News

Last week, Faculty Association members voted to change how we calculate dues. Currently, each faculty member represented by FAUW pays 0.525% of the average base salary for faculty members at their rank. Starting in the new year, each faculty member will pay 0.525% of their own base salary, which makes for a more equitable distribution of dues and brings FAUW in line with other faculty associations. We expect Human Resources to implement this change in January 2019.

—A message from Dan Brown, FAUW Treasurer

FAUW is proposing to change the way we calculate dues. Currently, each faculty member represented by FAUW pays 0.525% of the average base salary for faculty members at their rank. Under the proposed flat percentage system, each faculty member would pay 0.525% of their own base salary. This proposal was passed unanimously by the Board of Directors in June 2018 and will be voted on by FAUW members in October 2018.

In 2016, the merit process in the Memorandum of Agreement was amended. In addition to making performance evaluations for tenured and continuing faculty biennial, the amendment included enhancements to merit histograms (section 13.5.11) to make them easier to access and include more fine-grained information.

On April 6, 2018, our members voted to change the name of the Status of Women and Equity Committee to “Equity Committee.”

The Equity Committee is concerned with equity issues, in line with the protected grounds of the Ontario’s Human Rights Code. The committee engages in educational and advocacy activities as appropriate and liaises with other related committees of the University, OCUFA, and CAUT.

There are so many people working to make Waterloo a more inclusive place that the Faculty Association’s Equity Committee presented four Equity and Inclusivity Awards this year instead of one.

On April 30, the Theatre of the Arts is booked by an unofficial Laurier club for an event about "multiculturalism, borders, and identity in Canada," featuring two speakers known to espouse anti-immigration views. As FAUW president, I am choosing to show my support for all Waterloo community members by fundraising for organizations that support marginalized groups on campus.

Our 2018 elections for new Directors of the Board are now complete, following a runoff election to break a tie in Arts.

The successful candidates from Arts, Engineering, Environment, Mathematics, and Science are, respectively: Alice Kuzniar, Paul Ward, Daniel Cockayne, Dan Brown, and Vivian Choh. Congratulations to the new Directors, and thank you to everyone who ran and voted!

We received no nominations from members in Applied Health Sciences, so this position will be vacant until the Board can fill it by appointment.

It is with great pleasure that the Faculty Association's Equity Committee (aka SWEC) announces the 2018 Equity and Inclusivity Award honourees: Christine Logel; Sarah Wiley; Women in Computer Science; and Treaty Lands, Global Stories.

FAUW extends our sympathy to the family of Colten Boushie, to his fellow Red Pheasant First Nation community members, and to the broader Indigenous community at this difficult time. We are grateful to live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral (Attawandaron), Anishnaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. We value and respect our Indigenous members, colleagues, students, and neighbours. We have a lot of work to do to act on that value and respect, and we are committed to doing it.