Greetings,
The Association has been in close contact with the Administration in order to find solutions that will minimize the impact of the current crisis for our diverse membership. You will find in this email the latest developments regarding how COVID-19 impacts your working conditions.
STUDENT EVALUATIONS
The University has agreed that the results from the student response questionnaire for the Winter session 2020 will not be prejudicial to APTPUO members, as the transition to distance learning or online teaching disrupted courses and potentially impacted student responses.
COMPENSATION FOR ADDITIONAL WORK AND TRAINING
You have likely seen the last message from the President recognizing the staff for its enormous contribution in weathering this crisis while minimizing the impact upon student learning and academic progress. We are in the process of finalizing an agreement to ensure that part-time professors are appropriately compensated for their efforts and to ensure that students continue to learn. This compensation will also include the training to move courses online. We hope to provide further details early next week.
FLEXIBILITY IN COURSE DELIVERY
The Senate has adopted formal amendments to academic regulations so that faculties and academic staff have the flexibility to make changes to their syllabus in order to finish the Winter session, while ensuring that everyone’s health and safety and academic integrity is respected.
The university has recognized our right of academic freedom. Accordingly, while it is your responsibility to guide the students through their courses, you also retain the right to choose the best method for course delivery, including the format for the final exam. In making any changes you are asked to communicate clearly with students and consider options that do not overload your students or overtax you with additional work. Making changes includes the right to re-weight course components spelled out in your syllabus.
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
As international travel is severely restricted, we are not handing out any travel funds until the situation returns to normal. For those whose conferences have now been postponed, your funding will remain available. Applications are on hold for now. If you have already submitted travel receipts (flight, registration fees, hotel reservation, etc.), please check whether you are able to obtain a refund through travel insurance, your credit card, or the conference organizers. For any funds not reimbursed, please contact us info@aptpuo.ca .
While applications for conferences are on hold, it may be possible to apply to the APDF for research (if it does not involve travel) or for publication. Please consult our website for details.
SPRING-SUMMER COURSES
You may have noticed that some faculties have started to cancel postings for the Spring session. Courses are then reposted with a requirement for online teaching. We are in contact with the Administration to ensure that support is made available for part-time professors wishing to transition to online learning. We will provide further updates on this evolving situation.
If one of your contracts for the Spring-Summer has been cancelled, you have a right to compensation and-or a seniority point. Do contact us for information or assistance.
Stay safe and healthy!
For your information…
From the APTPUO
APTPUO COVID-19 Information Page
Teaching resources for APTPUO Members in light of in-person class cancellation
From the University of Ottawa:
Coronavirus information:
https://www.uottawa.ca/coronavirus/en
https://www.uottawa.ca/coronavirus/fr
Information on teaching continuity :
https://uottawa.saea-tlss.ca/en/teaching-continuity?idU=1
https://uottawa.saea-tlss.ca/fr/continuite-de-l-enseignement
BrightSpace page with suggestions about migrating a course to distance education
From various governments:
COVID-19 Information page from Public Health Canada
Public Health Ontario – Dedicated page for COVID-19 information
Ottawa Public Health Information Page on COVID-19
