Here is a mini-news bulletin covering timely topics. We hope you are all managing to prepare for the rush of the end of semester. We understand that you feel the weight of the extra work this semester, and we want you to know that you are not alone. We are all in this together.
Covid Resources for TeachingAs we have mentioned in previous news bulletins (see News Bulletin #3, Oct 9th, 2020 and News Bulletin #4, November 13th, 2020), the government has given extra resources to all cégeps to help them in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The VCTA Executive has met with the senior administration to insist that Covid resources being given to the College be injected directly into in-class teaching so as to lighten teachers’ workloads. The distribution of these resources has been discussed by teachers in other venues as well: Academic Council, Joint Coordinators, CRT, etc.
In the plan we have proposed to the college, the resources would be distributed to departments according to FTEs. This is a fair and equitable distribution mechanism. New sections would be created in most disciplines, but some departments could decide to use the resources for stage supervision, or other more specifically relevant activities.
Note that reducing class sizes by 3 or 4 students would not be enough to get us to the point where the college could force a teacher to take an extra section. Likewise non-tenured teachers should not be penalized for smaller classes because the collective agreement gives them the right to exercise their priority up to a full-time workload. The VCTA Executive will also argue that the College should be open to giving non-tenured teachers full-time contracts if a reduction of class size gives them a CI slightly below 80.
Some of you have contacted us because you received a message intended for department coordinators. This message was mistakenly sent more broadly by our administrative assistant. In this message, we suggested that departments pass a motion, as soon as possible, that would be sent to faculty deans and the Academic Dean, to ask the College to use as much of the Covid-19 resources as possible to reduce class sizes in the winter 2021 semester. We intended to send this to all members later today to ask you to support the motions in your departments as they will be useful to us in our exchanges with the senior Vanier administration.
Vanier College Local Entente for DEC Courses in Continuing EducationThe VCTA Executive considers that we are close to signing a local agreement that would see the College modify its hiring practices for teachers teaching DEC courses in Continuing Education. At our most recent General Assembly, we gave an update on our negotiations with the College and were able to get feedback from teachers present at the meeting. We subsequently integrated this feedback into our discussions with the College. These discussions were very productive. After addressing the main concerns that we expressed with the previous version of the agreement, and agreeing to changes, the College indicated that it is ready to sign an agreement that could be in effect when hiring will take place in Continuing Education for the winter, 2021 semester. We hope that we will be able to present a final version to the General Assembly before the end of the semester.
Webcam StandardsSome of you may be aware that members of Academic Council and Joint Coordinators are currently being consulted on the use of webcams for assignments and in class generally. This consultation period will finish on December 1st, and Academic Council will be asked to make recommendations based on this feedback on December 11th. The VCTA Executive is planning on organizing a meeting before the December 11th Academic Council meeting to allow teachers to share their concerns and their ideas. We will let you know as soon as we have set a date for this meeting.