Tag Archives: class suspension

Statement from the School of Human Resource Management Reply

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March 20, 2018

Statement from the School of Human Resource Management on York University and CUPE 3903 Bargaining and Strike

The School of Human Resource Management (SHRM) affirms our commitment to our CUPE colleagues and supports their right to engage in collective bargaining and to strike. We encourage the University to return to bargaining and for both parties to bargain in good faith and reach a collective agreement that is fair and equitable as quickly as possible.

SHRM recognizes that the strike and the decision to continue some but not most courses has created confusion and caused stress for students and faculty. SHRM supports students’ rights guaranteed under the York University Senate Policy not to participate in academic activities during a work stoppage. This includes their right to refuse to cross an actual or virtual picket line without being penalized in any manner for their choice.

Consistent with statements by many other units, SHRM also supports the historical role played by Senate and Senate Executive over matters related to the academic integrity of courses, including decisions about whether classes should be suspended during a work stoppage for reasons of academic integrity.

Statement by the faculty of Cinema and Media Arts 1

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March 18, 2018

The YUFA members of the Department of Cinema and Media Arts have considerable concerns around the academic integrity of courses during a labour disruption. We will respect the picket line and are suspending all classes during the CUPE 3903 strike.

We have taken this decision collectively on March 3, 2018  for the following reasons:

The academic integrity of our undergraduate and graduate programs would be compromised if courses were not to be suspended, because some students will attend while others will not, because teaching assistants are integral to many of our courses, and because CUPE course directors offer essential teaching services in the Department.

•       Many of our CUPE colleagues are also our students who face constantly increasing costs, eroding living conditions and uncertain futures.  Forcing them to cross their own picket lines is senseless.

•       Past and very recent experiences on the picket lines suggest that inconsistencies about which courses are resuming contribute to dangerous incidents.

•       The brunt of the work resulting from having some classes operate while others do not falls disproportionately to our YUSA colleagues, who must deal with questions, concerns, frustrations, and anger in ways that undermine the quality of their workplace.

We recognize that the strike has put students in a difficult situation, creating uncertainty for many.  We believe that by suspending courses, we can create clarity for students in our department.  We also believe that this will create a space for CUPE and the employer to focus on arriving at a fair and equitable settlement to this strike as rapidly as possible.  We are committed to a fair and equitable process of remediation after the strike.

Barbara Evans
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Cinema and Media Arts

E-mail to students from Glendon POLS Chair 1

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March 5, 2018

Tous les cours en POLS suspendus / all courses in POLS suspended

Chers étudiants en POLS / Dear POLS students,

Le département POLS a décidé que tous les cours en POLS seront suspendus pendant la grève: la clarté apportée par la suspension de toutes les classes pendant la durée de la grève garantit l’intégrité académique et favorise la sécurité des étudiants et la santé mentale des étudiants et des professeurs / The POLS department has decided that all courses in POLS will be suspended for the duration of the strike: the clarity provided by suspending all classes for the duration of the strike safeguards academic integrity and promotes student safety and student and faculty mental health.

Glendon Faculty Council passed two motions (disponibles en anglais seulement pour le moment):

For reasons set out in the rationale below, it is the opinion of Council that classes should not be held in the event of a CUPE 3903 strike.

Rationale: Holding classes during a strike will compromise the academic integrity of our programmes. Safety and security of our students is a paramount concern. Uncertainty generates student and faculty anxiety and negatively impacts mental health. Therefore, the clarity provided by suspending all classes for the duration of the strike safeguards academic integrity, and promotes student safety and student and faculty mental health.
et/and

That Senate Executive suspend all classes on the Glendon Campus in the event of and for the duration of a CUPE 3903 strike, based on the previous motion.

Il semble que l’administration n’a pas encore informé les étudiants de ces motions, mais en attendant vous avez des droits / It seems that the administration has not yet informed students of these motions, but in the meantime you have rights [Senate policy link]:

Students who do not participate in academic activities because:
a) they are unable to do so owing to a Disruption, or
b) they choose not to participate in academic activities owing to a strike or lock-out on campus
are entitled to immunity from penalty, to reasonable alternative access to materials covered in their absence, to reasonable extensions of deadlines and to such other remedy as Senate deems necessary and consistent with the principle of academic integrity.

La meilleure source d’informations sur vos cours reste vos professeurs / The best source of information about your courses remains your professors.

Si vous avez des problèmes pour obtenir l’immunité de pénalité, des prolongations raisonnables des délais, etc. svp faites le moi savoir / If you have any problems obtaining immunity from penalty, reasonable extensions of deadlines, etc, please let me know.

Willem Maas
Directeur/Chair, Glendon POLS

Two motions by the Glendon Faculty Council 1

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March 2, 2018

Glendon Faculty Council motions

Motion: For reasons set out in the rationale below, it is the opinion of Council that classes should not be held in the event of a CUPE 3903 strike.

Rationale: Holding classes during a strike will compromise the academic integrity of our programmes. Safety and security of our students is a paramount concern. Uncertainty generates student and faculty anxiety and negatively impacts mental health. Therefore, the clarity provided by suspending all classes for the duration of the strike safeguards academic integrity, and promotes student safety and student and faculty mental health.

and

Motion: That Senate Executive suspend all classes on the Glendon Campus in the event of and for the duration of a CUPE 3903 strike, based on the previous motion.