By David DeVidi, with input from David Porreca
This article was originally published in the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo Forum, Issue 147, in February.
One of several issues that provoked considerable consternation among faculty before Christmas was news of a new scheduling system and its possible implications.
In December, the campus was full of different rumours about what was proposed and its implications for faculty: both for our ability to do all aspects of our jobs (including scholarship, graduate supervision, and service to the university) and about the implications for our already fragmented home lives.
In mid-December, several members of FAUW met with the Registrar and several other members of the team that had, until then, been driving the implementation process for the new scheduling system. There was, as they say, a full and frank discussion of faculty concerns, and we received explicit denials of the more alarming rumours we had heard. We were assured that the intention was never to slight faculty concerns in the development of the new scheduling process. We were clear, among other things, that if their intentions were not to arouse suspicions among faculty, the list of “goals” should have included other mentions of faculty besides that we were expected to be available to teach any time between 8:30 and 5:30 Monday to Friday and in the evenings. We were assured that this was merely a communications failure, and not a reflection of the importance of our concerns.
In any case, we came away from the meeting with more than assurances. A committee has been struck to advise on how the new scheduling system will be implemented. It includes a member of the FAUW Board, treasurer Steve Furino of the Faculty of Mathematics Dean’s Office. It also includes several other faculty members, one from each Faculty.
We would like to note that at the meeting we got a constructive response from Registrar Ken Lavigne and others involved in the process, along with assurances that the key decisions have not yet been made. If you have ongoing concerns, FAUW will be happy to hear them. Also, watch for the membership of the Provost’s Advisory Committee on University Timetabling (PACUT) to be announced, since the faculty on that committee will have a key role in ensuring that whatever rolls out eventually will give due consideration to the need for faculty to be able to do all aspects of their jobs if the university is to be successful, and to the work/life implications for faculty who are already putting in an average of between 55 and 60 hours a week on their jobs.
Moreover, Ken Lavigne delivered an analogous message when questioned during the last Senate meeting regarding the new scheduling system. Senators received assurances that the process was still in its early stages and that considerations essential to faculty members’ concerns would be worked into the new scheme, including research days during teaching terms, work-life balance issues and university service.