CUPE 3906

With the university closing due to inclement weather conditions on Tuesday Feb 12 (our scheduled GMM), we will be re-booking a General Membership Meeting at some point after Reading Week. An updated date, time, and location will be sent out as soon as we have confirmed. This meeting will feature the election of a Vice President, a Recording Secretary, and a Unit 1 Chief Steward.

We’ve been saying this for a while, an arbitrator made this very clear last year, yet another study supports the claim- we hope that university employers will finally get the message: student evaluations of teaching are highly problematic for the purpose of (re)-hiring and tenure/promotion.

“…as this report clearly demonstrates, using student questionnaires to evaluate faculty performance is counterproductive and harmful, and it raises serious equity questions.”

Why?

“The report is one of the most exhaustive of its kind in Canada and examines the methodological, research ethics, and human rights implications of student questionnaires. It finds that:

• Women, racialized, and LGBTQ2S+ faculty, as well as faculty with disabilities, receive lower scores than their white male colleagues. Using SQCTs to determine pay and promotion risks marginalizing these equity seeking groups even further, impacting their career prospects and limiting academic diversity.
• It is impossible to adjust SQCT scores to account for their bias.
• Anonymous SQCT comments are regularly used to target faculty members with abusive, harassing, and harmful comments.
• Students are not adequately informed about how SQCTs are used, or how their information can be shared.
• Using SQCT scores to evaluate teaching discourages innovation and undermines student learning.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4145909#ixzz5erOafXZd

The link to the Unit 1 (TAs/RAs in lieu) and Unit 3 (Postdocs) bargaining survey was sent via e-mail link today. If you are a member and did not receive the link, please contact staff@cupe3906.org

Today’s survey launch event in MDCL was cancelled due to the weather, but we’ll be continuing the survey launch tour next week in ETB 230 on Tues at 11:30 and in TSH B129 on Thurs at 11:30

Dear TAs/RAs in lieu and Postdocs,

If you are a Sessional Faculty Member teaching for the first this academic year in the Winter 2019 term, this information applies to you.

New Sessional Faculty Members who are beginning their teaching for the 2018-2019 academic year in January, 2019, are able to make changes to their CUPE 3906 dental coverage until January 31, 2019.

• To enroll family members at a cost of $853.72 per family, please fill out the forms available on this link and provide completed forms and a void cheque or direct debit permission from from your bank to our office, KTH B111, no later than January 31, 2019: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2018/09/2018-Unit-2-Family-Dental-Enrollment-NEW-2-1.pdf
• To opt-out of CUPE 3906 dental coverage if you have alternative dental coverage through your parents or spouse, please fill out the forms available on this link and provide completed forms, a copy of proof of alternate coverage with your name on it, and a void cheque or direct deposit permission from from your bank to our office, KTH B111, no later than January 31, 2019: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2018/09/CUPE-U2-DENTAL-OPT-OUT-2018-2019-NEW-2.pdf

Please note: change of status (including family coverage enrollment and opt-outs) expires for all members on August 31, 2019.  To maintain your coverage status (or opt-out) next academic year (if you are returning as a Sessional Faculty member), you must complete this change of coverage process again in September.

For more general information on dental coverage or dental change of coverage, please visit https://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/unit-2-dental-coverage/ or contact administrator@cupe3906.org.

A number of student groups are coming together for a rally on Friday, February 1st at Gore Park in Hamilton (corner of James and King). There will be various speakers from 12 to 1, followed by a downtown march from 1 to 1:30.

Why do Ford’s reckless changes matter? How will they adversely impact students?

• dependency on family income in determining OSAP funding has been extended from 4 to 6 years
• interest on debt begins accumulating immediately after graduation
• increase of loan-to-grant ratio: higher loans, lower grants
• services and student unions face an existential threat by funding restructuring. Valuable services, including student-run newspapers, may be lost as a result
• OSAP cuts are part of a larger attack on social services

More information about these changes and their impacts can be found in this release by our friends at CFS Ontario.

In our last round of bargaining, we secured access to a free, credentialed training program from McMaster’s MacPherson Institute. This program can help develop your teaching portfolio. Enrollment for courses being offered this upcoming semester is open now and available here. Registration is required. More information about the process for certification is available here. Many sessionals have already taken advantage of this great opportunity and we hope that many others will.

We are looking for someone willing to commit to a democratic union culture, work with our diverse membership while working under the direction of, and in close collaboration with, an annually elected Executive Committee in the position of the Administrative Coordinator. This is a temporary position to back-fill a leave of absence.

The Administrative Coordinator will work with the Executive Committee. The primary role will be the
administration and processing of benefits. This includes processing claims, answering member
inquiries, and preparing annual reports on benefits. They will also be responsible for Job Postings
administration, including checking over all postings that come in from the University to ensure they are
in line with the Collective Agreements.

The job posting, which closes on February 1st, is available by clicking Here