Communications regarding COVID-19: Implications for RFA

1. Approval process in lieu of signature
2. Faculty/Course Survey
3. In-class teaching assessments
4. Faculty Annual Report
5. Librarian Annual Report
6. Counsellor Annual Report
7. DHC meetings and hiring recommendations
8. Extension of Acting Assistant Professor timeline
9. Extension of probationary period in light of COVID-19 pandemic
10. Extension of the deadline to prepare a draft letter of recommendation from the DEC
11. TA/GA performance evaluations

1. Approval process in lieu of signature

As a result of working remotely, during the pandemic, committee members serving on the many and various Ryerson committees do not have the opportunity to physically sign the documents that are generated by the committees on which they are serving.

To address this situation the following guidelines with respect to electronic signatures will be utilized for the above noted committee correspondence:

• All emails in lieu of a ‘signature’ for a committee document must be sent via an @ryerson.ca email address.
• Once a document has been finalized by a Committee (including, where appropriate, minority views which have been incorporated to the satisfaction of all members of the Committee), a copy of that document should be sent to all committee members for their ‘signed’ approval. The finalized document should be in PDF format. Please note that a ‘shared’ or linked document is not acceptable for signature purposes.
• Committee members are required to send back the original email, including the PDF document they are agreeing to, and within the body of the message of this email each sender should state that they agree with the content of the attachment and that this email serves as their signed approval.
  (Note: using the ‘Forward’ email functionality ensures all attachments are included).
• The approval emails should be sent to an agreed upon person, normally the Chair of the Committee, who will receive emails from each of the Committee members and compile a final approved document.
• The final approved version of the document will be compiled once such emails have been received from all the members of a committee. This final compiled version should be in PDF format and should include the date/times each individual committee member agreed (per email) to the document. This will be deemed to be a final ‘signed’ document.
• This final ‘signed’ document should be circulated to committee members, and then sent to the intended final recipient (e.g. a Dean).

2. Faculty/Course Survey (FCS)

• For all tenure-stream (probationary and tenured) and Limited Term Faculty, FCS will continue to be administered online.
• Information collected through FCS will be available to individual faculty members through the FCS portal for formative purposes and shall not be included in annual reports.
• FCS results for Fall 2020, Winter 2021, and Fall 2021 will not be automatically uploaded to faculty annual reports. Any FCS previously automatically added to the annual report system from Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 will be removed.
• Faculty members may choose to include FCS results in their teaching dossiers for the purposes of tenure and promotion but in no case shall be required to submit FCS results arising out of courses taught during this period of remote instruction. No negative inference will be drawn as a result of their absence.

In reviewing FCS results for the Fall 2020, Winter 2021 and Fall 2021 terms, committees (DECs or FTCs) are strongly encouraged to give consideration to any challenges that may have been imposed by teaching during the pandemic.

3. In-class teaching assessments

Fall 2021

The normal process regarding communications to pre-tenure faculty members as to the number of assessments and the scheduling of these will continue as per the Collective Agreement.

1. In the Fall 2021 term, the pre-tenure faculty member may elect whether or not they wish to have their normally scheduled teaching assessments take place.

a. For the Fall 2021 term, pre-tenure faculty members shall confirm in writing by September 17, 2021, whether or not they wish to have teaching assessments by writing to the Chair of the pre-tenure faculty member’s DEC, who will inform the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs.

b. If no election is made by September 17, 2021, the default will be that a teaching assessment(s) shall not be completed for the Fall 2021 term.

2. Pre-tenure faculty members who elect to have their scheduled teaching assessments conducted will also be given the opportunity to elect if they wish to have this teaching assessment(s) as an official assessment that will be included in their Performance and Conduct File.

To facilitate this, when an assessment is completed, the assessor must provide it only to the pre-tenure faculty member within three weeks of the class visit and advise the Chair/Director that the assessment has been completed.

By May 1, 2022 the pre-tenure faculty member must elect in writing to the Chair/Director if they wish one or more of their Fall 2021 assessments to form part of their Performance and Conduct File (PCF). If the pre-tenure faculty member so elects, they will provide the assessments(s) to the Chair/Director who will forward it to the Dean, the RFA and for filing in the PCF.

3. Pre-tenure faculty members who have elected either to waive the normally scheduled assessments under paragraph 1 above will be required to have additional teaching assessment(s) as set out below:

a. Additional teaching assessments to be taken following the resumption of in-person teaching;

b. Additional teaching assessments will occur at least one every term after the resumption of in-person teaching until they reach a minimum of eight assessments; recognizing that there ought to be a minimum of eight teaching assessments over a standard six year probationary period and this number may be adjusted for a shorter probation.

c. Notwithstanding paragraph 3(b), in the exceptional circumstance where a pre-tenure faculty member is being reviewed for tenure in 2021/2022 and is unable to complete the minimum number of 8 teaching assessments, the faculty member shall nevertheless be reviewed for tenure and no adverse inference shall be drawn based on the fact that have fewer than 8 teaching assessments.

4. For the Fall 2021, the pre-tenure faculty and a prospective assessor are strongly encouraged to have a discussion to determine the most appropriate manner to carry out the assessment taking into consideration the mode of delivery.

5. The unavailability of an assessor will not negatively affect the pre-tenure member.

6. Assessors and those reading assessments shall be informed that, while not devaluing excellence in innovation and technology, they ought to be cautious in placing undue weight on technology management where a course has been converted to virtual or remote delivery.

7. In those cases where the assessment was not in an in-person classroom the following statement will be appended to the pre-tenure faculty member’s Fall 2021 Teaching Assessments that are included in their PCF: “This Teaching Assessment is of virtual teaching during the challenging conditions caused by the pandemic and should be viewed in that light. It is understood that the pre-tenure faculty member may not have had the opportunity to demonstrate the normal range of in-person teaching skills.”

Requests for an extension to provide the written assessment beyond three weeks of the class visit can be forwarded to vpfa@torontomu.ca.

If an assessment is elected by a pre-tenure member and is not completed (e.g. an assessor was not available), the Chair of the DEC must write a letter indicating the assessment was not done and the reason why. The letter must be copied to the Chair of Department/Director of the School, the member’s PCF, the Dean, and the RFA.

Absence of this teaching assessment may not be used as grounds for an extension of the probationary period or denial of tenure. No assessments can be conducted in subsequent terms to compensate for this missed assessment; however, the pre-tenure faculty member has the right to request one additional teaching assessment in any given semester.

Communication re LTF In-Class Teaching Assessments for Fall 2021

4. Facuty annual report

Faculty members are to submit their annual report by May 17, 2021.

The service period for the annual report has not changed; the faculty annual report covers the twelve months preceding May 15, 2021 (i.e. May 16, 2020 to May 15, 2021).

5. Librarian annual report

Librarians are required to submit their annual report by May 31, 2021.

The service period for the annual report has not changed; the librarian annual report covers the twelve months preceding May 31, 2021 (i.e. June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021).

6. Counsellor annual report

Professional Counsellors are required to submit their annual report by May 31, 2021.

The service period for the annual report has not changed; the counsellor annual report covers the twelve months preceding May 31, 2021 (i.e. June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021).

7. DHC meetings and hiring recommendations

Many DHCs are in the process of recruiting and hiring faculty and may not be able to pause this work. If possible, interviews should be done virtually and the DHC must ensure all candidates are treated in the same manner. DHCs are encouraged to have committee meetings virtually (if possible) and draft and approve their recommendations electronically.

8. Extension of acting assistant professor timeline

The University and the Ryerson Faculty Association (RFA) acknowledge that the current COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a negative impact on your ability to obtain your terminal degree within the required timeline. In response to this, the University and the RFA have agreed to provide you, on a without prejudice basis, an extension to your timeline to obtain your terminal degree of an additional year.

This extension to your timeline matches that which was provided to all Acting Assistant Professors who already held Acting Assistant Professor appointments on March 15, 2020.

The terms of  (PDF file) Article 4.5, Acting Assistant Professors, shall continue to apply except for the amendment to the timeline from two years to three years.

The adjustments to your timeline will be confirmed in a letter to you, from your Dean, providing the new dates.

Please note that the agreement to provide this extension to Acting Assistant Professors has been reached without prejudice between the RFA and the University, and it is limited to only those faculty members holding an Acting Assistant Professor appointment on April 1, 2021 or earlier.

Any questions about this process can be sent to vpfa@torontomu.ca.

9. Extension of probationary period in light of COVID-19 pandemic

In the year you are scheduled to be reviewed for tenure, you will be asked to select whether or not you wish to extend your probationary period by one-year.

Normal Tenure Review under the ‘New Tenure Review Process’ commences May 17. If you are scheduled to begin your tenure review in May 2021, you must choose whether or not you wish to extend your probationary period by May 17, 2021. Please make your selection through Extension of Probationary Period form. (external link) 

If your tenure review begins in subsequent years, we will provide you with time to consider how COVID-19 may impact your SRC and potentially your tenure review. You will be asked to choose whether or not you would like to request a one-year extension of your probationary period by March 31 of the year you are scheduled to submit your application for tenure. You will be asked to submit your selection closer to this deadline.

Should you elect an extension, your election will automatically be accepted. The University and the Ryerson Faculty Association (RFA) have confirmed that this is an optional election that does not require you to provide a rationale as to why you are electing to extend your probationary period. Following your election, a confirmation will be sent to you from your Dean’s Office.

The deadline for requesting an extension is March 31 of the year you are scheduled to submit your tenure application.

In carrying out your Year-End Assessments and Intermediate Reviews, Departmental Evaluation Committees will be advised to take into consideration any potential impact that COVID-19 may have on your Teaching, SRC, and Service responsibilities. As always, you have the option of submitting additional information with your Annual Report, and you may choose to provide an explanation of how COVID-19 has affected your duties and responsibilities.

Should you choose to defer your tenure review please be assured that there will be no negative inference by the evaluation committees, or the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs. Further, the criteria to be applied for tenure review will be unchanged as a result of this extension, and what is expected of the candidate will be as if the extension had not occurred.

Agreement to provide this extension opportunity to pre-tenure faculty members has been reached without prejudice by the RFA and the University, and it is limited to only those faculty members who held a pre-tenure appointment on March 15, 2020.

Any questions about this process can be sent to vpfa@torontomu.ca.

10. Extension of the deadline to prepare a draft letter of recommendation from the DEC

Pre-tenure faculty members who have commenced the Normal Tenure Review process this Spring are entitled to receive a draft letter of recommendation from the DEC by September 30, 2021.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University and the Ryerson Faculty Association (RFA) agreed to hold the required DEC/FTC training workshops in September (rather than April). As a result, in order to ensure that DEC members have sufficient time to attend the training workshop and prepare their draft letter of recommendation to the pre-tenure faculty member, the University and the RFA have agreed, on a without prejudice basis, that the September 30th timeline is extended to Monday, November 1st, 2021. All other timelines in the Normal Tenure Review process will be based on this amended date.

11. TA/GA performance evaluations

For the Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 terms, faculty members and contract lecturers who are Supervising Instructors for TAs/GAs are required to complete a performance evaluation of the TA/GA prior to the end of the semester.

Supervising Instructors are encouraged to communicate with their TA/GA to advise them when they can expect the evaluation. 

An electronic copy of the performance evaluation form that is required to be completed can be found at on the CUPE Local 3904, Unit 3 Collective Agreement web page.