Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Wednesday, February 21, 1996

Government official visits

UW gets a visit today from Terrence Young, the MPP for Halton Centre and parliamentary assistant to the Ontario minister of education. Young will be meeting at 9:00 with the president and provost, at 9:30 with student leaders, at 10:15 with the heads of the four church colleges, at 11:00 with faculty association leaders and at 11:45 with leaders of the staff association. He'll have lunch with people from the co-op education department and the technology transfer and licensing office.

Government contacts continue on other fronts too. Later in the day the president, James Downey, is off to Toronto for yet another meeting between the Council of Ontario Universities and government officials about the "deregulation" of tuition fees for international students. The province has announced that "deregulation" will happen, but exactly what that means, and what rules will apply, isn't yet agreed.

Single streams in engineering

Proposals for "single streaming" in the co-op programs in civil and chemical engineering were passed with little debate at Monday afternoon's meeting of the engineering faculty council. The changes are intended to help departments cope with a reduced number of professors, by requiring fewer courses to be taught in two different terms each year.

Associate dean Gerry Schneider explained that the motions were reactions to budget reductions. But he added that questions remain on whether the changes will significantly help reduce waste and increase space and teaching productivity.

The civil engineering department plans to operate the civil program only in the "8 stream" in future -- all first-year students taking eight months on campus before their first work term -- while the department's other programs, environmental and geological engineering, will be in the "4 stream". But chemical engineering is proposing to run its environmental engineering program on the "8 stream", while students in pure chemical engineering would be in the "4 stream".

The changes would simplify things within the individual departments (civil, for example, expects to cut down from 102 "teaching tasks" per year to 89) but would have the effect of creating two environmental engineering programs running on opposite schedules.

Students who are in the existing "4 stream" in civil engineering -- who right now are in term 1A, or who are on work terms after 1A or 2B -- face a change in their schedule, leading to a double academic term this spring and fall, or next fall and winter, to get back in phase with the "8 stream" students. Schneider said most civil students have been notified of the change and have been very sympathetic. The changes for chemical engineering students will only be effective for students who enter first year from now on.

As faculty consider signing

Another couple of letters have gone out to faculty members who are faced with the decision of whether or not to sign a union card for the faculty association. One letter is from the four deans who negotiate with faculty members on behalf of UW's board of governors and management. Dated February 2, it says in part:

The question at issue is whether faculty members at UW wish to be represented by an organization with formal trade union status. At Waterloo, we have taken pride in developing a system of broad consultation on many substantive issues related to employment with active participation of many faculty members, not only through discussions with the Faculty Association Board, but also through other mechanisms such as Faculty Councils, Senate and committees. We believe that this approach has been largely successful. This does not mean that there are not problems for us to address. Indeed, the issues that confront us are pressing and difficult: the continuing decline in provincial financial support, employment security issues, and increased societal expectations all must be high on the list. The question is whether these issues can be addressed better at the University of Waterloo through having a union.
In our view, the interests of all are better served in an environment where decisions affecting faculty and others are made through a collegial system with broad mechanisms for consultation. However, if it is decided through the democratic process that unionization is the path to follow, we are confident that the University will work constructively and in good faith with faculty members through the union. The decision is pivotal. It must be carefully considered as it will have a profound effect on UW for many, many years to come.

Then, dated February 19, comes a reply from the faculty association executive. It says in part:

The University and the Faculty Association will work constructively, amicably, and in good faith with one another, after you have chosen certification. Do not be mislead by those who are spreading a doom and gloom message of an antagonistic "we-they" mode of operation; it won't happen. In choosing certification, you only are choosing a more balanced and equal playing field for negotiating your terms and conditions of employment, and better protection of your rights. This is always a good choice, but is especially so at a time when rights are under attack by the current government and powerful groups who seek to dismantle publicly funded, non-profit public sector post-secondary education. . . .
Where we differ from the BOGUW negotiators is in our belief that collegiality is strengthened if the subsequent decisions on terms and conditions of employment are made by negotiation between FAUW and the Administration, not unilaterally by the Administration.

The first day of Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, observed in many Christian churches with special services. Renison College, UW's Anglican affiliate, has a chapel communion service at 7:00 tonight. At St. Jerome's, the Roman Catholic college, there will be Mass at 12 noon (Notre Dame chapel) and 7 p.m. (Siegfried Hall).

Also today: this morning, Peter Russell of the earth sciences museum visits Kitchener Public Library to talk with children about "Wally and Deanna's Groundwater Adventure".

And at 11:00, health studies professor John Hirdes will be speaking on the sociology of aging, at the Wing 404 RCAFA Rotary Adult Centre in north Waterloo.

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca

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