GREETINGS WURA MEMBERS!
After two years, the WURA Executive is organizing a Fall AGM to meet with our WURA members online. Since Dr. Gordon is available to present a greeting at noon that day, December 1st, we are asking everyone who was invited in the past, to prepare their Reports to be circulated beforehand. To keep the session moving along during the meeting, the preparers would only need to answer questions. Since we are meeting at 12 noon and WURA members love the holiday luncheon, we decided to try to combine the two events, keeping the mood informal as well. Have your sandwich or coffee available at home. Hopefully, many of our WURA members will be able to join us on Zoom that day!
The Report from the Nominating Committee with the Slate of WURA Officers for the WURA Executive and Committees in 2022 should be sent out shortly to the WURA membership, to be voted on in an online election similar to last year. Thank you to the WURA members for responding to our requests from the WURA Nominating Committee.
The new Communications Committee with its Editorial Board, produced the first WURA e-Bulletin online newsletter in October, 2021. The second issue will be sent out in November. Time sensitive information will continue to be sent out as required. The suggested timing for the WURA e-Bulletin: two each for the Fall and Winter semesters, and one in the Summer.
The Financial Report for the last two years was presented by Norm King to the WURA Executive, before being presented at the upcoming AGM. WURA normally spends approximately $6,000 per year. We currently have more than $8,000 in our account. Norm indicated that more than $1,800 was contributed to the WURA Bursary Fund during this time ($50 from each member who dies - we lost 17 members, for retiring members from the Executive, and additional contributions). The Executive also decided to make a one-time additional donation of $1,000 to the WURA Bursary Fund.
Our WURA rep on the WUFA Contract Committee has been meeting with the WURA Executive at our monthly meetings, keeping us up to date. Please see the accompanying article on how the University/WUFA negotiations may affect retirees.
The WURA Social Committee has been meeting with WURA members monthly this Fall at various Social Events. Please review the Social Committee Report to see what has been happening. The Social Committee welcomes your suggestions for future events. We have received very good feedback from members attending these social sessions, as they have been able to pass their time during the pandemic, and see other members online.
Happy Holidays to you and your families! Stay safe!
Roger Lauzon
President, WURA
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WURA Virtual Fall AGM and Holiday Luncheon (on Zoom) – Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 12 noon
WURA has decided to schedule a combined Virtual (on Zoom) Fall AGM and Holiday Luncheon on Wednesday, December 1, 2021. President Gordon is planning to be available to give a greeting to WURA members at the start of the meeting. Since we are meeting at 12 noon locally at lunch time (or out West in B.C. for breakfast), and WURA members love to meet for the Holiday Luncheon, we have decided to combine the two events virtually this year, because of the current environment. We will try to keep the mood more informal, as a luncheon would be. Please provide your own sandwiches from home (locals) or coffee (in B.C.).
The Agenda for the AGM will be similar to a regular WURA Fall AGM (the last one being held in Fall 2019), with Reports from all regular University areas and WURA Committee Reports. All Reports will be requested to be provided a week beforehand, except for President Gordon, so that all attendees only need to ask questions on the Reports. This will keep the virtual meeting to no more than an hour.
The Reports requested beforehand from the University areas will be from the Provost’s Office (Dr. Weir), the WUFA President (Dr. Lanoszka), Human Resources (Ms. LaCivita and/or Ms. Paglione), and Student Awards and Financial Aid (Ms. Doll and/or Ms. Hawkins). The WURA Reports will be from the WURA President (Mr. Lauzon), Treasurer (Dr. King), Scholarship/Bursary Fund (Dr. B. Thomas), Pension and Benefits (Ms. Foster), Nominating Committee (Prof. Palmer), and WURA rep on BofG Pension Committee (Dr. Stebelsky).
The AGM will also give out a few WURA Awards and Recognitions, and some door prizes will be drawn. Hopefully, this combined virtual AGM/Holiday Luncheon will be both informative and fun, during this pandemic time.
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The Road to a Collective Agreement
On October 25, 2021 the WUFA President, Anna Lanoszka, announced that 89% of the membership of the Faculty Association who had cast their (electronic) ballots had voted to ratify the new 2021-2025 Collective Agreement. Shortly thereafter, the UWin Board of Governors also approved the tentative contract. This outcome marked the culmination of a 21-month process that had begun with the first meeting of the WUFA Contract Committee on January 21, 2020. After an extensive consultation process with the general membership, a Negotiation Mandate featuring three broad themes (Respect, Equity, Voice) was approved by the WUFA Executive, Council and, on April 15, 2021, the general membership. These general principles were then converted into specific bargaining proposals. The WUFA negotiating team met their university senior administration counterparts for the first time on July 14, 2021, to exchange proposals. Face-to-face negotiations continued on an intermittent basis through the rest of the Summer and into the Fall, until a marathon bargaining session at the end of September resulted in a tentative agreement.
Several external factors made these bargaining sessions particularly challenging, including (1) Ontario's Bill 124 legislation, which set a 1% cap on salary increases for 3 years; (2) the sobering example of the Laurentian University bankruptcy; (3) the impact of the Idle No More and Black Lives Matter movements for social justice; (4) the covid pandemic, with its debilitating effects on both physical and mental health; and (5) the growing impetus for greater equity, diversity and inclusion both across society and on our campus.
From the perspective of the WURA retirees, the new agreement leaves intact the 50% dental subsidy (Article F, since 1990), as well as the health benefit subsidy (Letter VIII, since 2001). Modest gains were made in terms of pension security, specifically related to shared governance and heightened transparency.
On a personal level, I was honoured to represent WURA and my fellow retirees on the WUFA Contract Committee. Although the WUFA Constitution stipulates that the WURA rep has only limited voting rights, I was at all times welcomed as an equal partner in the deliberative process, and given full opportunity to serve as your voice in committee discussions. All told, we held close to 50 meetings, the vast majority of them online. The necessity of meeting electronically was not ideal, but everyone collaborated to make it work. The resulting collective agreement, hammered out between the WUFA negotiators and the Administration team, is a very good one for all the interests represented on the Contract Committee, and guarantees overall stability, plus progress in several important areas over the next four years.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Glassford,
WURA Rep on WUFA Contract Committee
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WURA “Research Social”
Attendees at the Wura-sponsored on-line Research Social held on October 27th.
On October 27th our normally reliable Zoom connection failed, leaving most WURA members unable to connect to the Research Social Event. For this we sincerely apologize.
Those who were able to attend the session were presented with four interesting explanations of a number of on-going and completed research projects.
- Jonathan Bayley reviewed two projects: the experiences of a group of Canadian students studying how music is taught in China and the delights involved in tracking first editions of early English madrigals.
- Susan Gold-Smith both described and showed a video of an art installation that she and colleague have currently on site at the Art Gallery of Windsor, 3rd floor. It focuses on “What we have lost.” Be sure to take it in before January 9th.
- Ihor Stebelsky provided interesting background to the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, strategies employed by Russia, along with information on more recent developments in a very volatile area of Eastern Europe.
- Jake Soderlund shifted focus to North Africa, making the case that the UN/NATO intervention in Libya in 2011 resulted in the demise of the idea that the international community had a “Responsibility to Protect” populations at risk of grievous harm.
As Covid restrictions are gradually lifted, the Research Support Groups hopes to hold some in-person research related activities – stay tuned.
Save the Date!
Upcoming Social Events
The WURA Social Events and Zoom sessions originally scheduled for November 24th and December 15th have been moved to the New Year, as outlined below:
January 2022 – Talent Show #2
Something different: WURA members will be sent a video link of performances by students from the School of Performing Arts (SoCA), that can be viewed at member’ convenience. Jonathan Bayley will also include a brief background of each student and the work they perform.
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 @ 2:00 pm – For the love of reading #2
Members have an opportunity to give a brief review/description of a book (or books) they have been reading during COVID. Contact Jonathan Bayley - jbayley@uwindsor.ca if you would like to tell member about a book or two that you have been enjoying reading.
Thursday, March 17, 2022 @ 2:00 pm – St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
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WURA “Research Corner”
A WURA “Research Support Group” was approved by the Executive Committee in December of 2020. It was enthusiastically supported by Research and Innovation the University – thanks Heather Pratt. Following is a quick look at what its 15 or so members have been up to over the past two to three years. We plan to make the Research Corner an on-going feature in the new WURA Bulletin. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Jake Soderlund at akajake@uwindsor.ca – all that is needed is an interest in research.
Research Completed
Jonathan Bayley- (2020). “An Investigation of Canadian undergraduate music education students’ personal and professional experiences during a three-month residency in China.” Journal of Teaching and Learning. (with V. Mio).
Jonathan Bayley- (2020). Nine English Madrigals for three flutes. ALRY (United Music and Media) Publications.
Jonathan Bayley- (2020)- “It’s never too late:” Adult students and music learning in on and offline convergent community music school.” International Journal of Music Education. (with J. Waldron).
Tony Blair (2021)- Studies in Critical Thinking, 2nd ed.(Editor).
Tony Blair (2020)- “Technical Terminology and Argument Analysis and Approaches.” In TheLanguage of Argumentation.
Ihor Stebelsky (2018). “A tale of two regions: geopoloitics, identities, narratives and conflict in Kharkiv and the Donbas.” Eurasian Geography and Economics.
Research in Progress
Tony Blair- “How to define informal logic.” (a critique of Leo Groark’s article of the same name).
Tony Blair- Co-Editor of the journal Informal Logic.
Lloyd Brown-John – “Murder Trials in Canada, 1867-1976: Evidence of Systemic Racism?” (with Steve Fox).
Jake Soderlund- International Military Intervention in Domestic Conflicts: Correlates of Success and Failure in the Era of Responsibility to Protect. (with Tanja Collet and Tom Najem).
Ihor Steblesky- Various entries for the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
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Retirees Association Scholarship Award Makes A Big Difference In Students’ Lives
By Dr. Barbara Thomas and Dr. Bruce Elman
“I grew up in a low-income family . . . a scholarship like this goes a long way for a student like me who works to afford school as this is an added stressor that can contribute negatively to my education at times”, wrote one recipient of the Windsor University Retirees Association Scholarship Award. A second recipient echoed that sentiment, “I was stressed beyond belief while completing my undergrad during a pandemic, and receiving the scholarship relieved much stress I was facing which helped me to put more focus into my studies. I will be forever thankful for that.”
Established in 1998, by the Faculty, Librarian, and Administrator Retirees’ Association (WURA), thanks to the very generous initial donations by Dean Bill Phillips and Dr Cormac Smith, the Scholarship Award has provided crucial funding to countless students since its inception. Under the Terms of Reference for the Scholarship, recipients must be Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents (including those with Protected Person Status) who reside in Ontario and are studying full-time at the undergraduate level. The Scholarship is awarded on the basis of strong academic achievement – a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average of 78% is required -- and financial need.
In 2020-2021, the Scholarship was awarded to six highly deserving undergraduate students. Each student received an award of $1500. The 2020 – 21 winners, chosen in a totally anonymous process by the WURA Scholarship Committee, were: Claire Baldwin, Wesam Aiad, Magen Forget, Robert Papak, Alma Tamim, and Elizabeth Stiers. The students represent a broad cross-section of faculties from Visual Arts to Nursing and Engineering to Law.
Roger Lauzon, President of the Windsor University Retirees Association, stated: “I want to congratulate these very fine students on being the 2020-21 recipients of the Scholarship and thank the Scholarship Committee – Dr. Barbara Thomas (Chair), Dr. Ron Barron, and Dr. Dale Rajacich – for all of their efforts on behalf of the Association.”
In the Committee’s Fall 2021 Report, Dr. Thomas noted: “The reasons for financial need are truly heartbreaking. Since the pandemic, part-time job opportunities available to students have decreased, small businesses of parents have collapsed reducing parental support, severe mental health and physical disabilities of family members required students to take on increased caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased financial need, and these financial issues are ongoing. We were frankly amazed that, despite serious personal hardships, our applicants had all managed to maintain an average over 80%.” She continued: “We certainly could have awarded many more scholarships if only we had more funds.”
If you would like to continue or renew your support of students you can donate on-line at https://www.uwindsor.ca/donate#. Designate your gift to the Retirees' Scholarship Fund (under "Other").
A final word from one of our student recipients: “I am very thankful to every contributor that is part of the Retirees Association. I am determined to follow in their steps and, upon a successful graduation and career, I will do the same for future student generations -- to help them focus and excel in their studies. This award shows the commitment of the retired faculty members of the University of Windsor and their careful care of its students.”
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Its that time of year when we need to get our flu shots. Flu vaccines are updated each season to keep up with changing viruses. This year as well as the Standard-dose quadrivalent (QIV) there are two new high dose quadrivalent (QIV-HD) versions available to seniors:
- Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent (new for 2021-2022*)
- Fluad® (new for 2021-2022)
There's more info on the Canada Web site and at Public Health Ontario.
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WURA Design A Logo Contest
We need a logo for WURA. If you are interested in assisting by designing one, please send it to GEbbett@uwindsor.ca
The Communications Committee will be pleased to receive as many entries as you can design, and will announce the winner in a forthcoming issue of the WURA E-Bulletin.
Deadline for entries: November 30, 2021.
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Editorial Notice
The WURA e-Bulletin is published by the
University of Windsor Retirees Association.
Editorial Board:
Richard Dumala (Lead Editor)
Stuart Selby
Bruce Elman
Submissions to the e-Bulletin should be a Word file sent
electronically to: Richard.Dumala@uwindsor.ca.
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