged or disturbed. A red number means that the area is contaminated with asbestos, and special entry procedures are needed. Anyone going into these areas will follow specific work procedures that meet Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. All sites with ACM are subject to regular inspection.
The Department of Health Safety and Environment has information available on their website http://www.usask.ca/dhse/occupationalhygiene/index.html.
The USFA is urging members to be aware of the hazards of Asbestos. Find out if there are ACM in areas where you work. If there are renovations taking place, in your building stay clear of areas where there is a potential for friable asbestos.
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the USFA office or DHSE.
THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT AND YOU
A number of items from the last round of negotiations come into effect in this our last year of the current Collective Agreement. One Career Development Increase (CDI) was removed from the bottom of each rank and added to the top and USFA members received one CDI as well as any regular CDI to which a member may have been entitled. The value of a CDI for the Assistant Professor rank is now equal to the value of a CDI for the rank of Associate Professor. Compulsory Group Life Insurance coverage was increased to two times annual salary, and the USFA Scholarship Fund for immediate family of USFA members will make its first awards this spring.
Defending Medicine: Clinical Faculty and Academic Freedom
CAUT Task Force Report
Inequity faced by clinical faculty because they do not have the same academic freedom protection as other faculty and the growing number of concerns being brought forward to CAUT by clinical faculty prompted the establishment of a task force to review the state of academic freedom for clinical faculty across the country and to recommend how academic freedom could be best enhanced and protected.
The task force concludes in its report entitled Defending Medicine: Clinical faculty and academic freedom, that clinical faculty are increasingly more vulnerable to pressure from outside interest groups, university administrators and corporate and government financial contributors and do not have the freedom to challenge or criticize decisions made in their institutions. Financial strain placed on universities and health care institutions has meant management structures have been put in place to create immediate efficiencies but place the future of academic medicine in danger.
The push to create income for the institution by way of clinical work or the creation of commercial products takes time away from teaching and research and emphasizes economic issues rather than scientific and ethical considerations. The room for independent thought and critical examination grows smaller, which in turn diminishes the university and the health care institution itself.
The task force makes four recommendations in its Report:
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Strengthen academic freedom rules for clinical faculty
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Protect security of appointment and security of income for clinical faculty
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Ensure access to natural justice for clinical faculty
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Strengthen clinical faculty representative organizations.
The report is the first step of the task force in fulfilling its mandate. The authors plan to visit all Canadian universities with faculties of medicine to talk with clinical faculty members about the issues. They will also be meeting with provincial medical societies and other groups that have an interest in the review.
The full report can be found on the CAUT website:
http://www.caut.ca/en/issues/academicfreedom/DefendingMedicine.pdf
COLLEGIAL GOVERNANCE
U of S Faculty are not alone with respect to the conundrum of collegial governance. Most Canadian post-secondary educational institutions are governed by a dual governance system in which a board of governors is responsible for financial and administrative matters and a senate (University Council at the U of S), with a strong majority of academic staff, is responsible for educational matters.
For the most part senates are legislated bodies and, as legislated by the University of Saskatchewan Act, at the U of S, University Council is the voice of academics. Similar to Senates at other Canadian Universities it is the body that sets educational policy and makes academic decisions.
CAUT has grappled with this issue for many years. A Discussion Paper was presented to CAUT delegates at the November Council Meeting entitled CAUT Policy on Governance: Where have we been and where should we go. The Discussion Paper looks back to the 1960's when similar concerns about the loss of the influence of scholars on policy and the increased control of administrators at universities caused a great deal of misunderstanding and misapprehension. The Duff-Berdahl Commission, sponsored jointly by CAUT and the forerunner to AUCC, strongly endorsed a system of shared governance.
In 1990 CAUT set up the Independent Study Group on University Governance (ISGUG). The shared governance approach was under attack because it was seen to impede constructive, responsible management. Like the Duff-Berdahl Commission, the ISGUG started with the premise that senates were not an effective means for faculty to participate in academic decision-making and also like the Commission, the ISGUG did not see the shared governance model as the problem.
Once again the shared model of collegial governance is under attack. The U of S, and Academia in general, is under more pressure than ever to change structures of collegial governance because of the imposition of a neo-liberal approach to University operations. The voice of academics is being drowned out by that of administrators.
Abolishing shared governance is neither practical nor desirable. The University of Saskatchewan Act would need to be changed to change the role Council plays in university operations. Opening the Act to change the model of collegial governance will likely result in the adoption of corporate models that would reduce the role of faculty and shift shared power from the university community to university administration.
The Duff-Berdahl Commission saw senates as the only forum for faculty to have a voice in academia. The ISGUG recognized that collective bargaining is not incompatible with collegial governance. Many matters important to academic decision-making are discussed during negotiations and settlements that are reached are enduring. However the ISGUG saw senates as the principle forum for faculty's voice.
The Discussion Paper suggests that collective bargaining is key to ensuring effective collegial governance. There is no suggestion that the shared governance model should be abandoned, but bargaining needs to be used to secure the proper role of faculty in academic decision-making. Success in countering the efforts of university administrators in their power grab is by way of collective bargaining. Employers have all the rights except those taken away by statute or by collective bargaining.
"CAUT believes that academic staff must play a decisive role in making educational decisions and setting educational policy if post-secondary institutions are to fulfill their purposes. Systems of 'collegial governance' were meant to ensure academic staff can play their proper role in making educational decisions and setting educational policy. CAUT's experience is that academic senates have frequently failed to give academic staff their proper voice in academic governance on a consistent basis. Over the last thirty-five years, academic staff associations have negotiated collective agreement provisions that help ensure academic staff rights in governance are protected."