Nufa_news_5b

elcome to the fifth issue of The NUFA NEWS. NUFA— the Nipissing University Faculty Association—consists of all full-time and contract academic staff. The NUFA News is one of the ways A new round of negotiations is just around the corner, so
S as we did in the fourth issue, we’ve listed the members of
NUFA’s Executive and the Bargaining Committees so that you can see who will be negotiating on your behalf. The Executive

Todd Horton
Roman Brozowski Vice-President
Ilse Mueller
Warnie Richardson Grievance Officer (Education/Applied &
Professional Schools member representing Susan Srigley
Grievance Officer (Arts and Science member representing Education/Applied & Aroha Page
Member at Large for Applied and Professional Schools Murat Tuncali
Elliott-Johns
Catherine
Murton-Stoehr
Full-Time Bargaining sub-committee
Larry Patriquin, Co-Chair of CBC, Chief Negotiator, FASBU
Bill Dew, Co-Chair of CBC, Chief Negotiator, CASBU/CASBU Officer
Todd Horton, President (ex-officio)
Dean Bavington, (Canada Research Chair)
Rob Breton, Arts and Science (English)
Roman Brozowski
Hilary Earl
Jennifer Barnett, Education
Blaine Hatt, Education
Jim McAullife, Education
Contract Academic Staff Bargaining sub-committee
Bill Dew, Co-Chair of CBC, Chief Negotiator, CASBU/CASBU Officer
Larry Patriquin, Co-Chair of CBC, Chief Negotiator, FASBU
Roman Brozowski, Vice President (ex-officio)
Jennifer Barnett, ABQ
Joe Boivin, Laboratory Instructor
Natalie Dunn, Seminar Instructor
Colin Mang, CCBE
Catherine Murton-Stoehr, Seminar Instructor
Chad Thompson, Part-Time Instructor
Joanne Valin, Service-Course Instructor
Part-time Instructor Representative – VACANT
Please contact the Chair of Collective Bargaining (Larry Patriquin) if you have any inquiries or suggestions for improvement in the collective agreement. There will be more formal mechanisms for faculty input implemented during the year. Since your last update in the September NUFA News, the Collective Bargaining Committee's Full-time Academic Staff Bargaining Unit (FASBU) hosted two public meetings, on September 25 and 26, to obtain feedback from the membership on our collective bargaining proposals. About 35 people attended in total (about 20% of FASBU's membership). In addition, members of the FASBU Sub-committee attended meetings in a number of academic units from which we received some feedback. The Sub-committee met on November 25 and December 12 in an attempt to complete our proposals. We are trying to trim down the list so it is manageable. The Sub-committee will likely meet one or two more times in early January to finalize The proposals. will eventu- and approve the proposals. At this point, we need to insert numbers -- our three "ratios", dollar amounts, and percentage increases. The proposals will then be sent to the Executive for approval and they will late January or the first
eventually go the membership for approval
at a general meeting, likely in late January or week of February.
the first week of February.
Larry Patriquin, Co-Chair of CBC and Chief Negotiator for FASBU
Update on Collective Bargaining for the Contract Bill Dew, CASBU Officer and Chief Negotiator
As the semester is winding down, preparations for the next round of negotiations is moving into
high gear. The current collective agreement expires in April 2010, and while this sounds like a long
way off, it will be here before we know it. There are many issues that have already been identified
that need to be tackled in this round including how members are appointed, the issue of pro-rating
stipends for low enrolment courses, tuition and maternity/parental benefits for full-time members
and, of course, salaries. There is a committee specifically for collective bargaining for CASBU; the
members of this committee as well as the group they represent are below:
The committee is currently in the information gathering stage, looking at collective agreements
from different universities and getting feedback from the membership. This is where you come in,
without feedback from the membership there is no way for the committee to prioritize what needs
to be changed in the collective agreement and I guarantee there are problems with the collective
agreement we have not yet identified. In order for us to have a clear mandate from The primary way for you to the membership and to ensure that we are give us input is to fill in the moving in the right direction we need you, survey that will be making numerous ways you can let us know what you think, feel free to contact any of the its way to you in early 2009 members above (especially your specific representative), contact myself (Bill Dew, [email protected], ext. 4148), or become involved with the committee. You will note that there is currently no representative on the committee from the part-time instructor group, if you are or have been hired to teach on a per-course basis and are interested in joining the committee let me know! The primary way for you to give us input is to fill in the survey that will be making its way to you in early 2009. In the survey you will be asked a number of questions including what your priorities are for the next round of negotiations. This survey is absolutely vital to negotiations, we cannot argue for specific changes to the collective agreement without knowing what is important to the membership. I strongly encourage you to fill in the survey and return it as this is your first chance to have your voice heard. Look to the NUFA News over the next year for regular updates on collective bargaining for CASBU members. There will be a series of articles outlining specific issues CASBU members should be made aware. If you have any questions or wish to add your feedback to the collective bargaining process contact me at [email protected] or ext. 4148. The Big Picture: The Status of Collective Bargaining Bill Dew, CASBU Officer and Chief Negotiator
To say it is a tumultuous time for collective bargaining would be an understatement. Over the past
year, faculty associations have met less and less desire from administrators to work towards fair and
equitable settlements and more interest in pushing associations to job action. This year has seen a
number of “firsts” in relation to job action and collective bargaining. For example, this year marked
the first time anywhere across Canada that a faculty association has been locked out. This occurred
over the Christmas break last year. Members of the Faculty Association of the University of St.
Thomas were locked out on December 27. The association later held a strike vote and went on
strike in response to being locked out. Another first was a strike by the Part-time Academic Staff
Unit of the Wilfred Laurier University Faculty Association, which was precipitated by very
unreasonable offers from Wilfred Laurier’s administration. This marked the first time a part-time
bargaining unit of a faculty association went on strike.
As we move into bargaining occurred at the University of Sudbury
earlier this year. Upon the expiry of the we have to keep in mind that collective agreement, Laurentian University to obtain a fair and equitable informed association Members that in order to keep working they would have to sign individual agreements outside of the must be willing to do what is collective agreement. Essentially this was an attempted ‘end-run’ around collective bargaining. This was highly condemned by the Laurentian University Faculty Association and union leaders across the country.
Other strike actions that have occurred over the past year include the Acadia University Faculty
Association, Brandon University Faculty Association, and the Windsor University Faculty
Association. As we move into bargaining we have to keep in mind that to obtain a fair and
equitable collective agreements we must be willing to do what is necessary. Remember, a good
collective agreement does not rely on the debating abilities of the negotiators, but instead on the
strength and resolve of the Members of the faculty association they represent.

Gavin Park, Centre for Continuing Education
In the last few years, the world of educational technology has become a complicated place. Computer
technology has really transformed the way we find information about every topic under the sun; it’s
in our cars, our TVs, our ovens…and certainly in our classrooms.
Many of our students have grown up using computer-based communication tools, and that’s going to
continue. My three-year-old daughter, for example, finds nothing unusual in being able to speak with
her uncle in Vancouver using a live video stream. This is the new generation of children in many
parts of Canada. My job, as an educational technology specialist, is to figure out how we use this
technology experience to our educational advantage, while never losing sight of the primary rule of
educational technology: if the technology does not enhance the teaching and learning experience,
don’t use it.
If you try to force the implementation of a technology without really thinking about how it will be
used, no one benefits. Both you and your students will be unhappy; you’ll spend more time trying to
figure out how the technology works than you will on the actual learning with the technology. Now,
many of these issues can be resolved by having (1) good training on how a technology can be used
before you try it yourself; and (2) a good support system, including both technology pros and other
users that are implementing the technology in ways similar to your own.
The Centre for Continuing Education distributed a technology survey to incoming first year students
during New Student Orientation. We wanted to see the kinds of technology our new students had
used prior to coming to Nipissing. We received 287 responses, some highlights of which I present
here:
 91% reported they have constructed a PowerPoint presentation.
 92% have watched a video on YouTube.
 92% use social networking websites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.).
 68% have listened to an internet radio station.
This is the technology generation of students – they have far more exposure to technology than most
of us did growing up, and by consequence, they are much more comfortable working in a
technological environment. It does not mean they understand HOW the technology works, but they
can certainly use it to do some basic operations.
One major area where students do not have much experience is in using technology to enhance
collaboration. In this section, I want to highlight two sets of tools with strong collaboration potential
available to Nipissing instructors: the Blackboard course management system and the Google Docs
applications.
Blackboard was originally designed to provide a complete course environment for teaching distance education courses. This remains its primary focus, but it is increasingly used around the world as a supplement for face-to-face courses. It includes a number of tools that can help instructors to increase collaboration in their classes, such as group allocation and tracking tools, dedicated asynchronous discussion and synchronous chat tools and electronic assignment submission management. These allow the students to interact outside the classroom without having to be in the same place at the same time, in a manner that has become familiar to them through their previous technology usage. The Google Docs applications provide an excellent complement to the tools inside Blackboard; the students can converse using Blackboard, and can use Google Docs to actually build and edit their documents (spreadsheet, word processing or PowerPoint-style presentation). Our students already have access to the Google Docs environment, because the “Community” email accounts run through Google’s Gmail service. Using the Google Docs environment solves one of the major issues with electronic collaboration – incompatible word processors. Since everything is constructed online, the students do not need to have a word processing program at all. A caveat: whenever you consider using an outside service provider for storing information, you need to look at their terms of service. Make sure you still own the material you are posting This short article barely scratches the surface of available technologies, but I hope it will help you to generate options if you are looking for new ideas for a course. Just remember – you have support. You are not alone in the technological wilderness. Send me a message at [email protected], call me at extension 4111 or drop by room A243A – just down the hall from the small Nipissing cafeteria.
Four of your colleagues have been nominated for TVOnatio’s 2009 Best Lecturer Series. Rod
Carley, a lecturer with the department of English, has made it to the list of top 20 out of 160
nominees for this year’s award. The following are the write-ups describing Nipssing’s nominees as
taken from TVO’s website.
Rod Carley
2009 | Communication Arts - Canadore College | Rod Carley is Coordinator for Canadore
College's new Theatre Arts Program in North Bay as well as Artistic Director for REP 21, Canadore's graduate actor theatre company. Most recently he directed the Canadian premiere of Robin Soans' Talking to Terrorists. He has directed and produced over 85 productions to date, both nationally and internationally, ranging from the classics to the development of new Canadian work. He spent two seasons with the Stratford Festival as an Assistant
Director and was the first recipient of the Festival's Jean Gascon Director's Award; he also received a
Tyrone Guthrie Award. He was nominated for the first John Hirsch Director's Award in 1993 and, in
1997, was short-listed for the Pauline McGibbon Award for his body of work to date.
Rod has a particular passion for the works of Shakespeare, having adapted and directed fifteen of his
works (Guelph University has created the "Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project" website on
which Rod's adaptations are featured at:www.canadianshakespeares.ca). Rod's adaptation and
direction of The Othello Project earned him a 1996 DORA Award Nomination for Outstanding
Direction as well as a 1998 Carbonnell Award Nomination for Outstanding Direction (Florida
Shakespeare Festival, Miami).
As an instructor, Rod has been a sessional professor with Nipissing University for the past nine
years, a Guest Artist with the University of Windsor (four years), George Brown Theatre School
(three years), and has taught workshops for the Stratford Festival, Equity Showcase, Artsperience,
Theatre Ontario, and school boards throughout the province. He has been a provincial adjudicator
for the past twelve years.
What the students say:
"Rod Carley lives, breathes and dedicates his life to the work he is teaching. He doesn't need to stare
at his lecture notes and read word to word. He would rather speak directly to us, using metaphors
and analogies so that even I can understand. His creativity and enthusiasm soars above any other
lecturer."
2009 | Department of Biology - Nipissing University | Bill Dew is an Instructor of Biology at
Nipissing University in North Bay Ontario. Bill discovered his love for molecular and cellular biology at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie where he had the fortune to work in the Molecular Entomology program as an undergraduate student. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Laurentian University, Bill worked at the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre in Sudbury for his graduate work,
completing a Master of Science in Biology from Laurentian University in 2005. The focus of the
work was to look at differences in signaling pathways between different drug resistant breast cancer
cell lines. For the last three years Bill has instructed Molecular Biology and Microbiology courses at
Nipissing, both as a lecturer and a laboratory instructor.
Bill's philosophy to teaching is simple, in order to instill a passion for biology in students you have to
display the passion yourself while instructing.
What the students say:
"Bill Dew has lectures that are a privilege to attend. His clear and concise style, paired with his ability
to explain things at a level that you are able to understand thoroughly. His ability to make learning a
pleasure through real-life examples demonstrate why he should acknowledged for his efforts."
Denyse Lafrance Horning
2009 | School of Business & Economics - Nipissing University | After graduating with a
Bachelor of Administration and an MBA degree from the University of Ottawa, Denyse joined the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. She began her career in Consumer Sales and eventually found her niche as a member of the marketing team. She has managed such national leading brands as Tylenol*, Splenda*, Pepcid AC* and Motrin* IB with a focus on new product launches and Olympic sponsorship management.
While working at J&J, Denyse also taught marketing courses part-time at Nipissing University. The
energy of the classroom swayed Denyse from industry to academia where she is a full-time marketing
professor at Nipissing's School of Business and Economics. Denyse draws on her industry
experience to complement academic curriculum and learning. She is also a PhD candidate at
Laurentian University and is engaged in sports marketing and sponsorship research.
Denyse has a passion for marketing and seeks to share this interest in a manner that will energize and
engage students. She focuses on providing her students with more than just a grade -- Denyse wants
her students to be fully prepared and motivated to shine as future business stars!
What the students say:
"Denyse Lafrance Horning is the best. She has opened my mind to a whole new world of thinking.
She will be one of those professors that, years from now, I will remember that she taught me some
of those important life lessons."

Herminio Teixeira
2009 | Faculty of Arts and Science - Nipissing University
What the students say:
"Though I have really no background in Canadian Politics Professor Herminio Teixeira has been able to provide me with knowledge through his passion on politics. He is more than just a lecturer. He is a bank of knowledge to the world of political societies." Joe Boivin & Corina Irwin, Lab Instructors, Faculty of arts & Science
The focus of this edition of “CASBU Corner” is to shed some light on what it is that CASBU
Members do as part of Nipissing’s Faculty. As contract academic staff, CASBU is made up of
instructors that can be divided into five different categories: Part-Time instructors, Aditional Basic
Qualifications (ABQ) instructors, Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) instructors, Service-Course
instructors, and Seminar and Laboratory instructors who teach in both the Faculty of Education and
also the Faculty of Arts and Science. The following are written by instructors in some of these
categories to communicate the role that each plays as an integral component of the teaching
conducted at Nipissing.
My role as a CASBU Member
Douglas Bolger, B.A., M.Ed., Ed.D.

To reflect on my time at Nipissing University is to tell of a variety of instructional experiences over
the last 18 years. I first became employed at Nipissing in 1990 as a Doctoral candidate and full-time
instructor in the Faculty of Education. During a five-year stint in this role, I taught Social Studies,
Geography, Science, and the Practice Teaching Course. I also taught the Sociology of Education
Course and the Introduction to Teaching course in the Arts & Science Faculty. After successfully
defending my thesis, in 1994, I began teaching Educational Leadership courses in the Masters of
Education program.
I have actually taught something every year since1990. In more recent years I have taught Education
and Schooling in the Faculty of Education on full-time contracts (2002-2004). Since I am a retired
teacher/principal, full-time work in the Faculty of Education ended when they joined the Teacher’s
Pension Plan. I have since continued to move between full-time (NUFA) and part-time (CASBU)
work in the Faculty of Arts and Science. I have taught predominantly the Sociology of Education
course, along with Psychology for Educators, and Regional Geography courses.
My reflections on my role are as varied as my instructional opportunities. My kind of experience is
probably rather unique. As a recent CASBU member, I had the advantage of not needing to work and
of not needing to seek a full-time (tenured position). For me, the work was allowing me to (hopefully)
have an influence on future teachers, to continue to do something I loved (teaching) and for my
Doctorate to pay for itself!
During the past five years I had the opportunity to serve as CASBU Office and secretary of NUFA.
I felt I was able to represent all CASBU Members and because of my circumstances, I was able to
speak freely and forcefully for our group. The journey through the last set of collective bargaining,
which rendered our current Collective Agreement, was a memorable experience. I was honoured to
work with a dedicated team of negotiators who worked long and hard to improve the agreement.
This experience was also disappointing and frustrating. On one hand the University Administration
boasts of the results of the national surveys, which recognize the quality of instruction provided at
Nipissing, yet on the other hand, it often fails to acknowledge the workload and contribution made
by our CASBU instructors. I have also observed that sometimes, CASBU appoints are filled as a
convenience to the University, finding “someone” to fill a slot, even if their qualifications are not
always adequate. As the University shifts to the 3-2 workload for the NUFA members, it will likely
require more part-time instructors (CASBU members) than in the past. We need to continue to be
vigilant and demand that our members are given their due!
What it’s like to work at the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE)
By: Colin Mang

For the last few years, I’ve been helping students to complete their Bachelor of Commerce degree
from Nipissing. Notice how I didn’t say teach, and I didn’t say at Nipissing. In addition to my full-
time teaching load here in the School of Business and Economics, I, like several of my colleagues,
also work as a part-time instructor at Nipissing’s Center for Continuing Education or CCE (formerly
Center for Continuing Business Education), which provides a path for working adults from across
Canada, and from other countries as well, to complete a university degree at their own pace from
their own location.
From the perspective of an educator, distance learning presents unique challenges, perhaps most
importantly that the first time I actually meet my students is when they walk up to shake my hand at
their convocation ceremony (if they are actually able to get here of course). Most of the students who
I talk with by phone or exchange emails with will never meet me face to face. My role is not to
instruct them per se, but to guide them on a path of independent learning, to show them how to
overcome academic challenges, and (most frequently) to help them understand and make sense of
the material being offered to them. Try to imagine having a ten minute conversation with one of your
students about the material from Chapter 4 in your textbook (assuming you have a Chapter 4). What
would it be like if you couldn’t talk, if you had to type your entire conversation? Not only would it
take more than just 10 minutes to type everything that you wanted to say, but since it could be
several hours or days in between responses… well, these conversations can go on for a very long
time. One of my colleagues mentioned to me that he has had over 800 posts on his course’s
discussion board. That’s the typical activity for a CCE instructor, besides the grading of course. To
make sure the students are on the right track, to make sure they are keeping up with their readings
and that they understand the material, we give them lots of assignments and sometimes quizzes too.
Working with the CCE is a great opportunity; the students are mature and professional and very
open to learning. The CCE office provides great support, and though it can be challenging at times,
working with the CCE is, overall, quite an enjoyable experience.

September 26, 2008
The NUFA Executive passed a motion supporting the Windsor University Faculty Association in its
efforts to negotiate a fair and just contract with its administration. A cheque for $1,000 was
forwarded to WUFA through the CAUT Defense Fund.
___________________________________________________________________________
October 1, 2008
NUFA has officially moved its website off the Nipissing University server and located itself with the
CAUT service. Our new address is www.caut.ca/nufa
___________________________________________________________________________
October 8, 2008
The members of the JCAA met to finalize the acceptance of the new Tenure and Promotion
documents and bring them into the current Collective Agreement. The Procedures, Standards and
Skeleton documents can be found on the NUFA website at www.caut.ca/nufa/nufadocs.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
October 18, 2008
Aroha Page, NUFA Member-at-Large for Applied and Professional Studies, represented NUFA in
Fredericton, New Brunswick at the annual CAUT Defense Fund meeting. aroha reports that the
situation with the Fund is solid in that the Fund is ready to assist Associations who are engaged in
job action but that funds are in need of replenishment and overall morale of academics across the
country is low. Administrations are becoming increasingly aggressive in their efforts to cut costs and
rein in the power of associations.
____________________________________________________________________________
October 23, 2008
The NUFA Executive voted to donate $150 to the Nipissing University Social Committee’s
Children’s Christmas Party event to be held on December 14th. We extend a Merry Christmas to all
the children.
___________________________________________________________________________
October 30, 2008
NUFA held a Fall General Meeting on Thursday, October 30th. Amendments to the NUFA
Constitution were proposed and pass and a number of updates were offered to the membership
including the current state of collective bargaining which is set to begin in early February. Members
were encouraged to communicate their thoughts on contract proposals as well as their perspective on
issues of interest. Any further thoughts can be submitted to the Chair of FASBU Collective
Bargaining at [email protected]
Following the Fall General Meeting on Thursday, October 30th Members gathered at 100 George’s
for a social gathering. Over 60 members and their partners and friends dropped in to converse and
enjoy the atmosphere. Thanks to the NUFA Social Committee: Nancy Maynes, Corina Irwin and
Callie Mady for their hard work. The food was great!
NUFA began a new initiative to assist members with their issues and complaints to Administration.
Based on a motion passed at the Fall General Meeting on October 30th, members are encouraged to
communicate their concerns/issues/complaints via e-mail to the proper Administration
representative and cc (carbon copy) NUFA rep Norma-Jo Baker at [email protected] and
faculty representatives (where applicable). Norma-Jo will catalogue the concern/issue/complaint. She will allow Admin. approximately two weeks to address the issue, contact the complainant to see if matters have been addressed. If it has not been fixed or addressed satisfactorily, NUFA will follow-up with the Administration directly. Issues dealing with: Area of Concern
Administrative Contact
Faculty Representatives
@nipissingu.ca
tive & Facility Services [email protected] President, Human Resources [email protected]

Source: http://www.nufa.ca/cms-assets/documents/32528-25741.news5.pdf