OCAD Faculty Association - News & Events

Graduate Supervision Policy

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA members,

The Graduate Student Supervision Policy was identified as another area of mutual interest for both the University and OCADFA during OCADU/OCADFA bargaining. At Monday's mediation-arbitration meeting, an agreement was reached on a revised policy for graduate supervision. Please find attached the Memorandum of Understanding on the new policy.

Executive Summary:

The new policy applies to all faculty members and new graduate supervisions commencing July 1, 2011. Those who have accumulated GSCs under previous policies, may cash them in for $3,500 per GSC OR use earned course releases as per past policies OR some combination of both. Credits for Grad work done in 2010-2011 will be credited in accordance with the 2009-2010 policy. Liberal Studies faculty will be credited for ALL supervisory and committee work.

The new stipend takes the following compensatory forms:
1. $3,500 for Principal Advisor of a student completing a Master's thesis; 2. $2,000 for Principal Advisor of a student completing a Major Research Paper (MRP); 3. $500 for serving as a committee member; 4. $600 for teachng a O.5 Graduate Independent Studies course.

The stipend shall be paid according to the following schedule:
a. 34% upon appointment as supervisor
b. 66% upon conferral of degree

Committee members will be paid when the Committee has completed its work.

Teaching a Graduate Independent Studies course will be paid upon submission of final grade.

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

OCADFA Negotiations Update

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members,

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that we have negotiated a better incentive deal for people wishing to retire whose age and years of service total 80 years. This is due to the low take-up of the original VRIP (\"Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan\") among our members. The new deal will apply to all those who already took the deal. Sandra Altwerger and Sarah McKinnon will be sending you the details of the new VRIP options early next week.

The bad news is that we have made very little progress with our administration towards settling the many negotiations issues that remain on the negotiations table. We will therefore be going to William Kaplan, the Arbitrator, with a very large mediation/arbitration brief tomorrow (June 3). Please note that under the rules of binding arbitration, a media black-out will be in effect for the duration of the proceedings. I will neither be able to report to you the contents nor the progress of the proceedings. If Mr. Kaplan is able to mediate a settlement between the two parties, the OCADFA Negotiations Committee will bring the settlement back to you for ratification. If mediation is unsuccessful, Mr. Kaplan will move to arbitration. Under binding arbitration, his decision is final. We will have to live with it - good or bad - and there will be no ratification meeting. You will, nonetheless, receive a copy of his decision and OCADFA will hold a meeting where I will give you the breakdown and the implications of the ruling.

With best regards,

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Negotiations Chair

Notice of OCADFA Spring General Meeting - Monday, May 9th

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

Please mark your calendars with regards to OCADFA’s Spring General Meeting which will take place on Monday, May 9th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in room 1525 at 113 McCaul Street (Library Building).

Agenda and other attachments to follow next week.

Negotiations update

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Bill Leeming, Chair, OCADFA Negotiations

Dear OCADFA Members,

The OCADFA Negotiations Committee has served notice to the University exercising its right to "Negotiations Mediation and Arbitration" as per Article 12.1.1 and as set out in Article l2.2 of the OCAD/OCADFA Memorandum Of Agreement.

As stated in the notice, the OCADFA Negotiations Committee has lost confidence that there will be a timely resolution to the many issues that remain on the bargaining table without the assistance of a Negotiations Arbitrator. To date, there have been a total of 111 proposals tabled (31 University, 80 OCADFA). Of these, 85 proposals remain under discussion.

I will provide you with a Negotiations Report on these matters at the OCADFA Spring General Meeting on Monday, May 9th, 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. in room 1525, 113 McCaul Street.

Sincerely yours,

Bill Leeming,
Chair, OCADFA Negotiations Committee

Worldviews international conference on media and higher education June 16-18, 2011 in Toronto

OCAD Faculty Association

Worldviews international conference on media and higher education June 16-18, 2011 in Toronto - early registration discount ends March 18 -- for distribution

Worldviews international conference on media and higher education in the 21 st century

Worldviews – an innovative international conference examining the complex relationship between media and higher education – will be held June 16 to 18, 2011 in Toronto. The conference is being organized by the Ontario Confederation of University of Faculty Associations, OISE/University of Toronto, the Washington-based Inside Higher Ed, the London and South-Africa-based University World News.

Speakers from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania will encourage an interactive dialogue with participants. As well as debates, panels and workshops, there will be small café discussions and salons, film screenings, interviews with leading thinkers, and the opportunity for audience members to become speakers and debaters.

The 2011 inaugural conference will consider a range of important themes, including:

How media coverage of higher education has changed over the past two decades and where it is headed
Research and science journalism\
The impact of social media and how it is changing what is covered and how higher education is understood
The role the media play in influencing public policy debates on higher education
How higher education engages with the media to inform public opinion
The different realities of the developing and developed worlds

Specific sessions will consider issues such as:

Understanding the media world and its impact on higher education coverage\
"Educating Hollywood": Images of higher education in film, television, and cyberspace
Media depictions of academic staff concerns: current realities, future directions
Science journalism and research: The battle between the uncertainty of science and the certainty of "news"
Public opinion surveys, public perceptions of higher education, and the media: Who is shaping whom?
Creating dialogue and understanding between journalists and academia

Speakers include Ivan Semeniuk (Nature), Phil Baty (Times Higher Education), Scott Jaschik, (Inside Higher Ed), Jeff Selingo (Chronicle of Higher Education), Karen MacGregor (University World News), Valeria Roman ( Clarín, Argentina), Paul Lewis (Discovery Channel), Daniel deVise (Washington Post), Shari Graydon (Informed Opinions), Jean-Marc Fleury (World Federation of Science Journalists), Sidneyeve Matrix (Queen's University), Penny Park (Science Media Centre of Canada), Bob McDonald (CBC), Adam Habib (University of Johannesburg), Mark Kingwell (University of Toronto) Ying Cheng (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Dzulkifli Abdul Razak (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Lisa Lapin (Stanford University) , Bill Ayers (University of Illinois-Chicago), among many others.

* Early registration discount ends March 18, 2011: http://guestlistapp.com/events/43005

* For more information, please go to: http://worldviewsconference.com

Ratification - OCADFA University Policy on Intellectual Property Rights

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

I am pleased to announce that the OCADFA University Policy on Intellectual Property Rights document has been ratified by the OCADFA membership.

The document is posted on the OCADFA website.

As it has already been ratified by the OCADU Board of Governors it is now officially policy and will be appended to the Memorandum of Agreement.

Bill Leeming,
OCADFA Negotiations Chair

Intellectual Property Rights Agreement Ratification

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

Dear Members:

Please find the attached pdf’s for the Memorandum of Understanding and Intellectual Property Rights Policy between OCADU and OCADFA.

There will be a meeting to discuss these documents for purposes of ratification on February, l4, 2011 in room 284 from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Legal counsel will be present.

Please note that proxy voting is not permitted at ratification meetings in accordance the Ontario Corporations Act.

Please rsvp your attendance with Connie asap.

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Negotiations Chair/OCADFA Joint Committee I.P. Chair

OCADFA/OCADU Intellectual Property Rights Update - Message from Bill Leeming

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Bill Leeming, OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

Dear Members,

I am pleased to announce that OCADFA and OCAD University have arrived at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Intellectual Property Rights.

Sandra Altwerger, OCADFA President, and I appeared with legal counsel before William Kaplan for mediation/arbitration proceedings on December 10, 2010. We returned to mediation on January 5. Mediation was successful and the MOS was signed at 4:00 pm. PLEASE NOTE, THE MEDIATION/ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS FOR IP RIGHTS IS INDEPENDENT AND SEPARATE FROM THE CURRENT ROUND OF MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA) NEGOTIATIONS PRESENTLY UNDERWAY AND ONGOING. THE MEDIATION/ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS FOR IP RIGHTS IS A RESIDUAL LEFTOVER FROM THE ARBITRATION AWARD ATTACHED TO THE LAST ROUND OF MOA NEGOTIATIONS.

Sandra and I, subject to the approval of the OCADFA Board of Directors, are recommending that the MOU and Intellectual Property Rights document be brought to the Membership for ratification. PLEASE NOTE, RATIFICATION OF THE MOS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS DOCUMENT IS INDEPENDENT AND SEPARATE FROM THE CURRENT ROUND OF MOA NEGOTIATIONS PRESENTLY UNDERWAY AND ONGOING.

The MOU and Intellectual Property Rights document will follow.

With best wishes for a prosperous new year,

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

Bill Leeming, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies OCAD University 100 McCaul St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1
email: bleeming@faculty.ocad.ca

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members,

I would like to welcome Bharat Saini as the OCADFA representative to the Employment Equity Sub Committee.

Bharat is a Learning Strategist/Adaptive Technologist at the Centre For Students With Disabilities.
He will be serving a two year term on the EESC.

I am grateful to the many faculty who have come forward to participate in the many committees of the university.

I know that it takes time and commitment, but the contributions of our members keeps the OCADFA voice alive within the university.

Sincerely,
Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA
www.sandraaltwerger.com

Message from OCADFA Nominations Committee Members

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from OCADFA Nominations Committee Members David Chavel and Ted Hunter re Election of Officers and Directors to the OCADFA Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting to be held on Monday, November 29, 2010 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Room 230 – 100 McCaul Street:
_______________________________________________________________________

The following nominations have been received by the OCADFA office for the upcoming elections.

Nominations for the following positions:

Grievance Chair, 3 year term: Marie-Josee Therrien
Negotiations Chair, 3 year term: Bill Leeming

Director position on the OCADFA Board of Directors
3 year term: John Kuisma

Director position on the OCADFA Board of Directors
1 year remaining on a three year term: Natalie Waldburger

Nominations may also come from the floor at the AGM.

All forms, including proxy forms are linked to our website (ocadfa.ca). Proxy forms are also available from the OCADFA Office – Room 248. Signed and designated proxy forms may be faxed 4l6-595-0269 scanned at sent to the office conniereid@ocad.ca – all details are outlined on the proxy form. The deadline to submit a proxy form is Friday, November 26th – noon. Proxies must be registered.

If you have any queries, please contact the office – Connie Reid – Ext. 336 or conniereid@ocadfa.ca

Message from OCADFA Nominations Committee Members

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members:

Nominations are now open for the upcoming election of OCADFA Officers and Directors as well the Negotiations Chair and Grievance Chair which will take place at the OCADFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, November 29, 2010 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in room 230.

Completed Nominations Forms (attached here) should be submitted to the OCADFA office (1:00 McCaul Street - Room 248) by noon on November 22nd. All nominations received will be forwarded to the membership one week prior to the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Nominations can also be made from the floor during the AGM.

Voting will commence before the 1:30 p.m. adjournment.

All positions will typically be for a three-year term, as stipulated in the Bylaws.

The following positions are open for election:

Grievance Chair - 3 year term- open
Negotiations Chair - 3 year term - open
Director Position - 3 year term - open

Please note that there is one year remaining on a three year Director’s term vacated June 2010 by Lewis Nicholson. Natalie Waldburger, filled the position temporarily until the November 29th General Members meeting. According to the OCADFA By-laws there is one year left on the term that has to be filled by nomination from the membership.

Director Position - 1 year term - open

Please note that the following Directors/Officers remain in their positions for the following terms:

Sandra Altwerger - President - 1 year left to term (ends 2011)
Tony Kerr - Director - 1 year left to term (ends 2011)
Charles Reeve - Director - 2 years left to term (ends 2012)
Frederick Burbach - Vice President - 2 years left to term (ends 2012))
Christopher Bennell - Secretary/Treasurer - 2 years left to term (ends 2012)

Call for Member - Employment Equity Sub Committee

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members,

A volunteer is needed to be the OCADFA representative on the Employment Equity Sub Committee. As stated in the description below, a participant is needed very soon. There is more information in this attachment.

At its meeting of October 6, 2010, the Educational and Employment Equity Committee (EEEC) approved the creation of an Employment Equity Sub-Committee mandated to ensure OCADU’s compliance with the Federal Contractor’s Program and to honour its commitment to employment equity. Per the Terms of Reference for the Employment Equity Sub-Committee, attached to this message for your information, OCADFA is to appoint a member to serve on this group. In identifying a representative, OCADFA is encouraging members of the four designated groups, specifically women, members of visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities as well as LGBTQ. It may also be helpful to consider appointing to this Sub-Committee the OCADFA representative that serves on the EEEC as the work of this Sub-Committee will inform the work of the EEEC.

As this group will meet in late November, I hope OCADFA can confirm the name of a member who will serve on the Employment Equity Sub-Committee as soon as possible.

Please contact the OCADFA office as soon as possible if you are able to participate on this important committee.

Sincerely,
Sandra Altwerger,
President OCADFA

Mark your Calendars - Monday, November 29th

OCAD Faculty Association

Hello Members:

Please remember to mark your calendar for our Annual General Meeting which takes place on Monday, November 29th from 11:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m. in Room 230. Agenda and other attachments to follow at a later date.

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant
Ontario College of Art & Design Faculty Association
4l6-977-6000 - Ext. 336
conniereid@ocad.ca
www.ocadfa.ca

Fair Employment Week

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members,

Re: October 25 to 29 is "Fair Employment Week."

The overuse and exploitation of contract academic staff, especially sessionals, is one of the biggest challenges facing the academic profession. That's why the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), which OCADFA is a member of, has joined with a coalition of organizations, unions and activists across the US, Canada and Mexico to organize Fair Employment Week. The goals of the Week are:

to raise contingent academic labour issues nationally and locally in media and policy circles,
to stimulate organizing and support local collective bargaining initiatives.

Please show support for the OCADFA Sessional Subcommittee and the work of the OCADFA Negotiations Committee in their efforts to achieve fair remuneration and working conditions for our contract academic staff.

Thank you,
Bill Leeming
Negotiations Chair, OCADFA
Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies OCAD University 100 McCaul St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1

email: bleeming@faculty.ocad.ca

OCADFA Negotiations Update - August 23, 2010

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

Dear Members:

As I noted in my July 23 “Negotiations Update,” there has been a good deal discussion in the media about a two year wage freeze for Ontario public sector workers, including university academic and general staff. The commencement of sectoral “consultations” on how to meet the Government’s policy objectives has thus far mostly resulted in public sector unions walking away from table.

Last Friday afternoon, I met with other members of the OCUFA Bargaining Committee to discuss the provincial government consultations with public sector unions which began August 9. The “consultation” process has turned out to be an attempt on the part of the government to set up a kind of provincial collective bargaining.

With specific regard to government plans for universities, representatives from COU (including Sarah McKinnon) and OCUFA reviewed the following key elements with the representatives from the Ministry of Finance:

Faculty Associations and employers would agree that the next collective agreement will not include any net increase in compensation for at least two years, compensation including all forms of payments or benefits including discretionary payments.
Government, faculty associations and employers would recognize that accommodating new growth in domestic enrolment over the next 5 years will require new and increased resources to achieve high quality education, that there was a need to meet the “cost of continuance” past years 1 and 2 of the compensation freeze at each institution, and that there must be accountability for the use of university operating grants so as to invest new growth funding in a manner which “enhances the quality of the student experience.” (Therefore, the government would agree to provide additional multi-year enrolment growth funding, conditional upon enrolment plans approved by government to support growth over the next five years.)
Government would agree to provide new funding for two years after the freeze to meet the “cost of continuance” associated with full time faculty and librarian compensation. The cost of continuance would be based on:
- the share of full time faculty and librarian compensation out of operating revenues for each employer;
- an envelope of up to 1.9% of full time compensation costs for each employer;
- each employer’s share of the envelope would be based on formulaic distribution.
Faculty associations and the employer would review the feasibility of a university sector wide benefit plan. Government would provide employers with $250,000 to fund this review.
Government would agree to provide a one-time allocation of money to the employer to fund full-time retirements calculated on the basis of the number of retiring faculty and librarians multiplied by 100 per cent of the annual base salary; those eligible based on the terms of their respective pension plans would have to retire before a date to be determined, and make an irrevocable commitment to retire, and in return, would receive one year’s base salary. There would be one-time allocation to employers to fund the development of pension sustainability plans in the amount of $250,000
The framework would be subject to contract ratification.
Dispute resolution to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, except for disputes over the government’s commitments in 2, 3, 4 or 5 above, which would be referred to the Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities for resolution.

The OCUFA delegates left the meeting abruptly after the government representative finished reviewing the “elements” of the Government’s framework, communicating only that the delegates would review this with the OCUFA principals (i.e., faculty association president and negotiations chairs). OCUFA has scheduled an emergency meeting on September 1 for this purpose. Sandra Altwerger, our President, will be attending this meeting.

As an aside, it is important to understand that the university sector is the only sector in this provincial public sector in which union locals or faculty associations bargain locally. All other sectors are centrally coordinated in their bargaining. So, for example, our colleagues in OPSEU have their own local, but contract negotiations are subject to the collective policies and objectives of OPSEU as a collective. When OPSEU goes to the consultations with the government, they go as OPSEU representing not only educational workers, but also other OPSEU public sector workers. By contrast, OCUFA does not bargain for us – they are a confederation made up by university locals with independent local interests. This will make it very difficult for the government to try to collectively impose its “elements” on us without imposing legislation to do so.

We will continue to keep you updated as the situation unfolds.

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

Message from Bill Leeming, OCADFA Neg. Chair - Re: Sept. l3th Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members,

On August 18, notice was sent to the Membership of a meeting to review the issues to be taken to the bargaining table as well as developments since the Spring General Meeting including the status of provincial governmental policies that may affect bargaining.

Concerns have since been raised about the matter of voting (with proxies) concerning a "finalized list" of items that make up the mandate of the Negotiations Committee. To date, no further items have been raised for the list. However, given that some members are insisting on voting on the list - with proxies - voting for members present and proxy voting will take place.

Please review the list (below) and bring any further items to the attention of the membership at the September 13th meeting.

Article 2 (2.1.3) - Recognition of Teaching Faculty positions Article 6 (additional) - Intellectual Property and Creator's Rights for Teaching Faculty and Academic Staff Article 8.1 – No Discrimination (amendments as per Bill 168) Article 16.1 (multiple clauses) - Sessional appointments Article 16.3 (multiple clauses) - Continuing appointments Article 17.2 (multiple clauses) - Lecturer appointments Article 18.1.1 – Inconsistency of language with Article 16.3.4.2 Article 19 (multiple clauses) - Teaching Faculty compensation, including a schedule of benefits for retirees Article 19 (additional) - Salary Grid Placement for New Employees Article 19 (additional) - Anomalies Rectification Funding (new) Article 21.4 – Professional Development Funding, excluding Sabbaticals Article 21.6 - Sabbatical Funding Article 24.3 (multiple clauses) - Teaching Faculty Performance Review, including Teaching Faculty Merit Progress Article 24.4 – Tenure preparation provisions (new) Article 26 (multiple clauses) – Faculty course load, including course load scheduling and transition note on classes size (pp. 37-38) Article 31 (multiple clauses) - Academic Staff Compensation, including a schedule of benefits for retirees (new) Article 31 (additional) - Anomalies Rectification Funding (new) Article 32 (multiple clauses) – Academic Staff Professional Development Article 34 (additional) - Salary Grid Placement for New Employees Article 35 - Academic Staff Performance & Peer Review Article 35 (35.5) - Academic Staff Merit Progress

New(Additional)

Flexible retirement
Graduate Teaching and Graduate Supervision Credit
Workload and terms of appointment for Chairs, Florence Chair, and Graduate Program Directors

Bill Leeming,
OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA, September 2010

OCAD Faculty Association

I’d like to wish a warm welcome to all new faculty, Academic Staff and Academic Counselors joining us this year and extend a warm welcome back to all OCADFA members who are returning this year.

We are now known as OCAD University, but the faculty association will still be known as OCADFA, the OCAD Faculty Association.

As faculty, Academic staff and Academic counselors, you are all members of OCADFA and are represented by the association in matters of bargaining and workplace conditions. These conditions are covered in the Memorandum of Agreement that outlines the matters of salary, contracts and hiring. The Memorandum and is available on the OCAD and OCADFA web sites - OCADFA.ca - and you can read it for information on your terms of employment. If you have any inquiries or concerns, please feel free to call the OCADFA office at extension 336, and we will be sure to speak to you.

OCADFA participates in all aspects of the university activities with representatives at Academic Council, the Board of Governors, Equity in Education and Employment Committee, The OCADU/OCADFA Joint Committee, Intellectual Property Committee, Health and Safety and Pension committees that make the school work.

There are two positions on committees currently available. These are Academic Council and The Health and Safety Committee. If you are interested in participating on these committees, please contact the OCAFA office at conniereid@ocad.ca.

Here are some notes on OCADFA activities this summer:

The summer has been busy with meetings of our affiliate organization, Ontario College and University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) in Toronto. Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair, and I have been attending meetings with the other Presidents and Negotiators of faculty associations in Ontario to discuss the impact of the current legislation coming from the McGuinty Government about the Public Sector wage freeze. Ontario faculties are currently caught up in one of the most important issues since the Social Contract of the Rae government in 1993. After the government announced last spring that it would be undertaking consultations in response to its statement calling for two consecutive years of zero increase in net compensation, the faculty associations elected eight representatives to meet with the government and the Council of Universities. We have no idea how the government intends to implement its statement on compensation and the impact this might have on us. This is only the beginning of what we will face from the Ontario government, and we at OCADFA are confident that these issues can better be addressed at the local level by free collective bargaining. Ontario universities are diverse and the needs and interests of our workplace can best be addressed here, at the local level. Government public sector consultations so far has resulted in most unions walking away from the table.

Bill Leeming has been sending regular negotiation updates. Please keep up with the news coming from OCADFA. These are crucial issues that will be affecting our rights to collective bargaining during negotiations this year.

Other Items of Interest:

Intellectual Property- even though a meeting held in April was productive and encouraging; there has not been any activity on the part of management to finalize this agreement. The committee members have been involved in discussions about Intellectual Property for over two years. We have an appointment with the arbitrator in December, but I thought that this matter would have been completed by now. I hope that we will have something ready soon as it is to be included in the Memorandum of Agreement.

Three OCADFA officers, Marie-Josee Therrien, Tony Kerr and I, took part in mediation training sponsored by the office of Equity in Employment and Education. It was a three day workshop that took place in June. All OCADU students and employees are affected by this new legislation (Bill 168) that is now in effect. This addresses Violence and Harassment in the Workplace. A new document, The Respectful Workplace and Learning Environment has been written and approved by the Board of Governors to reflect this legislation and replaces the former Harassment Policy of OCAD. The changes in this document will require negotiating changes to Article 6.3.1, regarding Collegial Behaviour, and Appendix A - Academic Freedom in the Memorandum of Agreement.

Information about OCADFA

OCAD Faculty Association

Sandra Altwerger, President

Many of our members have questions about OCADFA. Who are we? What are our rights?

All faculty, academic counselors and academic staff are members of OCADFA.

The Ontario College of Art and Design Faculty Association is a legally constituted association formed in 1965 to protect the rights and improve the working conditions of full and part-time employees listed in the Memorandum of Agreement. OCADFA is the only body that can negotiate terms of employment with the University. OCADFA was unionized under the Ontario Labour Relations Act in 2000 when the Memorandum of Agreement was revised.

OCADFA negotiates a Memorandum of Agreement with the University. This is a legally binding document which governs the terms and conditions of employment for all of the members. The Association monitors the Universities’ compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement, and may file grievances where it believes that the University has violated the MOA. The Association also acts as a spokesperson for the members on issues of concern at OCAD. The MOA is a legally binding document that affects all faculty and Academic Staff and Counselors. It contains salaries, benefits, hiring procedures, working conditions and grievances.

OCADFA is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). Both of these organizations offer legal and consulting services to all universities in Ontario and Canada and lobby both Provincial and Federal governments on behalf of university employees. As a member of these organizations, the Grievance Chair, the Negotiations Chair and the President attend conferences and workshops regularly throughout the year as part of our service to OCADFA.

All of the members of OCADFA are eligible to be nominated and be elected to the Board of Directors. This is the executive committee of OCADFA. The members elect the executive who consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Grievance Chair and Negotiations Chair, plus four Directors. There are a total of nine people on the Board of Directors who hold their terms for three years. The Board of Directors is a rotating Board, with all Directors being elected for terms of three years with three Directors retiring and being elected each year. The Executive is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Association and reports regularly to the membership at a minimum of two membership meetings during the year.

Changes are made to the Memorandum of Agreement during negotiations. The faculty association and the university select their own negotiating committees. OCADFA has nine members on the Negotiations Committee, with a representative from each of the constituencies at OCAD. The two committees meet in an attempt to agree on changes to the Agreement. If the two committees agree on a package of amendments then the Negotiations Chair and the Board of Directors bring the amendments to the membership meeting for ratification. If the members of OCADFA and the Board of Governors ratify the package, the Memorandum of Agreement is modified in accordance with the agreement.

The Memorandum of Agreement provides that any member’s dispute can be taken to mediation through the grievance process. If resolution cannot be found through discussion at the university, then an outside mediator is appointed to help settle the matter. The mediator looks at all sides of the issue and makes a recommendation to the parties which is binding. Legal services are expensive, and fees for mediation and grievances are paid for from the fees collected from the membership.

Participation in OCADFA is important. Every member can vote. Every member has the right to be nominated and serve on the Board of Directors. Throughout its history, OCADFA has had representatives from the entire faculty, academic staff and counselors as representatives on the Board of Directors. All labour groups are welcome and need to participate so that your concerns can be heard.

If you have any inquiries, please contact the Executive Assistant, Connie Reid at extension 336. Or email Connie at conniereid@ocad.ca.

Please make sure that you stay informed about OCADFA activities. I look forward to seeing you all on September 13th, 2010, 11:30am - 1:30pm, room 230, at a negotiations meeting for all members.

Sandra Altwerger,
President, OCADFA

President, Sandra Altwerger, Faculty of Art
Vice President, Frederick Burbach, Faculty of Design
Secretary/Treasurer, Chris Bennell, Academic Staff, IT
Grievance Chair, Marie-Josee Therrien, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Negotiations Chair, Bill Leeming, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Director, Natalie Waldburger, Faculty of Art
Director, Tony Kerr, Faculty of Design
Director, Charles Reeve, OCAD Gallery Director and Faculty of Liberal Studies
Director John Kuisma, Academic Staff, Faculty of Design

Update on Bargaining

OCAD Faculty Association

Update on Bargaining

There has been a good deal discussion in the media about a two year wage freeze for Ontario public sector workers, including university academic and general staff. We would like you to be aware of the facts.

On Tuesday, Dwight Duncan, the Minister of Finance, met with stakeholders in the affected unions and administrations and said that he was encouraging all those in bargaining to agree to a pause and that all interest arbitrations be put on hold. He also announced that the Government was convening sectoral "consultations" with the university sector scheduled for Aug 9-20 at the Royal York in Toronto. Apparently, the participants will work around the clock for twelve days to reach a consensus. The objective of the "consultation" is for labour and management in the university sector plus government representatives to come up with solutions and options on how to meet the Government's policy objectives.

On Thursday, CAUT arranged a conference call of the leaders of all academic staff associations currently in bargaining to share information about what the government had said and to discuss what we, as the associations representing academic staff, wanted to do. It was agreed that there will be a meeting in Toronto next week of the presidents of all academic staff associations in Ontario to discuss whether we will participate in the "consultation"; if so, who our negotiators will be; what mandate they will have from all the academic staff associations in Ontario; and what system of accountability there will be between those at the table and the leadership of associations across the province. The actual agenda will be set by the presidents at the start of next week's meeting -- the date still to be determined.

Until then, it is important to know:

1) The government has stated its wish that there be no net compensation increase for the first two years of any agreement signed after the current agreement expires. There has been no legislation that authorizes the government to impose this restriction.

2) The government has indicated its desire that bargaining be paused and that all interest arbitration be placed on hold until after the Aug 9-20 "consultation.". As with the first item, this is only a request and the government has no legislative authority to impose it. Parties are free to continue bargaining and to negotiate whatever they want. The government has indicated that it will not add additional money in the event of a negotiated increase so each university would have to find the money in its current budget.

3) The government's hope apparently is that the Aug 9-20 "consultation" will result in to parties agreeing to a sectoral framework consistent with the government's plan. It seemed to be the consensus of presidents on Thursday's conference call that the obligation of academic staff associations is to put the interests of its members first, not to act as an agent for the government in its efforts at setting sectoral bargaining restrictions.

We will keep you updated following the meeting of association presidents next week.

Bill Leeming
OCADFA Chair of Negotiations

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Frederick Burbach
Vice-President, OCADFA

Negotiations Update / Ontario Government�s Wage Restraint Consultations

OCAD Faculty Association

On Thursday, July 29, Vice-President Academic McKinnon sent an email to the OCAD University community to announce that she will be one of eight Ontario university administration representatives participating in sectoral consultations during August regarding a government directive to public sector employers and unions to seek agreements with no net compensation increases for a two year period following the expiry of current agreements.

Bill Leeming and Sandra Altwerger represented OCADFA in a meeting of Ontario university faculty associations hosted by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) on Friday, July 30 to discuss how Ontario Faculty Associations wanted to respond to the government invitation to participate in these consultations.

It was decided by the 131 members present, that the faculty associations should participate. However, because the government has not provided details on the consultation process, none of the faculty association representatives present felt comfortable to participate in the consultations and act on behalf of other faculty associations. (As in the case of the administrations, the government had requested that only eight representatives attend a meeting on August 9.) It was therefore resolved that OCUFA would send a delegation of eight representatives who would attend the consultation for purposes of listening to what the government was proposing. The delegates will then return to tell the collective of faculty association representatives to report what they have heard. At that point, the faculty association representatives will decide what next steps will be.

It has already been resolved by the faculty representatives present that Ontario faculty associations will conduct contract negotiations in the letter and spirit of free collective bargaining, and in the interests of their members and the profession. Furthermore, Ontario faculty associations strenuously oppose any infringement, now or in the future, on free collective bargaining. Further to this, Ontario faculty associations will take such action as is necessary to preserve free collective bargaining in this province and to protect the interests of the people they serve.

Finally, we would like to report that all provincial faculty associations who are currently in negotiations were surveyed to see if any bargaining was on hold, i.e., respecting the government’s request to “pause” until after consultations. We are please to report that there have been NO breaks in negotiation proceedings in this province.

OCADFA will continue to update you as the situation develops.

September 13th OCADFA Negotiations Meeting for Members

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

It was resolved at the OCADFA Spring General Meeting that there would be a meeting in September to review and update the mandate of the OCADFA Negotiations Committee.

Bill Leeming will Chair the meeting on September l3th from ll:30 a.m. to l:30 p.m. in Room 230. The meeting is for all members and will focus on the issues to be taken to the bargaining table as well as developments since the Spring General Meeting including the status of provincial governmental policies that may affect bargaining.

Please note that the meeting is for review, questions and discussion pertaining to bargaining only. The resolution made no provision for voting. Proxies will consequently not be necessary.

Bill Leeming
Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies OCAD University 100 McCaul St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1

email: bleeming@faculty.ocad.ca

Please rsvp your attendance with Connie Reid so that adequate refreshments may be provided (and let us know if you have dietary restrictions as well).

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant
Ontario College of Art & Design Faculty Association
4l6-977-6000 - Ext. 336
conniereid@ocad.ca
www.ocadfa.ca

More Notes on Recent Activities of OCADFA

OCAD Faculty Association

SPRING MEETING MAY 10, 2010
More Notes on recent activities of OCADFA
From OCADFA President, Sandra Altwerger

Intellectual Property
Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair and Intellectual Property committee members Archie Graham and Tony Kerr, have been working for the past two years hoping to finalize a document for the school. However, there have been numerous delays plus the resignation of Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies, Michael Owen that have made this difficult.

Last week there was finally a meeting with the University administration and legal counsels from both sides. The school has a new lawyer that specializes in Intellectual Property and the discussions went forward quite well. I was able to attend the meeting and could see what an enormous task this has been for the committee. The points of contention have been patenting and copyright and the rights of ownership of the university. Even though we have an appointment scheduled with the arbitrator in December, we are hopeful that the discussions will be finished by then and we will have a good, solid, working document.

New OCAD Document - Respectful Workplace & Learning Environment
OCADFA was asked to take part in the discussions regarding the development of a new workplace policy that will affect all employees and students at the University.

A new Bill is coming into effect in June 15, 2010, that is a significant change to the Health and Safety Act. This is Bill 168 - Addressing Violence and Harassment in the Workplace. The new policy and program are required to cover harassment based on human rights grounds. It was necessary for the university to write this document in order to replace the current Harassment Policy of OCAD.

Jane Ngobia, Director of Diversity& Equity Initiatives, and I met in March to review the document. It was passed at the last Board of Governor’s meeting in April. The emphasis is on a no tolerance policy on bullying in the workplace. The changes in this document will require negotiating changes to Article 6.3.1, regarding Collegial Behaviour, and Appendix A - Academic Freedom in the Memorandum of Agreement.

Course Scheduling - the Registrar is continuing to send OCADFA updates about the progress of the scheduling process this year. There are still some details to be agreed upon between the Vice President, Academic and myself, but I am hopeful that this can be finalized at the Joint Committee meeting scheduled for June.

The Academic Freedom Fund at CAUT
All of the universities across Canada are contributing to a fund set up by CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers). This fund was established in order to help out any of the member organizations that may be affected by catastrophic expenses in the defense of academic freedom. This is a very worthy cause and this year OCADFA donated a thousand dollars to the fund. This was the first donation by OCADFA even though the fund has been set up for several years. You can see an update of the money donated to the fund when you read your CAUT Bulletin. This publication is placed in the mail room of your department every month and is an excellent resource as it contains information from universities all across Canada.

Elections at OCADFA
There will be a Director’s position filled on the Board of Directors by sessional faculty, Natalie Waldburger, as Lewis Nicholson will be leaving the Board of Directors to go on sabbatical leave. I would like to thank Lewis for his participation on the Board of Directors for the last two and a half years. He has been a valued and important participant at OCADFA.

This leaves the rest of his term to be filled. According to our by-laws, Article 4.01, the Board of Directors is allowed to appoint any member until the next general meeting. There was a strong feeling from sessional faculty that they wanted to name someone to fill the position until the November elections as they felt unrepresented at OCADFA. OCADFA welcomes all members to be nominated and be elected to the Board of Directors. There has been representation from sessional faculty at OCADFA for many years in the past and we welcome more sessional faculty representation now.

There will be an election at the Annual General Meeting of OCADFA to elect someone to fill the position for the final year of Lewis’ term. OCADFA is a participatory democracy and as positions become available, all members can be nominated and elected by the members.

Committee Members Needed:
- Health and Safety Committee still needs one more member.
- Academic Council - Judith Doyle has finished a three year term. Many thanks to Judith for her excellent service to OCADFA

If you think you would like to participate in the activities of OCADFA and be a part of these very important committees please forward your name to our Executive Assistant, Connie Reid at ext. 336

President�s Report - Spring General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

President’s Report
Spring General Meeting,
May 10th, 2010
Room 327, 11am - 2pm

What are foremost on the minds of the membership at present are the negotiations at OCAD set to begin in September of 2010. The current agreement will expire on the 30th of June, 2010. Many meetings have taken place recently with different focus groups representing different labour groups at OCAD. There were six meetings in all. It is very clear that there are many serious issues affecting everyone. The concerns of all of our members are very serious and the Board of Directors and the Negotiations Committee will be working throughout the summer and next fall to bring resolution to the next round of negotiations. Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair, will be leading discussions at the member’s meeting on May 10th and will be take a mandate for negotiations at that time.

Many of our members have questions about OCADFA. Who are we? What are our rights?

I cannot explain each and every labour group here in this message, but in order to clarify some of the many questions that people have, I have prepared this information below.

The Ontario College of Art and Design Faculty Association is a legally constituted association formed in 1965 to protect the rights and improve the working conditions of full and part-time employees listed in the Memorandum of Agreement. OCADFA is the only body that can negotiate terms of employment with the University. OCADFA was unionized under the Ontario Labour Relations Act in 2000 when the Memorandum of Agreement was revised.

OCADFA negotiates a Memorandum of Agreement with the University. This is a legally binding document which governs the terms and conditions of employment for all of the members. The Association monitors the Universities’ compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement, and may file grievances where it believes that the University has violated the MOA. The Association also acts as a spokesperson for the members on issues of concern at OCAD. The MOA is a legally binding document that affects all faculty and Academic Staff and Counselors. It contains salaries, benefits, hiring procedures, working conditions and grievances.

OCADFA is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). Both of these organizations offer legal and consulting services to all universities in Ontario and Canada and lobby both Provincial and Federal governments on behalf of university employees. As a member of these organizations, the Grievance Chair, the Negotiations Chair and the President attend conferences and workshops regularly throughout the year as part of our service to OCADFA.

All Faculty, Academic Staff and Counselors are members of OCADFA. All of the members of OCADFA are eligible to be nominated and be elected to the Board of Directors. This is the executive committee of OCADFA. The members elect the executive who consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Grievance Chair and Negotiations Chair, plus four Directors. There are a total of nine people on the Board of Directors who hold their terms for three years. The Board of Directors is a rotating Board, with all Directors being elected for terms of three years with three Directors retiring and being elected each year. The Executive is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Association and reports regularly to the membership at a minimum of two membership meetings during the year.

Changes are made to the Memorandum of Agreement during negotiations. The faculty association and the university select their own negotiating committees. OCADFA has nine members on the Negotiations Committee, with a representative from each of the constituencies at OCAD. The two committees meet in an attempt to agree on changes to the Agreement. If the two committees agree on a package of amendments then the Negotiations Chair and the Board of Directors bring the amendments to the membership meeting for ratification. If the members of OCADFA and the Board of Governors ratify the package, the Memorandum of Agreement is modified in accordance with the agreement.

The Memorandum of Agreement provides that any member’s dispute can be taken to mediation through the grievance process. If resolution cannot be found through discussion at the university, then an outside mediator is appointed to help settle the matter. The mediator looks at all sides of the issue and makes a recommendation to the parties which is binding. Legal services are expensive, and fees for mediation and grievances are paid for from the fees collected from the membership.

Participation in OCADFA is important. Every member can vote. Every member has the right to be nominated and serve on the Board of Directors. Throughout its history, OCADFA has had representatives from all of the faculty and academic staff and counselors as representatives on the Board of Directors. All labour groups are welcome and need to participate so that your concerns can be heard.

If you have any inquiries, please contact the Executive Assistant, Connie Reid at extension 336. Or email Connie at conniereid@ocad.ca.

Please make sure that you stay informed about OCADFA activities. I look forward to seeing you all on May 10th 2010, 11am - 2pm, room 327, at our annual spring meeting.

Sandra Altwerger,
President, OCADFA

President, Sandra Altwerger, Faculty of Art
Vice President, Frederick Burbach, Faculty of Design
Secretary/Treasurer, Chris Bennell, Academic Staff, IT
Grievance Chair, Marie-Josee Therrien, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Negotiations Chair, Bill Leeming, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Director, Lewis Nicholson, Faculty of Design
Director, Tony Kerr, Faculty of Design
Director, Charles Reeve, OCAD Gallery Director and Faculty of Liberal Studies
Director John Kuisma, Academic Staff, Fabrication Studios

OCADFA General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

Spring Meeting for the General Membership of OCADFA (Ontario College of Art & Design Faculty Association)

On May 10, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Room 327, the Spring Meeting for the general membership of all members of OCADFA will take place to discuss the negotiation process that will commence in the fall of 2010.

Our Negotiations Chair, Bill Leeming, will be leading the discussion with his Negotiations Report in order to review a mandate for the next round of bargaining for the OCAD/OCADFA Memorandum of Agreement.

OCADFA Board of Director member Lewis Nicholson will be leaving on June 1st due to a sabbatical leave. I would like to thank Lewis for his participation at OCADFA. He will be missed by all of us at OCADFA.

Natalie Waldburger, Sessional Faculty, Faculty of Art, has been appointed by the OCADFA Board of Directors to take Lewis’ place on the Board from June 1st to the date of the next Annual General Meeting of OCADFA to be held in November of 2010. As the OCADFA by-laws state in article 4.01, the OCADFA Board of Directors may appoint someone from the membership to fill a vacated position until the next Annual General Meeting. Welcome Natalie!

Please attend this important meeting. It is important that all of the voices of the membership be heard so that your concerns can be brought forward in matters of negotiations.

Regards to all,

Sandra

Please rvsp your attendance with Connie Reid so that adequate refreshments are provided and let us know if you have any dietary restrictions.

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant
conniereid@ocad.ca
4l6-977-6000 - Ext. 336
conniereid@ocad.ca
www.ocadfa.ca

Rescheduled OCADFA Spring General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

Please note that our Spring General Meeting date has been rescheduled from April l9th to Monday, May l0th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Room 230 - l00 McCaul Street.

Agenda and attachments to follow at a later date.

Public Sector Compensation Restraint - 2nd Message

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA Bill Leeming Negotions Chair, OCADFA

As a follow-up to our e-blast yesterday about public sector compensation restraint, OCUFA has released a statement to say that it is bargaining as usual for all faculty associations in the upcoming year, whether or not they are certified trade unions.

Donna Gray of OCUFA points out: "The Finance Minister indicated in the press in the days following the budget that the government fully expects hard bargaining to occur this year; clearly, he does not anticipate that public sector unions will simply roll over as a result of this budget."

Given that so much of next year's provincial funding increase is tied to the system enrolling 20,000 additional students, we anticipate that workload and complement issues will continue to dominate the discussion for many faculty associations. That being said, there do NOT appear to be any legislative bars to bargaining compensation increases for our members.

Public Sector Compensation Restraint

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, OCADFA President and Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

Dear Members:

OCADFA members will no doubt be wondering what the impact will be of the Public Sector Compensation Restraint to Protect Public Services Act, 2010 on our upcoming round of MOA negotiations in September.

Please be advised in reading the memorandum circulated to you by our President, Sara Diamond, yesterday that the Liberal government is being vague in its explanations. Consequently, there are several things that OCADFA and other provincial university faculty associations are investigating at this time. First, the immediate compensation freeze only applies to "non-bargaining" public sector (and broader public sector) employees. Secondly, assurances were given earlier this year to Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association representatives that this part of the legislation would not apply to any OCUFA member - including OCADFA. OCUFA will attempt to re-confirm this when the actual legislation becomes available.

OCADFA will keep you posted as news becomes available.

OCADFA Bargaining Questionnaire

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members:

You should have received a website link for the OCADFA Bargaining Questionnaire, sent out last week. If you have not received the link please contact Chris Bennell (cbennell@faculty.ocad.ca)

If you would prefer to fill out a hard copy of the questionnaire, these are available from Connie Reid in the OCADFA Office - Room 248 - 100 McCaul Street - conniereid@ocad.on.ca

Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

A Message from OCADFA President, Sandra Altwerger February 17, 2010

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members of OCADFA,

I am forwarding a letter to you from our afillliate, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) .

It is extremely important to understand that universities in Ontario are underfunded by the government of Ontario, and universities are being asked to address the need for more money to operate the system by increasing student enrollment.

Attention to this matter has to be brought to the university community at large and the people who teach in it as well.

We need increased funding from the government to hire more tenure track faculty and teaching assistants rather than keep on increasing class sizes and not provide the proper support for the faculty teaching in them.

Please read the letter below ans communicate your thoughts on the matter to the links provided.

Sincerely,
Sandra

Dear Colleagues;

Ontario’s higher education system is at a crossroads. Decisions we make today will affect our ability to provide a high quality educational experience to students now and for generations to come.

Quality teaching and research depends on public funding. Faced with rising enrollment and the demands of the knowledge economy, our universities are in urgent need of new investment in the quality of education they provide.

The Government of Ontario’s Reaching Higher Plan took a visionary, long-term approach to higher education in Ontario and injected needed money into our university system. It is time to renew this commitment to higher education and equip universities with the resources they need to move our province forward.

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) has launched its Quality Matters: http://www.quality-matters.ca campaign to convince Premier Dalton McGuinty to increase public funding for Ontario’s universities. This new investment will improve the quality of education by:

Creating smaller classes and improving engagement with individual students;
Ensuring students learn in the best classrooms, labs, and libraries with the latest technology available; and
Supporting the basic and applied research that will fuel our economy; and
Keeping the cost of higher education affordable through frozen tuition fees and compensatory funding for universities, which in turn controls the level of student debt.

The people of Ontario – present and future – need a high-quality, world-class university system to succeed in the new economy and build a vibrant society. You have the power to help make this vision a reality.

Please visit Quality-Matters.ca and take the time to send a letter: http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=81&ea.campaign.id=2336 to Premier McGuinty indicating your support for increased investment in universities. You can also show your support by joining our Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo page or following us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ocufa.

It’s time to move Ontario into a new future defined by high-quality education, research and innovation, and the success of every student. Thank you for your support of Quality Matters.

If you have any questions about the Quality Matters Campaign, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

All the best,
Graeme Stewart
Communication and Government Relations Manager Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
300-83 Yonge St. | Toronto, ON | M5C 1S8
416 979 2117 x232 | gstewart@ocufa.on.ca www.ocufa.on.ca

Bargaining Questionnaire Notice - Message from Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members,

You will shortly be receiving an email invitation to fill out an OCADFA Bargainning Questionnaire to assist the Negotiations Committee in developing the mandate for bargainning in the next round of OCAD/OCADFA Negotiations (September of 2010). There will be four separate questionnaires for tenured faculty, sessional faculty, technicians, and non-technician academic staff. The findings from the questionnaires will form the basis for focus groups that will take place in March. The Negotiations Committee will tabulate all findings and discussion prior holding a separate general meeting of the membership to finalize our mandate.

In addition, a proportion of the faculty will also receive a separate email inviting them to participate in the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) National Workload Study. The full range of work of faculty is poorly understood in our sector and there is little hard national data describing the breadth of faculty activities. OCADFA is therefore participating in CAUT's survey to assess and measure facutly workload and work experiences across the country. A sample group comprising more than 10,000 Canadian faculty is currently being prepared and the invitations will be sent out shortly. If you are one of those selected, we would urge you to take the time necessary to complete the questionnaire AND the survey.

With best regards,
Bill Leeming

OCADFA Negotiations Chair
Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies Ontario College of Art & Design 100 McCaul St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1

email: bleeming@faculty.ocad.ca

OCUFA Call for Submissions - 37th Annual Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards

OCAD Faculty Association

Hello Members:

OCUFA (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations) is calling for submissions for the 37th Annual OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards. If you would like to recommend one of your colleagues guidelines are available on the OCUFA website - www.ocufa.on.ca. Nominations normally range between 50 and 75 pages (12 categories).

Deadlines for submission is May 7, 2010

Please contact the OCADFA office for a hard copy of the guidelines

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant
conniereid@ocadfa.ca
Room 248 - 100 McCaul Street
Ext. 336

Course Scheduling Issues

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members of OCADFA

On November 30th, the members of OCADFA attended the Annual General Meeting held in room 327. Although there were many items up for discussion, the topic of Course Scheduling was foremost on everyone’s mind.

Many of you have had very difficult experiences and I would like to shed some light on what this has been like for many of the faculty at OCAD. It was decided that the members would send their comments via short emails to me at saltwerger@faculty.ocad.ca, or to Vice-President Frederick Burbach at fburbach@faculty.ocad.ca, regarding their course scheduling experiences from last year. I will compile them, delete any names, and send them in a single package to Vice- President Academic, Sarah McKinnon.

Please make sure that your messages are no more than half a page. Explain your situation in as simple and clear a way as possible. The criteria considered for scheduling are medical reasons, professional practice, faculty on regularly scheduled committees, family/child care and the need for a technician in the classroom. What was the experience like for you this year? Please do not include your requests for scheduling this year.

I am sorry to tell you that seniority is not a reason that can be used in course scheduling. We don’t have seniority at OCAD. However, tenured faculties are scheduled first so that those permanent courses can be put in place and then other scheduling takes place after that. The Course Scheduler has to take in all of the requests from a department and then is able to make up a schedule. If there is one change, then the whole thing has to be done again. That is why the schedules are coming out so late in the year.

If you have suggestions to make, please forward them.

I have reminded Dr. Sarah McKinnon that both she and President Diamond need to have a Town Hall meeting in the New Year. I hope there will be an opportunity for all of us to meet and discuss a way forward.

On behalf of all of us on the Board of Directors of OCADFA, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,
Sandra Altwerger,
President, OCADFA

Call for OCADFA Joint Health & Safety Representative

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

The co-chairs of the Joint Health & Safety Committee at OCAD, Lance Straun and Hugh Martin (OCADFA rep), have asked me to tell you that there is still one Faculty/Technician vacancy on the committee, that they are hoping to fill in the near future.

This committee would be a good experience for anyone who has an interest in creating a safe work environment within the University.

Presently, the JHSC meets the second Monday of each month, between 11:30 am - 1:00 pm.

The next meeting is on Monday, December 14th.

Joint Health & Safety Committee responsibilities are conducted on paid time.

Interested employees can contact OCADFA by email (conniereid@ocad.ca) or call ext. 336.

Your name will be forwarded to the JHSC.

Regards to all,
Sandra

OCADFA Election Results - OCADFA Committees

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

OCADFA is pleased to announce the election results which took place at our AGM on November 30, 2009. All positions were acclaimed.

Board of Directors:
Frederick Burbach to the position of Vice-President (3 year term)
Chris Bennell to the position of Secretary/Treasurer (3 year term)
John Kuisma to the position of Director (1 year term)
Charles Reeve to the position of Director (3 year term)

Negotiations Committee:
Hugh Alcock to the position of Liberal Studies representative
Lisa Allen to the position of Academic Staff representative (other than Technician)

Committee members serving on all standing committees, including the Board of Directors are listed on our website www.ocadfa.ca

We would like to thank Ted Hunter and Tanya d'Anger who have served their terms with OCADFA. Both Tanya and Ted will be missed by the OCADFA Board of Directors.

Also, many thanks to our Nominations Committee Members Geoffrey Shea and Ted Hunter and to scrutineers John Deal and David Scopick.

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Message from the OCADFA Nominations Committee

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

Please find attached a slate of nominees for the upcoming OCADFA elections.

A position of Director for a one year term has become available as a result of the resignation of Frederick Burbach from his position as Director.

Nominations will be taken from the floor for this position.

We have not received any nominations for the "Academic Staff Rep Other Than Technician" for the Negotiations Committee for a 2 year term. This category includes Cousellors and Teaching Assistants and we encourage nominations to come from the floor.

Geoffrey Shea
Ted Hunter
Nomination Committee

Notice of Annual General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
NOVMEBER 30, 2009

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

Hello Members:

I am writing to remind you of the date of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Monday, November 30th, in room 327 from 11a.m to 1:00 pm.

Even though the institutional block off time is from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. we are calling the meeting to start a bit earlier at 11am so that we can get off to a good start. We always seem to need a lot of time to talk about the issues currently on our minds.

Attached to this memo are the AGM Agenda and the April 27/09 minutes from the Spring General Meeting and a Proxy Form.

At the AGM there will be elections for three new Board members of OCADFA and two members of the Negotiations Committee.

Also, attached is a communication from the Nominations Committee members Geoffrey Shea and Ted Hunter. Also included is a Nominations Form.

Please review all attachments carefully and contact the Association office if you require further clarification – conniereid@ocad.ca

Best regards to all and I look forward to seeing you at the next Annual General Meeting.

Attachments:
AGM Agenda
Spring General Meeting Minutes – April 27, 2009
Message from Nominations Committee Members - Geoffrey Shea and Ted Hunter
Nominations Form
Proxy Form

Please note all attachments will also be available on the OCADFA website – ocadfa.ca
Please confirm your attendance with Connie Reid conniereid@ocad.ca

Please Mark Your Calendars - OCADFA AGM

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA

Dear Members:

Please mark your calendars for our Annual General Meeting which will take place Monday, November 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in room 327.

Regards
Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA
Ontario College of Art & Design Faculty Association

Call for Committee Members

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members of OCADFA,

There are a few openings on various committees that require participation from our membership. Please read the descriptions of the committees below and contact either me or Connie Reid at OCADFA, to let us know if you can participate.

There are a number of vacancies on the OCAD/OCADFA Joint Health and Safety Committee and two members of OCADFA are needed to be the JHSC representatives.

This committee requires participants from OCADFA who will take the necessary certification training. If you would like more information, please contact me.

I would like to thank John Kuisma, Technician, who was our JHSC representative for the last five years. During that time he displayed dedication and interest in the work of the committee. He will be missed, thank you John.

As well, Nicole Collins, Faculty of Art, served for the last year and has finished her term. Thank you Nicole.

Hugh Martin, Technician from Photography is currently an OCADFA representative on the JHSC and is continuing to serve.

The OCADFA Grievance Committee suffered the sad loss of Kym Pruesse this summer and now another participant has had to leave the committee due to changing circumstances in her employment. Cathy Berry has taken an administrative appointment for the next nine months at OCAD and has therefore taken a leave of absence from her job as an Academic Counsellor. She will not be a member of OCADFA for that time. Cathy was a very helpful and important member of the Grievance Committee and I hope she will consider returning to that role when her contract is finished.

There are openings for two positions on the Grievance Committee. If you are interested and would like to know more about the job, please email Marie-Josee Therrien, OCADFA Grievance Chair.

Cathy Berry was also the OCADFA representative on the newly formed Joint OCAD/OCADFA Educational and Employment Equity Committee. This is an important committee and there is a position open for one person.

OCADFA has been fortunate to have so many people come forward and participate in the committee work of the school. Please let me know if you have any interest in being an OCADFA representative on one of these three committees.

Regards,

Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA - September 2009

OCAD Faculty Association

Welcome back everybody and a special welcome to the new members of OCADFA.

I hope to see you all at our General Members meetings in November and April, but I hope that I get to meet many of our new members throughout the year.

As you all know the academic year 2009/10 represents another year that there has been a course load reduction for our tenured, contract and continuing faculty. I hope that this represents a good financial benefit for many of you. However, for many faculty, even though there has been a course load decrease as far as the Memorandum of Agreement goes, there has been an unfortunate increase in their actual workloads. Some faculty are doing much more teaching than they have in the past due to increased class sizes and the increase in courses from two hours to three. This is an issue that will have to be addressed in future negotiations. There has not been enough consultation with faculty in the past and the administration has been using the recent financial situation at OCAD as a reason to increase workloads in what I deem to be an unfair way.

I have been in discussion with the administration this summer about consultation with faculty about their course schedules. There needs to be a fair and timely consultation process for each and every member of OCADFA to discuss their teaching assignment and course schedule for the next academic year. I am just winding up an agreement and I hope that the process will be a much more positive and productive experience next year.

We will be going into negotiations in September 2010. Bill Leeming, our Negotiations Chair, will be leading focus groups and sending out a bargaining questionnaire in preparation of a mandate for the negotiation process in January 2010. You will see meeting announcements and updates from OCADFA in your email and on our web site from time to time. The Memorandum of Agreement and OCADFA By-laws and policies are posted on our website – http://ocadfa.ca

The Board of Directors will be meeting regularly to discuss the on-going matters of importance at OCAD throughout the year. If you have any concerns, please email them to me at: saltwerger@faculty.ocad.ca. You will be sent agendas for any Member’s meetings in advance and if you have an item that you would like added under New Business, please send us the information at least a week in advance.

I am pleased to announce that Charles Reeve, Curator Professional Gallery and Associate Professor, Liberal Studies and Art, will be the next OCADFA representative to Academic Council for the forthcoming academic year, 2009/10. Judith Doyle, Associate Professor, Faculty of Art will continue on as a representative for OCADFA at Academic Council for one more year.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and productive new school year.

OCADFA rep to Academic Council

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA members,

I hope that those of you able to take a summer break are having a happy and productive holiday.

This summer we are dealing with many issues. Faculty teaching in Graduate Studies have been informed of the formula for Graduate Supervision. OCADFA is still in discussions with management over course scheduling. Hopefully things will work better next year.

One of our representatives on Academic Council, Ken Vickerson has come to the end of his final term as OCADFA representative. Ken was very diligent and attentive to the activities at AC and I am very grateful for his involvement. Thank you Ken for your service to OCADFA, not just for the last few years at AC, but also in the past years as a member of the Board of Directors and on the Negotiations Committee. Our other representative, Judith Doyle, has agreed to serve one more year. Thank you Judith, another job well done!

I would like to hear from anyone who may be interested in taking on this position. For your reference, the OCADFA rep term (according to the By-Laws and AC policy) is for one year and can be renewed twice for a maximum of 3 years. Also, Academic Council meets on the 4th Monday of every month from 3 - 5pm. The term would start in September of 2009.

Regards to you all and I will see you in the Fall.

In Memory of Kym Pruesse

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

I am writing to tell you of the passing of our colleague, Kym Pruesse, on Thursday evening, June, 18, 2009.

Kym Pruesse was very active in her role in the department of Liberal Studies as an Associate Professor, where she taught for many years. Kym was also an involved and engaged member of the OCAD Faculty Association. I got to know Kym when we worked together and found her to be a feisty, dedicated and intelligent individual deeply involved in the issues of OCADFA

Kym joined OCADFA as a member of the Board of Directors in 1996 and in 1997 served on the OCADFA Joint Committee for Faculty Development with Stan Krzyzanowski and David Scopick. Later she joined the Grievance Committee while I was Grievance Chair from 1998 to 2004 and continued to serve in 2006-07, with Janis Cole and again with the current Grievance Chair Marie-Josee Therrien.

From 1997 to 1999, Kym was a member of the OCADFA Negotiations committee and then in 2000 she became the Chair of Negotiations. When Interest Based Bargaining was going on from 2001 to 2002, Kym worked with David Chavel, then President of OCADFA, Ken Vickerson, Joan Bobbs and Paul Baker. It was a very difficult and time consuming period for them and they spent many long hours in negotiations and discussions with OCAD to draft our current Memorandum of Agreement.

In 2002, after many years of service, Kym resigned from the OCADFA Board to give more time to her teaching, writing and research in the Toronto art community.

I know the last few years were not easy for Kym. It is a very difficult thing to loose a colleague and I am sure many of you will miss seeing Kym. I know I will. She was a dedicated member of OCADFA and was always present at OCADFA meetings as an alert and engaged participant.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, and the members of OCADFA, I would like to convey my condolences to Kym’s family at this time. OCADFA will be dedicating the 2010 Memorial Scholarship in her name for the Faculty of Liberal Studies. There will be a memorial service for Kym at OCAD on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at 4:30 p.m., in the Auditorium at 100 McCaul Street, in Toronto.

OCADFA Memorial Scholarships for Jerzy Kolacz, Gray Mills, Mario Polidori and Kym Pruesse

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, OCADFA President

Dear Members of OCADFA,

Unfortunately there is more sad news to report to you. In the last two weeks, two former faculty, retired, have passed away.

They were Jerzy Kolacz and Gray Mills.

Jerzy Kolacz taught Illustration at OCAD and was an artist and member of the RCA. He was a graduate of the Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw, Poland, in 1962. A Mass is being held on June 23rd at 5:30 p.m. at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, 4260 Cawthra Road, Mississauga. He leaves his wife Eva and son Peter.

Gray Mills taught Sculpture for the Experimental Arts Department for many years in the sixties and seventies and early eighties at OCAD. There is no funeral, but you can sign the guest book for Gray at www.eganfuneralhome.com. He leaves his wife Kathy and four daughters.

OCADFA annually gives a memorial scholarship to each of the Faculties of Art, Design and Liberal Studies in the names of faculty who have passed away. The Memorial Scholarships of 2010 will be dedicated to the memories of Jerzy Kolacz, Gray Mills, Mario Polidori and Kym Pruesse.

OCADFA 2009 Summer Update from Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members,

I am aware that many of you are still waiting to hear from the administration about your teaching schedules for the forthcoming academic year. This has continued to be a problem at OCAD for many years and it is an issue being taken very seriously by OCADFA. Since last February I have been having meetings with the administration and I hope that by working together there can be a workable solution to a complex problem. This problem affects staff and faculty alike and it is necessary to find a way of communicating information about faculty availability and room availability to a central scheduling system within the school. I hope that a system of gathering information for the course scheduler for the production of a schedule that can be delivered in a more timely way will be the outcome of these meetings.

If you have any queries as a result of receiving your schedules, please contact the manager in your home teaching faculty. OCADFA has no jurisdiction about individual teaching schedules, but I have been told that they will be sent to you soon.

Other news currently at OCADFA includes:
A Sessional Teaching Faculty Sub- Committee of OCADFA has been launched under the capable guidance of Tanya d”Anger as Chair.

An agreement has been reached with OCAD about the Graduate Supervision and Committee Formulary for compensation.

The Administration of OCAD has gone forward with changing the carrier to the LTD plan without the consent of OCADFA. I am currently looking into other options for the OCADFA membership with regard to benefit plans. I will keep you posted about any progress on this point.

One other point: Last Spring there was much concern about the closing of the Foundry in the Faculty of Art. The outcry of the students and a grievance launched by OCADFA were able to convince President Diamond to change her decision and the Foundry remains open for now.

In the name of budgetary restrictions, many changes have been proposed to us. The budget for the next year is due in November and it is going to be necessary to make many areas more cost effective in order to keep them running at OCAD. I urge all of you to take part in the discussions in your departmental curriculum meetings to discuss future programs. If there are changes to courses, the changes must go through the proper collegial process of the university. This includes CACOF and Curriculum committees and final approval at Academic Council.

Students need studio courses taught by practitioners in their field. OCAD has a reputation as a leader in art and design education and has always been celebrated for the diversity of its teaching. We don’t have to throw away what we have and who we already are in to embrace new ideas and technology to support new ideas. We have to think very carefully about the future of OCAD and decide if we are a school of artists and designers or a school of theorists.

OCADFA has every intention of supporting our membership and making sure that the Memorandum of Agreement is upheld. This will become increasingly important in order to stand up to organizational changes. If we are silent we open the door to management discretion and our member’s legal entitlements will be eroded and inadequately protected. OCADFA needs to look beyond our traditional bargaining terrain and defend individual teaching.

In closing, I hope that many of you are enjoying the summer weather that has at last arrived here in Toronto, and look forward to seeing many of you in the fall semester.

Spring General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

Hello OCADFA Members:

I know the month of April will be busy for the OCAD community, however, due to Board availability we have slated Monday, April 27th for our Spring General Meeting from l0:00 a.m. to l:00 p.m. in room 544 (Table Top) with lunch at noon.

Prior to that date we will send you a formal notice, agenda and attachments.

I am copying this to Management and Faculty Managers in hope that meetings will not be scheduled at this time. Thanks for your consideration.

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant

Spring General Meeting - Revised Agenda

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

Please note the room change and review the revised agenda for the Spring General Meeting on Monday, April 27/09 in room 327 (100 McCaul Street). Also included, for your convenience, is a proxy and nominations form as well as the minutes from the last OCADFA General Meeting.

Proxies must be registered by noon on Friday, April 24th and designated to a member who is attending the meeting.

Please rsvp so that we can ensure adequate refreshments are provided.

Attachments:
Spring General Meeting Agenda (PDF)
Negotiations Committee Nomination Form (PDF)
Proxy Form (PDF)
Minutes of the OCADFA General Meeting 01/26/09 (PDF)

Thanks
Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant

CAUT Purchase Plan Award 2009 Results

OCAD Faculty Association

Hello All:

Congratulations to the following shortlisted candidates for the CAUT Purchase Plan Award 2009.

2 Dimensional Work (l0)
Maija Tammi
Sara Shadkami
Karolina Malek
Linda Chalmers
Min Hyung
Kaitlin Wilson
Odran McAtamney
Nathaniel Hurtubise
Amy Marques
Amanda Clyne

Sclupture Commission (5)
Matt MacIntosh
Tanya Cohen
Christina Kostoff
Cari Rakai
Marta Franco

Thanks to all of you for your submissions. It was a very difficult choice for the jury. Final jurying will take place at the end of April 2009 and the results will be posted in May on the Student Union Website and the OCADFA website (ocadfa.ca) You may pick up your submissions from the OCADFA office, Room 248 Monday to Friday during office hours (conniereid@ocad.on.ca).

Regards

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Notice of OCADFA Meeting for Sessional Teaching Faculty Only

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, OCADFA President and Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair

There will be a meeting for Sessional faculty members of OCADFA only on Thursday, April l6/09 at 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 in Room 327 (100 McCaul Street). This is meeting to discuss Sessional faculty workload in all Faculties, including, Art, Design and Liberal Studies.

Please rsvp your attendance with Connie Reid asap.

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant

Message from OCADFA President, Sandra Altwerger - RE: Spring General Meeting

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members of OCADFA,

I am aware that these are very tense and trying times for many of us.

There have recently been announcements by the Administration of programs being cut and course changes that are taking place much against the wishes of the people teaching them. We need to discuss these changes and I hope we can do so at the Spring General Meeting on Monday, April 27th from 10:00 a.m. to l:00 p.m. Room 544 (Tabletop).

Our legal counsel has been invited and this will give us all an opportunity for discussion about any concerns that you may have.

We are still more than a year away from Negotiations but it will give us a chance to discuss the way forward.

I hope you will attend this important meeting.

On another note, the representative to the Negotiations Committee from Liberal Studies, Archie Graham, has had to step down due to a conflict of interest with his position as Chair of Academic Council. Consequently there will be nominations needed for another representative from that area.

An agenda, nominations form, proxy, and minutes will be sent to you soon.

Regards

Sandra Altwerger, President, OCADFA

Edvantage - Rewards Program

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

Edvantage is a rewards program created especially for the members of Ontario's education community. Our partners offer elite discounts and savings for the education community and their families throughout the entire province. Whether you are looking to travel, be entertained. buy insurance, become a gym member or more - you will be able to find exclusive savings with Edvantage. Visit the Edvantage Web site to see how this card give you ACCESS to exclusive offers through Ontario.

If interested please investigate the link below which is linked to our website.

http://ocadfa.ca/about.php

Connie Reid
OCADFA Executive Assistant

OCUFA Teaching Awards for 2008-09 - Deadline May 8, 2009

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members

Each year OCUFA recognizes outstanding teachers and academic librarians in Ontario universities through it Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards.

Since l978 OCUFA has presented 353 awards.

The recipients are selected by the OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards Committee

Approximately 7 awards are presented.

Guidelines to assist in organizing a nomination should be consulted by prospective nominators and are available on request from the OCADFA office or the OCUFA website www.ocufa.on.ca)

Announcement - OCADFA Elections - January 26/09

OCAD Faculty Association

OCADFA is pleased to announced the results of today's election for the following positions:

Our new Secretary/Treasurer is Christopher Bennell, IT Technician

Representing the Sessionals on the Negotiations Committee is Natalie Waldburger, Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Art

Representing the Technicians on the Negotiations Committee is (other than academic staff) Derek Mullin - IT Technician

OCADFA would also like to thank the other candidates who ran for the above positions

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Notice of OCADFA General Meeting and Election

OCAD Faculty Association

Message from Sandra Altwerger, President

Notice of General Meeting and Election: Monday, January 26, 2009 - 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Room 327

As stated at the Annual General Meeting of OCADFA on November 24, 2008 there will be a meeting of the members of OCADFA to elect a member to the position of Sessional Representative to the OCADFA Negotiations Committee.

Due to the resignation of Steve Plavsa, Secretary/Treasurer who has been promoted to a management position in IT, a replacement must be found for this position on the OCADFA Board of Directors. This also leaves a vacancy in the role of Technician Representative on the OCADFA Negotiations Committee.

Attached are nomination forms for the following positions:

OCADFA Negotiations Committee
-    Sessional Representative
-    Technician Representative

OCADFA Board of Directors
-    Secretary/Treasurer position (one year term)

Attachments:
-    Agenda
-    Proxy Form
-    Nominations Form

Please rsvp your attendance with Connie Reid

OCADFA AGM Election Results

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

OCADFA is pleased to announce the voting results of our Annual General Meeting election held today, Monday, November 24, 2008.

OCADFA Board of Directors
President, Sandra Altwerger, 3 year term
Vice-President, Tanya d'Anger, 1 year term
Secretary/Treasurer, Steve Plavsa, 1 year term
Director, Lewis Nicholson, 3 year term
Director, Tony Kerr, 3 year term
Director, Frederick Burbach, 2 year term
Director, Ted Hunter, 1 year term
Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair (2nd Year of 3 Year Term)
Marie-Josee Therrien (2nd Year of 3 Year Term)

Negotiations Committee: 2 Year Term
Bill Leeming, Chair
Sandra Altwerger, ex-officio
Faculty of Art, Ron Wood
Faculty of Design, Frederick Burbach
Faculty of Liberal Studies, Archie Graham
Sessional: Position Open
Technician: Steve Plavsa
Academic Staff: Cathy Berry

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the elections as well as our Nominations Committee (Geoffrey Shea and Sylvia Whitton) and Scrutineers (Peter Mah and Paul Sloggett).

And thanks to our members who attended.

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Message from OCADFA Nominations Committee Geoffrey Shea and Sylvia Whitton

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members:

Nominations are now open for the upcoming election of OCADFA Officers and Directors as well as the Negotiations Committee, which will take place at the OCADFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, November 24, 2008 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the auditorium (Room l90).

Completed Nominations Forms (attached) should be sent to the OCADFA office (Room 248) by 9:00 a.m. on November l7. All nominations received by this time will be forwarded to the membership one week prior to the AGM.

Nominations can also be made from the floor during the AGM.

Voting will commence before the 1:00 p.m. adjournment.

All positions will typically be for a three-year term, except during this election, as stipulated in the recently revised By Laws. The following positions are open:

President - 3 year term
Director - 3 year term
Director - 3 year term
Director - 2 year term
Vice-President - 1 year term
Secretary/Treasurer - 1 year term
Director - 1 year term

(The Grievance and Negotiations Chair have two years remaining in their previous three year elected terms.)

Negotiations Committee (Faculty of Art) - 2 year term
Negotiations Committee (Faculty of Design) - 2 year term
Negotiations Committee (Faculty of Liberal Studies) - 2 year term
Negotiations Committee (Sessional) - 2 year term
Negotiations Committee (Technician) - 2 year term
Negotiations Committee (Academic Staff other than Technician) - 2 year term

OCADFA Annual General Meeting and Elections

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear OCADFA Members:

Please mark your calendars for the OCADFA Annual General Meeting which will take place on Monday, November 24, 2008 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the auditorium (Room l90).

A formal Agenda, Nominations Forms, Proxies, and other attachments will be forwarded to you at a later date.

Thanks for your consideration in attending this important meeting.

Sandra Altwerger,
President, OCADFA

Message from Sandra Altwerger

OCAD Faculty Association

Welcome back to all OCADFA members and a special welcome to all of the new faculty and academic staff joining us at OCAD this year.

The summer has been a busy one for the OCADFA Board of Directors as we have had many meetings with our legal counsel in order to prepare the by-law revisions to be presented to the membership for approval this fall. There will be two meetings for the members in October (6th and 20th from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m. in Room 230) in order to have sufficient time to discuss the proposed changes. Both Natasha Meissner and Cathy Lace, our legal counsels, will be present at these meetings to answer any questions that may arise.

In May I attended two conferences in Ottawa with our affiliate organization, CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers). Bill Leeming, OCADFA Negotiations Chair, and I attended a meeting of the four art colleges in Canada. The Executive Director of CAUT, Jim Turk, has expressed an interest in purchasing art work by the students of OCAD, Emily Carr, NASCAD and the Alberta College of Art for the CAUT offices in Ottawa. Tom Becher, President of Emily Carr University, has agreed to organize this so that we can submit work by our students for consideration of purchase. There will be more information about this as the project progresses. The second meeting I attended was for new faculty association presidents. This was informative, if not overwhelming, and a great deal of information was brought back to OCADFA regarding the structure of the organization and the roles of the various directors.

OCADFA is the sole bargaining agent for faculty and academic staff at the university, and this is the third year of a four year agreement that was finalized in December 2007. For faculty who are tenured, tenure track, continuing and contractually limited, and taught less that 100% last year, will be affected by the reduced workload that was negotiated for this year and will see a significant change in salary in addition to the 2% salary increase for all faculty and 3% increase for academic staff. If you are already full time, you will get a reduction in workload. According to the agreement, studio faculty dropped from 10 to 9 courses this year and will see another drop from 9 to 8 courses in 2009/10. Liberal Studies faculty will drop from 6 to 5 courses in 2009/10.

Negotiated changes are in effect for Sessional faculty who have been employed for four or more consecutive years at the university, who can now teach an additional course beyond the maximum allowed in the memorandum. Sessional Faculty teaching in the Faculty of Design will now have caps eliminated on the numbers of years that they may teach while all other sessional faculty shall remain at a five year cap. This will remain in effect until June 30th, 2011.

It is my hope that the university and OCADFA will find their way to the negotiating table before the current memorandum expires in 2010. The Board of Directors are constantly discussing issues relating to faculty and academic staff in the workplace. All members of OCADFA are welcome to forward their concerns and inquiries to the OCADFA office at extension 336. I hope to see many of you at our upcoming meetings in October and our Annual General Meeting for elections in November.

OCADFA 2008 Spring Report

OCAD Faculty Association

It has been a busy year so far. After being elected President in November, 2007, I was immediately involved in final negotiations with the university while also dealing with two faculty being placed on non-disciplinary suspension with pay while an investigation took place regarding an incident with an OCAD student and the ROM. After a week, the two faculty were reinstated and it was determined that no misconduct took place. The student involved has now officially withdrawn from the university and the school has decided to hold a forum on Ethics and Social Responsibility in Art and Design in the fall of 2008.

Negotiations Chair, Bill Leeming and I restarted negotiations immediately upon taking office on November 15th, 2007. These were concluded after three meetings with the administration walking out of the last meeting on December 1st. The university’s negotiating team did not trust the faculty to ratify a second agreement so the negotiation team met with Arbitrator William Kaplan on December 6, 2007 who issued his final award on December 11, 2007. Workload reduction for Continuing, CLTA and Probationary/Tenured faculty and some gains for Sessional faculty were the highlights of the four year agreement. Human Resources have just finished updating the changes to the Memorandum and the final version will be signed very soon. Hopefully OCADFA will be able to get to the bargaining table before the current Memorandum has expired in 2010.

An OCAD/OCADFA Joint Committee has just been established and is currently discussing many different items of interest concerning research, and sabbaticals. Bill Leeming will have more to report on this.

In the earlier part of 2008, two meetings for the General Membership were held. One to discuss the way forward with Future Negotiations on January 24/08 and the second was a presentation of the Dispute Resolution Report of 2007 on February 28, 2008.

Both meetings were well attended. Having meetings that focus on a specific topic for discussion has been useful in that there is time to clarify and understand issues rather than try to cram too much into General Meetings held only in the Spring and Fall.

The result of the Dispute Resolution Report is that the team (Archie Graham, Ted Hunter, Beth Alber and Sandra Altwerger) were able to examine the current by-laws of OCADFA and it was very clear that a revision of our by-laws has to take place so that we can better serve the needs of our organization. A fuller explanation of the Dispute Resolution Report is posted on our OCADFA web site. At the February 28th meeting, Archie Graham presented the report and two motions were made: 1, to receive the OCADFA Dispute Resolution Report. 2, That the Board of Directors proceeded to review and revise the bylaws to be presented to the members at a later date. Both motions carried.

A full review of our by-laws is currently underway. The Board of Directors has met three times so far, twice with our legal counsel, Natasha Meissner. The members were asked to send submissions for changes to our bylaws and we also had the document reviewed by Marcus Harvey of CAUT. I am grateful to those who took the time and interest to submit their views. It has been very helpful for the Board to take a look at the ideas and use them for points of discussion.

Many of my predecessors have made bylaw changes in the past and much of what we currently have is useful and important and will stay as it is. I respect and value their contributions. It is important to note that there may be many more issues facing OCADFA in the future, such as remaining as an incorporated organization or moving to a certified union. Currently we have voluntary recognition under the Labour Relations Board and have the right to strike. The position of OCADFA has been clarified in the past with a letter from our legal counsel, Cathy Lace, that states that there are no advantages to unionization. Even so, many members want to know the facts about unionization and the Board of Directors has made a motion to hold a forum to investigate unionization. This will most likely take place in the winter of 2009, when the current bylaw review is finished. Other suggestions include hiring a director and keeping the current structure of OCADFA while another is having a senate of twelve rather than the current Board of Directors. All of this is food for thought and can be and I am sure will be discussed in the future. However now is the time to deal with what we have and make it work for us in a better and clearer way.

We are a very small organization and don’t have a lot of members who are willing to give the time or interest in serving on OCADFA. Many of our members work part-time at OCAD and have their own demanding businesses and professional practices. This poses problems filling the positions of directors and officers. It is extremely important to try and get representation on the Board of Directors from every constituency of the school. I am very pleased with the latest round of requests for membership on the OCADFA Standing Committees in that there has been an immediate response from the membership each time a call for participants has been made. The OCAD/OCADFA Joint Committee, Intellectual Property Committee, the Pension Committee, the Grievance Committee and the Health and Safety Committee have many new members in these committees and I am sure OCADFA will benefit from their participation.

A suggestion was made that the President appoint a Negotiations Chair and Negotiations Committee rather than have these positions be filled by elections from the members. At present the democratic system that is in place at OCADFA works for our organization. OCADFA members like to see who they are voting for and it is important that the elections of our Negotiations Committee and also the offices of President, Negotiations Chair and Grievance Chair and be done a clear and open way. The Special Members meeting in November, 2007 showed the interest and concern among the membership when voting for the Negotiations Committee and deciding on a mandate for the Negotiations Chair/Committee to follow. A clear mandate for each round of negotiations must come from the members themselves.

On March 28, Bill Leeming and I had a meeting with Acting Vice President Academic, Kathy Shailer and Vice President, Research and Graduate Studies, Michael Owen. Many faculty had questions about the expectations of workload and time required if they are going to teach in the Graduate school. There is a clear formula established of equivalencies for course preparation, teaching workload and student consultation. It was made very clear that this would not be extra workload and only faculty who wish to teach in the Graduate school will do so. Michael Owen mentioned that he will be organizing workshops at the conclusion of the semester.

As well as the regular meetings of the OCADFA Board of Directors, Special Member’s Meetings, Board of Governor’s meetings and now our Bylaw review meetings there have been conferences that I have attended both in Ottawa and Toronto. In November, 2007, I attended a Negotiations conference at OCUFA in Toronto. In January I attended the President’s Forum in Ottawa with CAUT and in February I attended the Executive Council of OCUFA in Toronto. It is a very valuable experience for a Faculty Association President to attend the meetings of our affiliate organizations. The issues pertaining to all universities are discussed and reported at length. This provides a forum for discussion as they provide a broader understanding of issues in universities. The topics that surface most often are denial of tenure, capital expenditures of universities as opposed to operating expenses, negotiating teaching only positions, contracting out of teaching (the management’s right to manage), employment equity, health and safety issues, retirement phase-in and post retirement benefits.

I will be attending two conferences in May in Ottawa. During the CAUT Council meeting from May1st to 3rd, there will be a meeting of the four art colleges in Canada. Bill Leeming will also be in attendance and our discussions will center on workload, research, governance, salaries, and the needs of a small university bargaining units with practice-based faculty. The second conference is a forum for New Presidents, from May 29th to June 1st. Marie-Josee Therrien, Grievance Chair, and Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair, will have other conferences to report on in their presentations.

I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their participation in this very busy past semester: Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair; Marie-Josee Therrien, Grievance Chair, Tanya d’Anger, VP; Steve Plavsa, Secretary Treasurer; and Directors Frederick Burbach, Lewis Nicholson and Ted Hunter.

There will be another update at the end of August to report on the activities of OCADFA. This will be in the form of a newsletter to welcome you all back in the fall.

Call for Health & Safety Committee Members - Closed

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

The OCADFA Board of Directors is asking for expressions of interest from members who would like to serve on the OCADFA Health & Safety Committee (two year term).

We are hoping to fill two positions in addition to the one already held by John Kuisma who has been doing a wonderful job. Hopefully, by our April 30th General Meeting we will be able to announce new members on this committee.

Please contact the OCADFA office if interested.

Thanks,
Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Call for Grievance and Pension Committee Members - Closed

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

The OCADFA Board of Directors is asking for expressions of interest from members who would like to serve on the OCADFA Grievance Committee (two year term) and another volunteer to serve as the Pension Representative on the OCAD/OCADFA Pension Committee (two year term).

If you have any inquiries about the nature of the involvement on the Grievance Committee please contact OCADFA’s Grievance Chair, Marie-Josee Therrien through email mtherrien@faculty.ocad.ca

If interested in either of these committee positions please contact the office through our Executive Assistant conniereid@ocad.ca or Ext. 336. by Wednesday, April 23rd.

Regards
Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA

Announcement of Committee Representatives

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

I am pleased to announce the names of the OCADFA members who will be participating in the Joint Committee and the Joint Intellectual Property Committee.

Joint OCAD/OCADFA Committee Representatives for OCADFA
Frederick Burbach, Faculty of Design/Liberal Studies
Jack Cassady, Faculty of Art
Bill Leeming, Faculty of Liberal Studies

Joint Intellectual Property Committee Representatives for OCADFA
Archie Graham, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Tony Kerr, Faculty of Design
Bill Leeming, Faculty of Liberal Studies

I would like to thank the above members for participating and I know their contributions will be valuable to the OCAD community.

Sandra Altwerger,
President, OCADFA

Call for Participants - Grievance Handling Workshop

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

OCADFA will be offering a Grievance Handling Workshop in collaboration with CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers). The purpose of this workshop is to provide basic training on the grievance process to our Association members. There is no cost involved for participants.

This is a great opportunity for all of you who would like to be more informed about your rights as well as the nature of grievances and conflict resolutions.

It will take place at 100 McCaul Street (rooms to be announced) on Thursday, April 3 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Friday, April 4th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The workshop will be catered and we will also reimburse you your for parking/TTC travel and babysitting expenses for the evening session if applicable. You may, of course, add this to your Annual Report.

Course Overview:

Excerpt from CAUT Grievance Handling Workshop

The course is divided into four parts.

Part One entitled “What is a grievance?” places the member’s right to grieve in a historical context, discusses the features that distinguish a grievance from mere complaint and examines the different types of grievances.

Part Two: “The Grievance Procedure” examines the legislative and contractual framework underlying the grievance arbitration process.

Part Three: “Developing the Case” deals with the nuts and bolts of the grievance officer’s job interviewing the grievor and gathering the necessary background to grievance.

The course concludes with Part Four “advancing the Case”. This part reviews grievance writing, the step process and negotiating a grievance settlement.

Course material is presented in a diverse format including individual and group exercises, games and quizzes, presentations, role-playing and group discussions. Part Three and Four of the course follow an imaginary grievance through the first meeting with the grievor to a settlement.

I hope to see you there.

Sincerely

Marie-Josee Therrien, OCADFA Grievance Chair

Please rsvp to Connie Reid conniereid@ocadfa.ca

Call for Participants on Two Committees

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members:

There is a need for members to participate on two committees.

Intellectual Property Committee
As per the negotiated Memorandum of Agreement of December 2007, "a joint OCADFA/management working group shall negotiate a Letter of Understanding regarding their respective intellectual property rights." This agreement must be negotiated by November, 2008.

Joint Committee
The management of OCAD has expressed a desire to reconstitute the Joint Committee.

As stated in the Memorandum of Agreement, Article 10.1.1
“The Parties are committed to ongoing, regular communication regarding the administration of the Agreement, exploration of issues regarding the delivery of curriculum, and other such matters of interest or concern to either Party, and therefore agree to the creation and ongoing operation of a "Joint Committee" to deal with such matters.”

If you are interested in participating on either one of these committees please contact the OCADFA office asap – conniereid@ocadfa.ca

Request for Submissions for OCADFA By Law Review

OCAD Faculty Association

A Message to All Members of OCADFA from Sandra Altwerger, President.

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, an OCADFA members meeting was held to receive and discuss the Dispute Resolution Committee Report. The report was received by the membership and a subsequent motion was passed which reads as follows

"Move that the Board of Directors proceed to review and revise the Bylaws of OCADFA for presentation to the members for approval at a later date." Moved by David Chavel and Seconded by Ken Vickerson

The Board of Directors of OCADFA will now meet with legal counsel to discuss and revise the Bylaws. Prior to doing so I would like all members who are interested to send any submissions they may have for Bylaw revision. All of these submissions will be presented to the Board of Directors and legal counsel and will be a very useful and welcome aid to developing Bylaws that will serve the organization in the future.

Presentation of the Dispute Resolution Report

OCAD Faculty Association

A presentation of the Dispute Resolution Report will be given on February 28th, 2008, in the Central Hall (Room 230) at 9:30 am to 11 am. Attached to this message you will find a copy of the Dispute Resolution Report (PDF) that was prepared in 2007, in response to a motion made at a General Member’s Meeting of OCADFA on November 16 th, 2006.

The motion read: “Moved by Sandra Altwerger, Seconded by Kym Pruesse, that OCADFA form a Dispute Resolution Committee formed of three members of OCADFA who are not members of the Executive to investigate the dispute of the Grievance Chair and the President.”

The members of this committee that were constituted by the Board of Directors were: Archie Graham, former President OCADFA, Beth Alber, Former Grievance Chair OCADFA, Ted Hunter, former President OCADFA and Sandra Altwerger, former Grievance Chair and current President OCADFA.

In consultation with Jim Turk, the Executive Director of CAUT and President Geoffrey Shea of OCADFA, it was decided that as the two individuals were no longer working together, and thereby ending the dispute, the focus of the investigation should be on developing guidelines that would ensure a process for fair mediation and/or settlement to be written into the bylaws that would prevent similar disputes from happening in the future.

Through a series of many meetings, the team interviewed the principals of the conflict and other individuals that requested to speak to the committee. We were allowed access to past minutes of the Board of Directors and General Meetings of OCADFA and also consulted with OCUFA, OPSEU and CUPE versions of the Dispute Resolution Process and many Memorandums of Agreement of OCAD, Ryerson, York, Emily Carr College of Art and Design Alberta College of Art and Design.

There are many recommendations made in this report that can affect future bylaw revisions of OCADFA. The accountability and ultimate responsibility for decision-making must be formally assigned and established in the bylaws of the Association. I hope that members will attend this meeting to discuss this further. Please RSVP your attendance with Connie Reid by email conniereid@ocad.ca or Ext. 336.

Report to OCADFA Members

OCAD Faculty Association

Revised Report to OCADFA Members, January, 2008, from Sandra Altwerger, President OCADFA

A meeting will be held on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 9:30 am to 11 am, Room 230 (Central Hall) to discuss the recently negotiated Memorandum of Agreement in December of 2007, and to lay the groundwork for the next round of negotiations.

The OCADFA Negotiations Committee that was newly reconstituted at the Special Members meeting on November 22, 2007, with representation from all constituencies, met with the university three times before the university ended negotiations on December 1st 2007, to go to arbitration. The university did not trust the OCADFA membership to ratify the agreement and they wanted a guarantee that the matter would be settled before the end of the year.

In a matter of days both Cathy Lace, our legal counsel, and Bill Leeming, Negotiations Chair, were able to prepare a mediation brief to present our position to Arbitrator Bill Kaplan on December 6, 2007. He issued a final award on December 11, 2007.

The arbitration experience is an interesting one. The membership did not ratify the first agreement that was brought forward on August 28, 2007, but OCADFA was still bound by the financial framework and length of time of that agreement. We were able to make some gains for faculty with workload reduction within the four year agreement and the sessional faculty also made some gains as we were able to lift the sessional caps for Design permanently and extended the length of sessional caps for the term of the agreement, plus one year, for the rest of the sessional faculty. Plus we were able to increase the number of courses for sessionals who have taught for four years from 3 to 4 courses. This however, meant that there would not be a lot of money this time around. Academic staff was able to keep a 3% across the board pay increase for the term of the agreement.

For the next round of negotiations I hope that we can start to negotiate with the university much sooner and reach an agreement before this MOA has expired.

This Negotiations team was focused and dedicated to the task of representing the mandate of the membership and worked very hard to bring about change in what was a very difficult situation. The university was reluctant to hear new proposals at such a late stage in the bargaining process and we had very, very little time to prepare. Nonetheless the Negotiations Committee did manage to present a clear mandate to the university and to Arbitrator Kaplan as well. Now we have to focus on labour groups, job descriptions and salaries to bring our workplace standards up to the sector levels.

Other News:

On Thursday, February 28th, 2008, there will be a member’s meeting to discuss the report of the Dispute Resolution Committee. This will be in room 230, Central Hall, at 9:30 am – 11:00 a.m. Faculty members Archie Graham, Beth Alber, Ted Hunter and Sandra Altwerger will present the report to the membership and will answer any questions that may arise.

An electronic copy of the report and a short summary will be sent two weeks before the report is presented.

On Friday, April 4th and Saturday April 5th, 2008, a Grievance Handling Workshop will take place with the Grievance Chair, Marie-Josee Therrien. This is in conjunction with a CAUT representative who will conduct a workshop for members who are interested in learning about dealing with member’s complaints and determine whether filing a grievance is an appropriate option. The course concludes with a brief introduction to the arbitration process. More information will be sent closer to the time of the workshop.

ROM Incident/Message from OCADFA President

OCAD Faculty Association

On November 28, 2007, there was an incident at the R.O.M. that involved a student at OCAD. As a result of this incident, two faculty were suspended with pay.

An investigation took place with the senior administration of the university and that investigation is now complete. OCADFA is very pleased there was a quick resolution to this matter and both facultyhave returned to their teaching. No evidence of wrong doing or misconduct was found on their part. Both faculty cooperated fully in this investigation and had full OCADFA support.

However, there are broader issues that need to be addressed at the university. The incident raised the issue of ethics and responsibility in art and art education. As it stands now, the guidelines in the Faculty Handbook are written in a very general way. If faculty are at risk of suspension and possible subsequent discipline over the non-academic misconduct of their students, then there needs to be very clearly stated definitions of the policies and procedures at OCAD.

I have put forward the concerns of OCADFA in a letter to President Diamond, and asked that an Ethics Committee be formed at OCAD to develop clear standards and policies for the faculty at OCAD.

Sandra Altwerger
President, OCADFA
Associate Professor, Faculty of Art

Negotiations Update: Arbitration Award

OCAD Faculty Association

Further to what I reported in my December 7 negotiations update, the OCAD and OCADFA Negotiations Committees proceeded to mediation/arbitration on December 6 at the offices of William Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan, the mediator/arbitrator, reviewed our mediation/arbitration briefs and heard our positions through the course of the evening. Mediation proceeded to an arbitration hearing. And we have now received the Arbitrator’s “Award” (i.e., decision). Please find attached (1) the Arbitrators Award (re In the Matter of an Interest Arbitration between: OCAD and OCADFA) and (2) OCAD/OCADFA Arbitration Award Backgrounder.

By way of explanatory notes, it is important for you to understand two things. First, in cases where arbitrators are ruling on settlements that have failed to ratify, it is normal for the arbitrator to make amendments to the failed MOS by redistributing the original monies brought to the bargaining table. This generally means that no new items are permitted into mediation, and no significant infusions of cash will be forthcoming. Second, it is important to understand that OCADFA and the University were unsuccessful in reaching a settlement at mediation, and, accordingly, OCADFA did not “settle” with the University. Hence, mediation proceeded to an arbitration hearing and the arbitrator has imposed an “award” that both parties will have to abide by. Second, it is important to understand that the OCADFA Negotiations Committee maintained the following summary positions through the course of the mediation proceedings: [1] (1) OCADFA does not agree that the cost of the settlement should be limited to the cost of the rejected Memorandum of Settlement, given the settlements in the Ontario university sector for the relevant period; (2) OCADFA does not agree that the term of the agreement should be four years; (3) OCADFA’s position is that the “across the board” (ATB) increases should be closer to the sector norm; (3) OCADFA’s position is that both Studio and Liberal Studies faculty should receive workload reductions; (4) OCADFA’s position is that job security and benefits for long-term sessionals should follow after 5 years of continuous employment; (5) OCADFA’s position is that workload recognition is mandatory for many academic staff whose jobs do not fit within the parameters of current appointment definitions.

The Arbitrator, in this award, has ruled that that the unratified Memorandum of Settlement of July 31, 2007 shall be implemented, with the following exceptions:

1) All faculty at maximum course load will receive teaching load reductions. Studio faculty will drop from 10 to 9 courses in 2008/09 and from 9 to 8 courses in 2009/10. Liberal Studies faculty will drop from 6 to 5 courses in 2009/10. Faculty teaching at less than maximum load will have their salaries pro-rated upwards in proportion to the new maximums, in the year the reduction is implemented. Monies for the reduction in workload have be redistributed, in part, from other areas originally provided for in the July 31 MOS. These include: (a) withdrawing the additional 2 PTR steps for Liberal Studies faculty, (b) reduction in the “across the board” (ATB) wage increases for faculty by from 2.0% to 1.5% in 2006/07 and from 3.0% to 0.5% in 2009/10; (c) withdrawal of the tuition waiver for faculty dependents.

2) The sessionals hired as a result of course load reductions are not to be counted towards the hiring cap on sessionals. This means that the sessionals required to make up the difference in teaching periods resulting from the course load reductions of faculty teaching at the maximum level will be added over and above raising the caps on sessional hiring stipulated in the July 31 MOS, i.e., a maximum of 30% of the curriculum, except in 2007/08 when the maximum shall be 40% and 2008/09 when the maximum is 35%. Furthermore, sessional term caps in Design are being eliminated. And sessional term caps other than in Design shall revert to 5 years. In addition, a letter of understanding shall be attached to the MOA to permit the hiring of sessionals who have been employed for four or more consecutive years at OCAD to teach an additional course beyond the maxima formerly permitted (i.e., 6 studio courses or 4 liberal studies). This letter of understanding will remain in effect until June 30, 2011 at which point the issue of maximum course assignment will be open for negotiations. Finally, a second letter of understanding shall be attached to the MOA suspending sessional term caps other than in Design. This letter of understanding will remain in effect until June 30, 2011, at which point the issue of caps will be open for negotiations.

3) Modifications to articles 16.3.4.3 and 16.1.3 affecting Continuing faculty have been removed. This means that the circumstances and conditions surrounding Continuing faculty appointments will remain unchanged from the last MOA.

Retroactive payments to the Members of the bargaining unit are to be added on the January 1, 2008 paycheque. Pension contribution adjustments will also be reflected on the January 1, 2008 paycheque. A recalculation of 2007/08 salary and benefit premiums will be reflected on February 1, 2008 paycheque. Moreover, there is a change of deadline for the development of performance evaluation policy and job descriptions for technicians and academic staff to January 1, 2009 (from July 1, 2008). Likewise, there is a change in deadline for the Intellectual Property Working Group to November 1, 2008 (from February 1, 2008). Finally, there will be a change to timing of faculty performance reviews to for 2008/09: 1/3 to undergo review in 2008/09, instead of current ½.

At this point in time, I would like to sincerely thank and extend my gratitude to the members of the OCADFA Negotiations Committee: Sandra Altwerger, Ron Wood, Frederick Burbach, Matt Dunn, Tanya d’Anger, Cathy Barry, Peter Mah, David Scopick, Nancy Paterson, and Timothy DeVries. I want to say how privileged I feel to be working with such a focused and collegial group of colleagues. They have provided invaluable insights and perspectives throughout this process on behalf of the constituencies they represent. I also want to thank the following individuals who assisted me in my hasty dash to collect comparator data and write up positions for the OCADFA Mediation/Arbitration Brief: Cathy Lace (OCADFA legal counsel), Emma Philips (Sack, Goldblatt, Mitchell), Donna Gray (OCUFA), Peter Simpson (CAUT), Jane Milton (FUNSCAD), Walter May (ACADFA), and Ted Becher (Emily Carr Faculty Association). And, finally, I want to thank Connie Reid, OCADFA Executive Assistant, for her tireless work in pulling together the essential amenities and keeping open the lines of communications.

The Negotiations Committee will be meeting later this week to review the Arbitrator’s award and draft a Committee assessment for the Membership. Moreover, I have asked Sandra Altwerger, in her capacity as OCADFA President, to call a Special Meeting of the Membership in January to provide information, the Negotiations Committee assessment, answer questions, and discuss next steps regarding future negotiations.

[1] The Mediator/Arbitrator (William Kaplan) has instructed and ordered all parties that all specific conversations and proposals made before the Mediator/Arbitrator are privileged and all records and materials such as the mediation/arbitration briefs submitted by the Negotiations Committees are sealed. I am therefore unable to discuss the details of the mediation/arbitration proceedings. I am able to report on OCADFA’s general positions, but not those of OCAD. (See “OCAD/OCADFA Arbitration Award Backgrounder.”)

Negotiations Update

OCAD Faculty Association

Negotiations Update: Mediation/Arbitration – Message from Bill Leeming

Dear Members,

Further to what I reported yesterday in my update (December 6), the OCAD and OCADFA Negotiations Committees proceeded to a mediation/arbitration session last night at the offices of William Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan, the Mediator/Arbitrator, reviewed our mediation/arbitration briefs and heard our positions and arguments through the course of the evening. Mediation proceeded to an arbitration hearing, and Mr. Kaplan, in his capacity as Arbitrator, notified us that an “award” (i.e., his decision) is coming. (We are expecting this to be handed down on Tuesday of next week.)

Mr. Kaplan has instructed all parties that all conversation and proposals made before the Mediator/Arbitrator are privileged and all records and materials such as the mediation/arbitration briefs submitted by the Negotiations Committees are sealed. In addition, he has ordered us to refrain from discussing the award or its context prior to the award being formally handed down by him next week. This means that we are, in effect, in a “black-out situation,” “cone of silence,” or whatever you would like to call it.

The obvious question you will have is: By what authority can Mr. Kaplan impose these constraints? The answer is: By having agreed to have a “negotiations mediation and arbitration process” clause in our collective agreement (i.e., MOA Article 12), we are legally bound to the principals and conditions of the mediation/arbitration process in this province. As per MOA Article 12.2.6, “The Negotiations Arbitrator has the duties and powers of an interest arbitrator or board of arbitration under section 40 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and the powers of an arbitrator under the Arbitration Act.”

I have asked the OCADFA Negotiations Committee to reconvene next week after the arbitrator’s award is handed down to review and assess the award and draft a committee report for the Membership. Furthermore, I have requested that Sandra Altwerger, in her capacity as OCADFA President, subsequently call a Special Meeting of the Membership to provide information, analysis, answer questions, and discuss next steps.

I will continue to update you on further developments as they unfold.

Bill Leeming
Negotiations Chair, OCADFA

Negotiations Update � December 6, 2007

OCAD Faculty Association

Dear Members,

As reported in my last update (December 3), the University’s Negotiations Committee left the bargaining table on December 1 and exercised its right to request “Negotiation Mediation and Arbitration,” as set out in Article 12.2, citing a preference for interest arbitration “for issues on which the parties have not come to agreement.” Consequently, the OCAD and OCADFA Negotiations Committees will proceed to a mediation/arbitration hearing this evening (December 6), beginning at 5:30 pm to be held at the offices of William Kaplan.

Since Monday, I have received a few emails from members asking about why the University left the bargaining table, and why we are going to mediation/arbitration. Given the volume of work that I have had to do over the past few days, this is first opportunity I have had to respond to those emails – and I thought I would do so on a wider basis. I want the membership to know that I have been working around the clock to collect comparator data and write up positions for the OCADFA Mediation Brief. The Brief was submitted to OCAD legal counsel and William Kaplan’s office this morning. I would ask the Membership to understand that the OCADFA Negotiations Committee has been working under very difficult circumstances, given the December 1 deadline for bargaining agreed to by the previous OCADFA Negotiations Chair and Negotiations Committee.

I cannot, in fact, answer definitively why the University left the table when they did. As I noted in my previously update, OCADFA was entirely successfully in bringing to the bargaining table each and every one of the items constituted as the mandate of the OCADFA Negotiations Committee at the November 22nd OCADFA Special Meeting. And several models were exchanged by the parties regarding a framework for ongoing bargaining. It therefore came as something of a shock to me when the Administration announced that they were leaving the table. I can only speculate that the University lacked confidence about whether they would be able to reach a deal that OCADFA would be agreeable to present to its members. I base this on earlier comments made by OCAD legal counsel on the second day of bargaining in which she indicated that, as legal advisor to the OCAD Negotiation Committee, she had major reservations, not about talking to OCADFA, but about whether the two parties could arrive at a deal that would with certainty not be voted down by Membership at ratification. I explained to her at that time – and in no uncertain terms – that the mandate from the Membership was to take back a proposal for ratification, subsequent to review and endorsement from our Negotiations Committee. Furthermore, I made it clear that OCADFA wanted the University to remain at the table and bargain a deal rather than go to mediation/arbitration.

The entire OCADFA Negotiations Committee (with regrets from Nancy Paterson) will appear before William Kaplan this evening to argue our case for mediation/arbitration. I will continue to update you on further developments as they unfold.

Bill Leeming
Negotiations Chair, OCADFA

Negotiations Update � December 3, 2007

OCAD Faculty Association

OCAD/OCADFA Negotiations Update - Mediation/Ratification

At 2:10 in the afternoon of December 1, the University's Negotiations Committee left the bargaining table and exercised their right to request "Negotiation Mediation and Arbitration," as set out in Article 12.2, citing a preference for interest arbitration "for issues on which the parties have not come to agreement." Consequently, the OCAD and OCADFA Negotiations Committees will proceed to a mediation/arbitration session on December 6, beginning at 5:30 pm to be held at the offices of William Kaplan.

On a positive note, the OCADFA Negotiations Committee was able to bring to the bargaining table important issues and proposals associated with (1) sessional and contractually-limited appointments; (2) faculty teaching load, (3) academic staff workload recognition, and (4) compensation. These issues will be pursued through mediation/arbitration.

Over the next few days I will be working with Cathy Lace (OCADFA legal counsel) to prepare a joint arbitration brief with OCAD's legal counsel. I will continue to update you on further developments as they unfold.

Bill Leeming,

Negotiations Chair, OCADFA

Negotiations Update - November 27, 2007

OCAD Faculty Association

At the November 22, 2007 Special Members Meeting of OCADFA, the names of the following Members were put forward for a reconstituted Negotiations Committee:

Sandra Altwerger (President, ex officio) Faculty of Art - Faculty
Cathy Berry CSD - Academic Counsellor
Frederick Burbach Faculty of Liberal Studies/Design - Faculty
Matt Dunn IT Services – Technician
Tanya d’Anger Liberal Studies -Sessional Faculty
Timothy DeVries Liberal Studies – Teaching Assistant
Bill Leeming (Negotiations Chair) Faculty of Liberal Studies – Faculty
Peter Mah Faculty of Art - Faculty
Nancy Paterson Faculty of Art - Continuing
David Scopick Faculty of Art - Faculty
Ron Wood Faculty of Art – Continuing

I am pleased to confirm that those individuals have agreed to sit on the Committee.

Mandate of the Negotiations Committee

The Mandate set at the November 22nd Special Meeting directs the Committee to revisit the following issues outlined in the November 22nd Meeting Memorandum:

Length of Agreement (item 37)
Workload Reduction (Faculty workload - item 24)
Workload Recognition (Academic Staff appointments, item 30)
Job Security (Sessional appointments, item 10; Continuing appointments, item 12)
Faculty and Academic Staff Compensation (items 14, 15, 16, 31)

Dates for Negotiations Sessions and Mediation/Arbitration

The following dates have been set for returning to the Bargaining Table with the University:

Monday, Nov 26, beginning at 5 pm.
Wednesday, Nov 28, 10am - 1 pm.
Saturday, December 1 - TBD

Mediation/arbitration with William Kaplan, Q.C., is scheduled for Thursday, December 6.

Bill Leeming
Negotiations Chair, OCADFA