Dave's Policy 76 Web Page & FAQ

This is the web page to host my policy document:

[pdf] How to Fix Policy 76 in 10,000 words [version 0.8 - December 2022]

which is a follow-up to the video I created: [YouTube] How to Fix Policy 76 in 19 minutes

Please email any questions or feedback to: dtompkins @at@ uwaterloo.ca

I am also happy to meet with anyone to discuss this in person or over MS Teams.

On this page, I am answering questions and responding to feedback.

Last Updated: 2022-12-08

Why did you create the document and video?

• I believe collegial governance works well when everyone participates in good faith. The problem is that not everyone has been acting in good faith.
• In 2019 I had the privilege of sitting beside the Provost at a convocation lunch. At the time, I asked about P76, and he said that they had made significant progress and it would be resolved "soon …", and yet here we are several years later. The reneging of the December 2021 memo was especially egregious (even if it was poorly written, it was still incredibly bad faith to backpedal on it).
• I have seen evidence that there are some Lecturers acting in bad faith. Instead of engaging in pragmatic policy discussions they seem to be more interested in spewing platitudes, politicizing the process, promoting populism, and being divisive (with the possible goal of fracturing FAUW). I suspect that there are Lecturers who hope the negotiations are unsuccessful or produce unsatisfactory results, so that it can be used as a rallying cry for independent certification. If (when?) certification occurs, I believe it should be as a united FAUW, not as a fractured one.
• I don't believe the FAUW executive have been working in bad faith, but they are often overwhelmed and/or disinterested, have done a poor job handling some Lecturer relations, and have exasperated some of the drama created by a few Lecturers. Until recently, they have not been holding the senior administration to task. I am also concerned that their current escalation timeline is too rushed.
• My fear is that if things escalate to mediation or arbitration, we might end up with some bad policy that doesn’t work, and we may be bound to that bad policy for years to come because of the terms of the mediation/arbitration.
• I decided to make a video and write the document to carve a "better path forward..." (to borrow a phrase). This policy it is too important to be messed up by obstinate administrators and political agendas.

In the video, are you suggesting that Professors T.S. cannot be excellent researchers and/or deserve low evaluation scores?

• Absolutely not. I admit that the tone in my video is a bit off, so I'll try to be clearer.
• Professors T.S. can be excellent researchers. Likewise, O.G. Professors can be excellent instructors.
• My understanding is that Lecturers with non-zero research components often receive low scores on their Annual Performance Reviews (APRs).
  • I have been told this anecdotally on more than one occasion. It most recently came up during a conversation about why Lecturers that start out with non-zero research components often switch to have a zero research component.
  • In addition, I got this impression from the 2021 Survey Report.
• Because of this, I felt it was probably prudent to warn potential Professors T.S. that this may occur.
• It might very well be the case that these low scores are the result of bias against Lecturers, or because it is hard to calibrate evaluations for lower research component percentages, but those are problems way beyond the scope of this document.
• However, it is important to point out that even in a fair comparison, the so-called "rock stars" have a disproportionate advantage because they have teaching reductions (from grants and research chairs) and a gaggle of postdocs and grad students supporting them.

You are proposing that the teaching loads between O.G. Professors and Professors T.S. should be reasonably balanced. However, that only makes sense if salaries are balanced. If salaries are unbalanced, then shouldn't the workloads be unbalanced accordingly?

• Salary discussions are complicated and involve concepts such as "market forces".
• Given the scope of my proposal I think it's best to focus on the egg, and then perhaps the chicken will come later.

How did you make the video?

• Nothing but PowerPoint, using [File > Export > Create a Video]
• The breakthrough for me was to record each slide's audio separately [Record > From Current Slide] so it's less hassle to do a retake or change the content on just one slide. It makes the audio a little choppier and some of the slides messy and full of animations, but it's a better work flow for me.