Letter to Members – Re: CUPE 3902 Strike Action

/in /by

Dear Members,

This morning, ASSU council adopted a motion put forward by the executive in regards to the current labour dispute between CUPE 3902 and the University of Toronto.  As such, the union is now calling on the university to provide a greater number of negotiating dates so that the two sides can produce a contract that fairly compensates teaching assistants, sessional instructors and other members of CUPE 3902.  We believe that this is the best way to avoid a strike.  As an undergraduate academic union, we believe that a strike is not in our members’ best interests.  That said, teaching assistants and sessional instructors have valid grievances that need to be addressed.

When sessional instructors and teaching assistants are provided with good working conditions, it in turn positively affects our educational experience.  Currently, the union has been working without a contract since April 2014.  The university only first agreed to meet this past July. After months of stalled negotiations, CUPE 3902 requested a mediator from the province in December.  Since the meditator has been brought in, the union has met once with the university in January and plans to meet with them on Feb 20th and 25th.  A strike deadline has been set for Feb 26th if no agreement has been reached.   The union has called upon the university to meet more often, and we are echoing this call.   Our semester is at stake and we believe it is integral that the university show good faith and negotiate to bring this labour dispute to an end – not only to avoid a strike but also to produce better working conditions for our TAs and sessional instructors.

Unfortunately, while the union has been proactive in communicating with students, we have heard little from the university itself.  We extended an invitation to the university to send a representative to our most recent council meeting, which they declined.  We encourage our students to get in contact with the university (see e-mail below) to find out more about the current labour dispute and to ask Simcoe Hall to engage with CUPE 3092.

As always, ASSU will keep you updated on any developments that occur.

Yours in solidarity,

The ASSU Executive

 

You can e-mail:  

Angela Hildyard

Vice President, HR and Equity

University of Toronto

angela.hildyard@utoronto.ca

 

 

 

#globalvoices report

/in /by

gvreportsliderIn November, ASSU launched its #globalvoices campaign – a campaign aimed at bringing awareness to the problems and issues international students face. As part of this campaign, ASSU launched a survey of international students to pinpoint these issues and formulate solutions. After two months, we are now ready to present this report. Click here to read it.

 

The Ali Saeed Memorial Award

/1 Comment/in , /by

This year, ASSU will be introducing a new award for International Students. This award was established in memory of Ali Saeed (1992-2014) -an international student from Pakistan studying Political Science, who was a dedicated collaborator in the work ASSU did over the 2013-2014 academic year. He was a passionate photographer, student activist, and was highly respected by his peers and all who knew him.

Eligibility

  • International Student
  • Full-time Undergraduate in Arts and Science Registered on the St. George Campus
  • Campus Leadership and Extra-Curricular Involvement
  • In Second Year or Higher
  • Minimum GPA of 3.0

Application forms can be found here.

Deadline is Friday February 27th 2015 at 5:00pm

Happy Holidays – Closed until Jan 5th.

/in /by

closed

ASSU Executive Statement: Missing Students in Mexico

/1 Comment/in /by

The ASSU Executive expresses grave concern over the situation of 43 students from Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College in the Mexican city of Iguala, who have been reported missing after attending a protest against proposed changes to the education system. Students, across the world, have the right to freedom of speech and the right to protest. It is the actions of students like these, that have defended accessible, affordable post secondary education throughout history and across the globe. We stand in solidarity with the students and teachers of Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College, and our thoughts are with the families of those missing. We join Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International among others, in demanding that the students be safely returned to their homes.

 

ASSU Executive Statement on MRA Poster

/in /by

Earlier this week, it was brought to the attention of the executive of the Arts and Science Students’ Union (ASSU) that a large banner associated with the group Canadian Association for Equality was prominently hung in the Sidney Smith Hall lobby. ASSU does not control what goes up in the lobby nor who uses the space as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Faculty of Arts and Science.

This banner is currently allowed to be displayed because CAFE operates on the U of T campus under the guise of a student group called “Men’s Issues Awareness at University of Toronto”. While the names of these groups may seem to imply that their goals include equality and engaging in public discourse, this is not the case. CAFE has in the past invited speakers who have denied the impact of rape culture, over-exaggerated the rate of false-allegations made by female victims of sexual assault, engaged in transphobic and misogynistic rhetoric and questioned the very existence of the patriarchy. Broadly, the Men’s Rights movement claims that feminism has gone beyond improving the position of women in society, suggesting that feminists are part of a system which actively oppresses men. It has become clear that these groups use talks about legitimate issues facing male-identified members of our society as a means of legitimizing their sexist ideology.

CAFE and its affiliate on campus have been linked to a Texas based website called “A Voice for Men” (AVfM) that has actively targeted and harassed female members of the University of Toronto community, posting photos of them online along with threatening and derogatory comments. The well respected Southern Poverty Law Center has called out AVfM for misogyny and threats, overt and implicit, of violence. When these groups are allowed to circulate their hateful materials on our campus, our peers are exposed to triggering and violent rhetoric.

In recognizing students’ diversity of lived experience, ASSU is committed to supporting our members in addressing the systemic oppression they face –including sexism. While universities play an important role as sites of societal critique and free speech, we must strive to ensure that they are safe(r) spaces for all members of the university community. Issues facing men and boys, and critiques of feminist theory and feminist praxis are important topics that should be debated openly, but this discourse must not be allowed to devolve into hateful and threatening rhetoric.

We must not forget that the horrible massacre at École Polytechnique de Montreal a mere twenty-five years ago was perpetrated by an individual espousing an anti-feminist logic. We cannot forget that women are harassed, sexually assaulted and raped on our campuses. We cannot ignore this group’s complicity in the victimization of women here – on our campus.

The University of Toronto is our home. The ASSU executive calls on the administration to reconsider the policies which allow groups to circulate such material, with the aim of ensuring that all community members feel safe.

– The ASSU Executive

Nominations for ASSU Executive are now open

/in , /by

ASSU Council will elect two new executive members at our first Council Meeting on September 29th. These executive members will join the five ASSU executives who were elected in March.

This is a great way to get involved with your education here at the Faculty of Arts and Science. Executives take an active role in discussions around Faculty policy and the life of students here on campus.

More information and nomination forms can be found in the ASSU Office, Sid Smith Hall Rm 1068.

Nominations are now closed. 

Syllabus Project Report

/in , /by

slidersyallbus(2)

In the fall of 2013, ASSU received a number of reports of instructors not returning the required percentage of the final mark back to their classes in time for the drop date. Due to our close relationship with the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS), and specifically the Office of the Dean, we were able to have these particular instances addressed. However, our executive team discussed the possibility that there could be other instances of policy non-compliance occurring unbeknownst to us because of a lack of policy knowledge amongst our constituents.

Out of this concern grew the idea for a review of course syllabi from across the Faculty, as a means of acquiring solid data regarding policy compliance instead of relying on anecdotal evidence in our discussions and lobbying efforts with the Faculty. As the syllabus is essentially a “contract” for the requirements of a course and the primary source of course-related information, ASSU recognizes the importance of these documents to students.

Our team began collecting syllabi through our course unions, personal contacts and by donating our own syllabi to the cause. We must acknowledge the support of Course Union executives who actively participated in the collection process. We were able to compile 93 syllabi from across the Faculty, representing a vast majority of program indicators, series level and both fall and full year courses.

During the spring semester of 2014, members of the ASSU executive committee analyzed these syllabi for compliance with mandatory FAS policy, standard practice regarding non-essential elements of course syllabi, and for other relevant information. We appreciate the invaluable contributions of executives Charles Dalrymple-Fraser, Branden Rizzuto and Mohammad Ali Saeed, who completed a majority of the data analysis for this project.

The following report outlines the findings of our review. We also offer some recommendations aimed at improving policy compliance and the overall quality of syllabi for students in the Faculty of Arts and Science.

ASSU FAS Syllabus Report 2013-2014

Course evaluation survey results

/in , , /by

Thanks to everybody who filled out our survey on course evaluations. Your results were compiled into a report and were presented into the faculty. Currently, the Faculty is looking over the report and is figuring out next steps to make the system better. We, of course will keep you updated. The report we produced is posted at our website here:

Course Evaluations Survey Results

The two main points that we asked for your input on, what you thought the system lacked and how it could be improved.

What you said could be improved on:

  • Questions are too vague. Quality of questions need to be improved.
  • Numerical answers aren’t enough, comments are required.
  • Numerical answers often don’t provide enough info, since most of the values are averaged from 3-4.
  • There is no retake rate in % form.
  • People aren’t aware the results are even posted online or where to access them. While, they get an e-mail reminder to do their evaluations, there is no such e-mail sent out when they are posted. More promotion of results is necessary.

We need your feedback

/in /by

ASSU needs your help in making course evaluations better

 

The Arts and Science Students’ Union (ASSU) is currently working to gather student feedback about the new on-line course evaluation system . As part of this process, we need students to fill out a survey about the evals. ASSU will be working with the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Centre for Teaching, Support, and Innovation (CTSI) to improve the system.

To fill out the survey, just go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GGSPWYB