Information from Faculty Relations during COVID-19

We recognize there have been many questions and concerns raised by faculty, clinical academics, librarians, and archivists about returning to in-person teaching this fall. To assist in navigating these conversations, the Office of Faculty Relations has created a Toolkit for Medical, Family Status Accommodations & Work Modification requests for in-person teaching.

The Office of Faculty Relations (OFR) is encouraging a flexible, consistent and transparent approach to these requests. 

The Toolkit below provides information on family status and medical accommodation requests and also provides guidance on how to request or respond to work modification requests that are not based on protected grounds in terms of the Ontario Human Rights Code. 

•  Toolkit - Accommodations and Work Modification Requests

We recognize the need to accommodate faculty, librarians and archivists on the basis of family status for circumstances that may arise as a result of the COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency. Accommodation requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis based on individual circumstances. You can request an accommodation from your Dean or Chief Librarian.

• Process for Requesting Accommodation
• Guidelines for Considering Possible Accommodation

We are aware that faculty, librarians and archivists may be experiencing difficulties in performing their work due to the COVID-19 situation. You can request a leave of absence from your Dean or Chief Librarian in a number of different ways:

• Compassionate Leave under Clause 3 of the Article Income Security
• Sick Leave under the Article Income Security, if you qualify medically
• Reduced Workload with a reduced salary prorated to reflect the portion of Reduced Workload to Full-Time Workload under Clause 8 of the Article Reduced Workload. Timelines in Clause 3.1 shall be waived
• Unpaid leave of absence under the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL) provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000

Western recognizes that preparation for courses has been affected on account of the pandemic and the Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and may have involved additional duties and responsibilities.

Members who have experienced additional duties and responsibilities on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Declaration of Emergency, should meet with their Chair or Director (or Dean, in Faculties without departmental structure) to specify in writing details of such extra duties and responsibilities, and establish a schedule of supplemental remuneration in accordance with the Appointments Article, Clause 16.2. Members are welcome to invite an academic colleague to any meetings about additional duties and responsibilities.  

In some cases, it may have been possible to mitigate the assigned teaching or duties/responsibilities increase through, for example, one or more of the following means:

• Reduction of class size;
• Assignment of additional support from teaching assistants or markers;
• Assignment of a student intern to assist in course preparation;
• Exploration of alternative methods of delivering a course; or
• Enhanced support from the Centre for Teaching and Learning.

It is recognized that teaching duties may still entail an increase to Workload, despite such mitigating measures.

If the Dean, in consultation with the Chair, the Program Director, or other relevant person and the Member, after taking into account both the time used and the quality of the resulting work, agrees that substantial additional work was done, then the Dean and the Member will develop a schedule of supplemental remuneration for the additional duties and responsibilities under the Appointments Article, Clause 16.1 and 16.2.

Roadmap documents for Tier 0, Tier 1, and Tier 2 course redesign serve as guidelines for determining the amount of additional duties and responsibilities for which a Part-Time Member is entitled to remuneration upon satisfactory completion. For example, a Tier 1 course redesign entails a time commitment of one day per week, and a Tier 2 course redesign entails a time commitment of two days per week.

Arrangements to recognize or compensate for additional duties and responsibilities are subject to the Dean’s discretion and are not contingent on the Member signing a Course Authoring Agreement or a Commissioned Works Agreement, or participating in a formally recognized collaborative course redesign project (e.g. Tier 1, Tier 2). Budgetary restrictions cannot be the sole reason for denial.   

Western recognizes that preparation for courses has been affected on account of the pandemic and the Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act may involve additional assigned teaching or duties/responsibilities over and above the usual responsibilities.

If the Dean, in consultation with the Chair, the Program Director, or other relevant person and the Member, after taking into account both the time used and the quality of the resulting work, agrees that substantial additional work was done, then the Member can request a review of their Workload with their Dean. Members are welcome to invite an academic colleague to any meetings about Workload.

In some cases, it may have been possible to mitigate the Workload increase, for example, through one or more of the following means:

• Reduction of class size;
• Assignment of additional support from teaching assistants or markers;
• Assignment of a summer student intern to assist in course preparation;
• Exploration of alternative methods of delivering a course; or
• Enhanced support from the Centre for Teaching and Learning.

It is recognized that teaching duties may still entail an increase to Workload, despite such mitigating measures.

If the Dean, in consultation with the Chair, the Program Director, or other relevant person and the Member, taking into account both the time used and the quality of the resulting work, agrees that substantial additional work was done, then this change in Workload may be recognized through means such as the following:

• Redistribution of the Member’s Workload under processes set out in the Article Alternative Workload, for the current or a subsequent year. If necessary, timelines in Clause 3.1 could be waived.
• Allocation of additional Workload credit, which could be counted toward the Member’s teaching assignment for a subsequent year;

Arrangements to recognize and adjust for an increased Workload are subject to the Dean’s discretion and are not contingent on the Member signing a Course Authoring Agreement or a Commissioned Works Agreement, or participating in a formally recognized collaborative course redesign project (e.g. Tier 1, Tier 2).  Budgetary restrictions cannot be the sole reason for denial.

To address these concerns, a Letter of Understanding on the Administration and Use of Student Questionnaires on Courses and Teaching for Courses Taught in the 2020-21 Academic Year  (see below) has been agreed upon between UWOFA and the University, temporarily changing the way in which SQCT scores are applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SQCTs were not administered according to the usual practices for courses taught in the 2019/20 Winter term.

However, SQCTs will be administered according to the usual practices for courses taught in the 2020-21 Academic year, although it will be left to the Faculty Member’s discretion as to whether or not the results of the 2020-21 SQCT’s are included in their submissions for the following processes: 

• Applications for Limited Duties Appointments (Appointments Article, clause 12 a))
• Teaching Dossiers for Standing Appointment consideration (Appointments Article, clause 18.2.1 j) k), 18.2.3)
• Annual Reports for APE (Annual Performance EvaluationArticle, clause 9.3 d) (ii), 11.1)
• Promotion, Tenure and continuing Status dossiers (Promotion, Tenure and Continuing Status Article, clause 3.2.1)

If a Member choses not include their SQCT results for this period, those SQCTs may not be added to the submission by the Unit.

• Letter of Understanding - Administration and Use of Student Questionnaires on Courses and Teaching for Courses Taught in the 2020-21 Academic Year (PDF)

We are aware the COVID-19 situation may create significant challenges which could impact Clinical Academics’ timeline to promotion and/or continuing status on account of the unusual demands in their clinical practice within the pandemic health care environment and their ongoing academic responsibilities.

In addition, we also recognize Clinical Departments may experience circumstances such that the ability to manage Promotion and/or Continuing files of faculty members is compromised.

In response to the potential impacts identified above, requests for a one year deferral of files to be considered in the 2020/21 Promotion and Continuing Appointment cycle may be made by the following:

• A candidate being considered for Promotion and/or granting of Continuing Status
• A Department Chair/Chief
• A Department Appointments and Promotion Committee

Requests for deferrals of individual files or multiple files within the same department are to be made by August 1, 2020, in writing to the Dean for approval, if approved by the Dean, the request shall be forwarded to the Vice-Provost (APPF) for approval on behalf of the Provost. No request will be unreasonably declined.

Requests for deferrals of files where the one year deferral may impact immigration or licensure requirements will be made on a case-by-case basis.

As faculty members, you retain your intellectual property at all times, unless you choose to enter into either a Commissioned Works Agreement or a Course Authoring Agreement. It is your individual choice to enter into either of these agreements.

As a faculty member you do not have to enter into either of the above agreements in order to receive Tier 1, Tier 2 or KnowledgeOne supports. The attached COVID-19 Commissioned Works Agreement provides an avenue where part-time or full-time faculty members may enter into an agreement which provides compensation for the both the assignment of IP rights and either “additional payment” or workload credit (FT members only). Below are the options available:

1. Full Time Faculty: Where the workload involved in the preparation exceeds the volume of prep normally put into a course, the Dean can enter into an workload agreement with full-time faculty members and, if appropriate and reasonable,

i. the full–time faculty member could be granted a workload credit (say, .5 FCE) to be recouped at a time that is agreeable to the Department and the faculty member; or

ii. the full-time faculty member could enter into a Covid-19 Commissioned Work Agreement/Course Authoring agreement and receive the workload credit and a small stipend associated with the assignment of their IP to the university.

2. Part-time faculty: With Part-time faculty members, the ability to grant a workload credit is not available and although the UWOFA Collective Agreement does not contemplate additional compensation for course prep, given the exceptional COVID-19 circumstances additional compensation may be available. Please see the above question and answer regarding extra duties and responsibilities relating to prep courses for further guidance.

Where a part-time faculty member is not wishing to retain their IP rights, entering into a Covid-19 Course Authoring Agreement or a Commissioned Works Agreement may work.

Faculty members should discuss any workload implications with their Dean

• COVID-19 Commissioned Work Agreement

We recognize that there are many ways the COVID-19 pandemic could put academic activities planned for an upcoming Modified Alternative Workload Leave (MAWL) in jeopardy. Perhaps you have increased family responsibilities due to loss of childcare or due to elder care needs. Perhaps you have travel plans that have been interrupted. Or perhaps you are not able to attend the locations where you collect data for your research.

You can request through your Dean to defer the start of your 2020-2021 MAWL by 6 months or 12 months. Your Dean will re-assign normal workload to you during the deferral period.

• Form: COVID-19 related MAWL Delay 2020

The fillable version of the MAWL Delay Form can be accessed by department administrators via the Administrator Tools (Intranet - Secure LOGIN) and sent to requesting faculty:

• Fillable form: COVID-19 related MAWL Delay 2020

There have been some questions coming forward with respect to whether a faculty member retains their IP rights if they are receiving Tier 1 or Tier 2 support with respect to moving their courses online.

Kindly be assured that our faculty members retain the ownership of all intellectual property created during the course of their academic duties unless they choose to enter into an separate agreement to transfer ownership. Any purchase of intellectual property by Western involves a very transparent process and the faculty member would be fully engaged in the negotiation of any proposed such agreement.

Under the UWOFA collective agreement, all UWOFA Faculty members retain Intellectual property rights to their course materials unless they enter into either a Commissioned Works agreement or a Course Authoring Agreement. Precedents of such agreements are available online at Information from Faculty Relations during COVID-19

Further, Western’s MAPP 7.16 Intellectual Property policy confirms a faculty member’s right to retain ownership of intellectual property created during the course of their academic duties. https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/policies_procedures/section7/mapp716.pdf

Unlike Faculty, staff persons are not entitled to retain or claim ownership of any intellectual property conceived or created during the course of their employment.

Engaging the assistance of the Centre for Teaching and Learning in moving their course online would never automatically limit a faculty member’s right to the ownership of intellectual property created during the course of one’s academic duties.

Please do not hesitate to contact OFR if you have any additional questions.

We are aware that probationary faculty, librarians and archivists may be impacted by the current COVID-19 situation. You can request an extension on your promotion and tenure or continuing appointment timelines if you have been adversely affected.

• I am a Faculty Member
• I am a Librarian or Archivist

In collaboration with UWOFA on March 23rd, we developed the following information table that outlines specific details regarding the Faculty Collective Agreement deadlines and timelines. We have identified the deadlines for processes and have suggested alternative mechanisms to consider to, where possible, complete the process by the required timeline. In situations where it is difficult to meet a deadline or timeline, mutually agreed upon extensions will be necessary.

UPDATE: August 29, 2020 After mutual agreement, timelines in regards to 2021/22 sabbatical applications (for those NOT planning an extended stay abroad) have been adjusted. Please see table for updates.

• UWOFA Collective Agreement Contingency Table COVID-19

In collaboration with UWOFA on April 9th and 14th, we developed the following information table that outlines specific details regarding the Librarians and Archivists Collective Agreement deadlines and timelines. We have identified the deadlines for processes and have suggested alternative mechanisms to consider to, where possible,  complete the process by the required timeline. In situations where it is difficult to meet a deadline or timeline, mutually agreeable extensions will be necessary.

UPDATE: July 17, 2020 After mutual agreement, timelines in regards to ARR deadlines have been adjusted. Please see table for updated dates.

• UWOFA-LA Collective Agreement Contingency Table COVID-19

The upcoming 2020 ARR cycle may be impacted by the current situation related to COVID-19. Most steps in the process can be completed virtually, if necessary. By way of mutual agreement, the upcoming ARR cycle timelines have been modified. Please see link below for key dates and deadlines for this year’s ARR cycle. If you prefer to provide your submission prior to the adjusted timeline, you are welcome to do so.

For any questions related to the 2020 ARR cycle, please speak with your immediate supervisor.

• ARR Cycle Contingency Table 2020

Due to the impacts of COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act,we recognize that there are many ways the COVID-19 pandemic could put your upcoming sabbatical in jeopardy. Perhaps you have increased family responsibilities due to loss of childcare or due to elder care needs. Perhaps you have travel plans that have been interrupted. Or perhaps you are not able to attend the locations where you collect data for your research.

You can request through your Dean to defer the start of your 2021-2022 sabbatical leave by 6 months or 12 months. Your Dean will re-assign normal workload to you during the deferral period. This will not have any negative effect on the eligibility period for subsequent sabbaticals.

• Memo re COVID-related delays to Approved Sabbatical Leaves 2021-2022
• Form: COVID-19 related Sabbatical Delay 2021-2022

The fillable version of the Sabbatical Delay Form can be accessed by department administrators via the Administrator Tools (Intranet - Secure LOGIN) and sent to requesting faculty:

• Fillable form: COVID-19 related Sabbatical Delay 2021-2022

Extension of Sabbatical Leave application deadline

On account of the COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, the deadline for submitting an application for Sabbatical Leave to take place in the 2021-2022 academic year has been extended for Members who are not planning an extended stay abroad during the proposed Sabbatical Leave. An "extended stay abroad" will be defined as any travel outside of Canada with a duration of more than ten (10) consecutive days for the purposes of the extension of the sabbatical leave application.

For Members who are not planning an extended stay abroad during their Sabbatical Leave, the deadline for submitting the application ot the Dean's officce will be September 28, 2020.

For members proposing a Sabbatical Leave with and extended stay abroad, the deadline of the second Monday of September stated in Clause 12.1 of the article Sabbatical Leave remains unchanged.

For any additional questions, please contact Faculty Realtions

We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a detrimental impact on the research productivity of some Faculty members.  We also recognize that some colleagues may have been impacted by a sudden and unexpected increase in family responsibilities. Such family status impacts are covered by our discussions regarding the roadmap on family status accommodation and not by this note.  

With respect to Sabbatical disruptions, please discuss this matter with your Dean. Your Dean may be able to work with you and, if your faculty is departmentalized, your department Chair, to find ways to complete this research when travel once again becomes possible. Potential remedies include but are not limited to:

1. Rescheduling your (short) planned visit to another time, and allowing you to make reasonable accommodation (trading teaching duties with a colleague, delivering a few lectures remotely)  to facilitate this visit, should it conflict with teaching or committee duties.
2. Working to rearrange your teaching schedule, by shifting teaching and some service obligations between academic terms and/ or academic years, to make possible a longer research stay which had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the event your Dean is unable to agree to your request for a specific remedy to address your concern regarding your sabbatical disruption, the Dean will provide reasonable alternatives or reasons for the denial.

Due to the current extraordinary situation, should a Librarian and/or Archivist need to delay an approved Professional Leave scheduled to begin from May 1, 2021 to June 1, 2021 as a result of barriers related to COVID-19 (e.g. canceled arrangements at host institution, travel issues, …) they should make request for a deferral to the Chief Librarian. The Chief Librarian, in consultation with the relevant supervisor (if applicable), and subject to Provost approval, may recommend a delay of the Professional Leave up to one year. This process will be similar to that which is outlined in Clause 13 of Professional Leave in the 2019 to 2023 Librarian and Archivist Collective Agreement.

A deferral request form, provided below, which describes the impact COVID-19 has had on the Leave plan must be submitted to the Chief Librarian. Each case will be assessed on its own set of facts and the operational needs of the unit taken into account and the Member will be expected to continue previously assigned workload during the period of delay. Any deferred Professional Leave in these circumstances will not be counted within the maximum approved Professional Leaves identified in Clause 12, however for operational reasons, Clause 12.3 will apply.

• COVID-19 Professional Delay Form 2021

The fillable version of the Professional Delay Form can be accessed by department administrators via the Administrator Tools (Intranet - Secure LOGIN) and sent to requesting faculty:

• Fillable form: COVID-19 related Professional Delay Form 2021

The Administration and Union collaborated on a formal Letter of Understanding (LOU) which changes the way in which APE scores will be used in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This LOU was signed on August 11, 2020, and forms part of the 2018-2022 Faculty Collective Agreement to remain in effect for the life of this Collective Agreement.

Members will not submit an Annual report for the APE process in 2020 for assessments that would normally be completed in January 2021 for the three-year period ending June 30, 2020. Depending on your length of service, your 2020-21 APE score will be based on your average score.

The APE process outlined in Clauses 5 through 7 of the Collective Agreement will continue for 2020-21.

A Joint Working group will be established to put together guidelines for Deans, Chairs, Directors, and APE Committees to take into account the affect COVID-19 may have had on Members’ performance during the 2020-21 APE cycle. The Working Group will also prepare advice for Members to follow in describing or explaining the effects of the circumstances of COVID-19 in their report.

Any questions in regards to the LOU can be forwarded to the Office of Faculty Relations.

• Letter of Understanding - Changes to Annual Performance Evaluation Processes in 2020-21 Due to COVID-19 Pandemic and the Declaration of Emergency Under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (PDF)

The 2020 APE assessment process is in its final stages. Most individual assessments will have been completed by January 31, 2020, however, there may be some faculty members that have requested a meeting with their Dean regarding their annual assessments. Similarly, there may be Deans that have requested meetings with faculty members to discuss their annual assessments. As per the table in the link below, these meetings may occur virtually if possible. Where this is not possible, timelines will be extended so that meetings may occur, virtually or in person, at a time that is mutually agreeable. In some cases, the finalizing of APE scores may be delayed due to the inability to conduct these meetings. This may have a delay on July 1st compensation adjustments. However, once complete, compensation adjustments will be retro-active to July 1, 2020.

Any questions related to the 2020 APE cycle, please speak with your Chair/Director or Dean.

• APE Cycle Contingency Table 2020

The Office of Faculty Recruitment and Retention is available to answer your questions if you are:

• Hiring international faculty or librarians and archivists at this time;
• Inviting an international academic visitor to Western;
• Considering engaging or employing international post-doctoral fellows; or
• An international academic or post-doctoral fellow currently in London with a concluding appointment.

For additional information, please refer to the memorandum below.

• Immigration Considerations

In collaboration with the UWOFA, it was agreed that the normal collegial decision-making process was not required when moving credit courses online between March 13^th to April 30^th 2020. The Administration and Union collaborated and entered into a formal Letter of Understanding (LOU) to recognize the urgent need for the University to transition to online course delivery for the final four months of the 2019-20 academic year and into the 2020-21 academic year.

This LOU forms part of the 2018-2022 Faculty Collective Agreement and remains in effect for the life of this Collective Agreement.

• Letter of Understanding - Changes to the Use of Alternative Learning Technologies in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 Pandemic (PDF)

Several excellent resources have been developed to support faculty transitioning courses online. Please visit the Centre for Teaching and Learning for more information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the potential for an accelerated move of some materials to online formats or the development of new materials for an online course. The memo below addresses some of the issues raised with respect to developing a new online course or adapting existing courses to move online temporarily or permanently.

• Memo re Course Authoring or Commissioned Works Agreement - April 20 2020
• Commissioned Work Agreement April 21 2020 REVISED
• Online Course Authoring Contract Template April 21 2020 REVISED

With the move to a virtual environment due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we understand that there are concerns about placing your intellectual property online. Course content created by a faculty member is considered the faculty member’s intellectual property; it should not be distributed, shared in any public domain, or sold by a student or other third party without prior written consent of the faculty member. The attached memo outlines strategies to help protect your Intellectual Property.

• Memo re Protecting Online Content - April 1 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all non-essential faculty, librarians and archivists and staff have been working from home. You may be eligible to claim certain expenses under your Personal Expense Reimbursement (PER) or, for those expenses that are not reimbursed as a professional expense, there are tax rules to allow you to claim a deduction for certain home office expenses on your 2020 personal income tax return. The memo below provides additional details for your consideration.

• Home Office Income Tax and Expense Considerations

If you do not incur the maximum eligible expenses during a calendar year, the remainder allocated to your Professional Expense Reimbursement (PER) account will be carried forward and may be utilized for eligible expenses in a subsequent year during the term of your Collective Agreement, but not beyond. For example, if you do not attend a conference in 2020 and have not incurred any eligible expenses, then your PER funding can be used for eligible expenses during 2021.

When you do incur an expense, and if you want to use your PER funding, you must submit the claim associated with the eligible expense no later than March 31 of the following year.

UWOFA Members may obtain additional information on PER, Health Care Spending Account and Taxable Wellness Spending Account at 2020 Flex Credits for Faculty Members and the Professional Expense Reimbursement Article in the UWOFA Collective Agreement.

UWOFA-LA Members may obtain additional information on PER, Health Care Spending Account and Taxable Wellness Spending Account at 2020 Flex Credits for UWOFA Librarians and Archivists and the Professional Expense Reimbursement Article in the UWOFA-LA Collective Agreement.

If faculty members, Librarians or Archivists require access to Western offices to retrieve equipment or files while under the Essential Services Act, please speak to your Dean or Chief Librarian who will determine whether the access is essential and they will facilitate access.

Supports are available to all Western employees through Western’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) and can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Clinical and Dentistry Faculty in the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in London and Windsor may access additional supports through Schulich’s Wellbeing Program. The Faculty Resources webpage provides specific information regarding the supports available for these faculty during the pandemic.

Western Research’s website has helpful FAQ’s which provide current information relating to the impacts of COVID-19 on research activities, including communications from granting agencies which are regularly updated. Please visit COVID-19 Grant Updates or Research - COVID-19 the following sites for the most current information.

Western Research’s website has helpful FAQ’s which provide current information relating to the impacts of COVID-19 on research activities, including communications from granting agencies which are regularly updated. Please visit Western Research COVID-19 Updates for the most current information.

The Faculty Collective Agreement (FCA), Appointments Clause 15.1 requires anticipated Fall/Winter Limited-Duties Appointments be posted no later than April 30th for at least 30 days.

Designated Department/Faculty Administrators are required to post Limited Duties Appointments through Working at Western system. Please advise via email (cphilpit@uwo.ca) by April 13th of the Units that will be posting Limited Duties Appointments.

Deadline Summary for all Units:

By April 13th – Identify Units that will be posting Limited Duties Appointments via email to: cphilpit@uwo.ca

By April 30th – Post Limited-Duties Appointments through Working at Western system

The rollover for fall/winter Graduate courses in Student Centre/HE has now taken place.  They are now available in Working at Western to facilitate creation of Limited Duties/Standing job openings, with the exception of brand-new graduate courses (which would not have been part of the rollover). New courses will be added after April 20.

For summer courses, just a reminder to contact mpoiri@uwo.ca to change the section/mode for graduate courses and the mode for undergraduate courses to online before completing a hire if they still show as in-class. Errors will occur when a hire is submitted if these changes do not occur.

A number of business processes have been adapted to allow for an electronic submission process to facilitate the virtual exchange of documents previously exchanged in paper format. The submission process applies to the following documents:

• Advertisements (full-time)
• Offer Letters
• JRAFs
• Leave Applications
• Sabbaticals/Deferrals
• Termination Notices
• Retirement Emeritus/a Notices
• Administrative Appointments
• Alternative Workloads
• Course Authoring and Commissioned Work Agreements
• FAN Revisions

• Business Process for Advertisements, Offers, and Forms
• OWL Document Submission to OFR Checklist
• Electronic Signatures on Dynamic Forms (FLAAN)