Our next General Membership Meeting will be held on Wednesday August 22nd at noon. The location is TBA at this point, but will be confirmed soon. The agenda will be posted in advance of the meeting. We hope to see you there, and as always, lunch will be provided and child-care costs reimbursed upon request.
Recently, William Kaplan, one of Ontario’s most respected arbitrators, heard a grievance put forward by the Ryerson University Faculty Association at arbitration. The grievance dealt with the usage of Student Evaluations of Teachings (or SETs) and their applicability for employment related decisions by Ryerson University.
Your Union has long expressed concerns about the effectiveness of SETs when we have bargained with the Employer. Among other things, we have been concerned that various factors, especially personal characteristics such as race, gender, accent, age and “attractiveness” skew the results. We have also expressed concern that a simple numeric figure is limited in its effectiveness and easy to skew. We believe that the decision by Arbitrator Kaplan, which can be read in full here, confirms many of our long-held concerns about the shortcomings of SETs (or course evaluations, as they are more commonly referred to here).
Perhaps the most notable part of the decision is as follows: “The expert evidence led at the hearing persuasively demonstrates that the most meaningful aspects of teaching performance and effectiveness cannot be assessed by SETs. Insofar as assessing teaching effectiveness is concerned – especially in the context of tenure and promotion – SETs are imperfect at best and downright biased and unreliable at worst.”
We believe this decision has the potential to have important implications on hiring decisions here, especially in those instances in which departments rely heavily on SETs to deny members employment. We will also address this decision at our next round of collective bargaining, scheduled for 2020.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact either Peter Graham (Unit 2 Chief Steward- chiefsteward_sessionals@cupe3906.org) or Brad Walchuk (Unit 2 Staff Representative-bwalchuk@cupe3906.org)
Because our membership is precariously employed, we often find ourselves (temporarily) out of work. CUPE 3906 has re-designed its Employment Insurance (EI) pamphlet. We encourage all members to apply for EI when they find themselves out of work. The pamphlet will provide you information about eligibility, entitlement, and process.
For more information, please click on this link, which will direct you to our new Employment Insurance pamphlet.
The Union’s most significant decisions are made by Union members at General Membership Meetings (GMMs).
All CUPE 3906 members of all 3 units (TAs and RAs in lieu, Sessional Faculty, Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty and Postdoctoral Fellows) can attend regular GMMs and get involved in the Union’s decision making processes.
Our next GMM will be held on Wednesday, June 27th at noon in BSB 136.
We offer a free lunch and reimbursement for childcare costs. A detailed agenda will soon be posted
Dear CUPE Local 3906 members,
As usual, we’ve received a lot of questions about the FREE first aid training for CUPE 3906 members at McMaster. YES, IT REALLY IS FREE.
CUPE doesn’t offer the training (it is normally done through recreation and athletics) but our collective agreements have secured members access at no charge. The cost is billed back to your department (not the individual supervisor) and as such the departmental administrator will need to enroll you.
Let us know if you have any additional questions.
Our next General Membership Meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 27th at noon. The location and agenda are still TBA at this point, but we wanted to give members as much notice as we can.
CUPE 3906’s Equity Action Committee is proud to announce that we will be hosting a Summer Clothing Swap. Please join us on Thursday, June 28th, from 10:30am to 3:00pm, in MUSC 311/313. Bring clean clothing you no longer wear (we encourage clothing for all body types and genders!). All leftover clothes will be donated to the Native Women’s Centre in Hamilton.
If you are able, please drop off your clean clothes and books at the CUPE office (KTH B111) prior to the event during hours of operation (Monday to Thursday from 9am-5pm). You may also wish to bring your clothes with you to the event and display them upon your arrival. We will have a box on location for book donations.
For more information regarding the poetry event, please contact equity@cupe3906.org
The Equity Action Committee is also proud to announce that we will be hosting an event for members to share their art (poetry, fiction, performance, among other forms of creative expression) as part of a larger initiative titled, “Healing With Feelings.” The theme will be on class and labour! This event is an opportunity to meet new folx, engage with each other’s creative works, and heal collectively from intersecting oppressions. Please join us on Thursday, July 19 in CIBC Hall (308/309). The doors open at 7:00PM while the event finishes at 9:00PM.
If you’re interested in sharing your work, we have 11 available slots of 10 minutes each to choose from. Please sign-up by sending an e-mail to equity@cupe3906.org. Even if you’re not reciting any poetry, fiction, or performing, this event is meant to show support and solidarity to your fellow peers.
We look forward to seeing you there!
We wanted to remind you that FREE First Aid Training is a benefit guaranteed under each of our three Collective Agreements (CAs) and available to TAs/RAs in lieu (Article 18.13 of Unit 1 CBA), Sessional Faculty/Hourly-Rated Sessional Music Faculty (Article 17.13 of Unit 2 CBA) and Post Docs (Article 14.12 of the Unit 3 CBA).
The course, a Standard Red Cross certificate course, is offered being offered on a number of dates this spring through Athletics and Recreation, and the cost of registration is covered by the Employer. The course runs from 9-5 on both days, and there are two remaining sessions:
May 2/3, 8/9, 10/11, 15/16, 26/27, 30/31
June 5/6, 9/10, 13/14, 19/20
Re-Certification: May 17 and June 12
Your department administrator can enroll you. There is NO CHARGE to you!You will need to attend both days in order to receive the certificate.
The sessions are being held on campus here. If you have questions about the specifics of the material being offered, please contact Athletics and Recreation at ext. 24464. They are the ones who are offering and teaching the class. Online registration is not an option.
More information: https://rec.mcmaster.ca/…/cert…/first–aid-standard-red-cross
If you are a TA/RA in lieu and working in a different department/program other than the one that you are registered in as a student, registration should be done through your academic department.
Normally, the Administrator (Graduate Secretary) from your academic department or program will need to register you as they must provide the departmental code so the cost can be billed accordingly. This charge cannot be passed on to you
In our most recent round of bargaining, your Union secured a Professional Development Fund for Post-Doctoral Fellows. That’s right, a PDF for PDFs. It provides up to $150/year for conference participation, professional association fees, and academic books.
Information is available here.