Merit Advisory

YUFA

Stewards' Information

2003 Merit Exercise Advisory

6 Oct 03 - The annual merit exercise is among the most vexed, divisive activities specified in the YUFA Collective Agreement. Unpopular with YUFA members, only about 20% of respondents to YUFA's most recent pre-bargaining questionnaires considered merit pay a good way in which to reimburse faculty / librarians. Moreover, for the relatively few who might apply, the Employer has provided relatively little in the way of clear guidance.

After the Employer distributed a misleading memo announcing the 2003 exercise in September, Academic Employee Relations and various Deans' offices have sent one or more notices to YUFA members in an attempt to correct and elaborate on previous accounts. As a result of such misinterpretations of the Collective Agreement, YUFA is considering launching a grievance. Meanwhile, in order to provide as clear guidance as possible to those YUFA members who wish to apply for merit this month, the following account highlights aspects of, and recent changes to, the Collective Agreement that are relevant to merit applications this year.

Most directly germane to this year's merit exercise is Appendix M in YUFA's new, 2003-06 Collective Agreement. Whereas bound copies of the new CA as a whole await further proof-reading and are unlikely to be available before the October 15 deadline, YUFA members can access, copy, and print the new version of Appendix M at the YUFA website: http://www.yufa.org/contract/Draft_2003-2006CA.html.

The following copy of Appendix M's new version includes bulleted italicized comments on particular Articles. These emphasize important changes from the previous, 2001-03 Collective Agreement and refer also to passages in other parts of the current 2003-06 CA (indented in plain, roman typeface) that are significant this year -- especially in view of memos the Employer has already distributed to faculty / librarians.

MERIT PROCEDURES

1.(a) The Employer shall establish a merit pool consisting of a total of 325 merit awards, 250 of which will be $2000, and 75 of which will be $3000 for the period 1 May 2003 to 30 April 2004, 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2005 and 1 May 2005 to 30 April 2006.

· In comparison with last year, there are about 29% more merit awards of $2000 and 50% more awards of $3000. I.e., merit awards will be distributed to about 25% of YUFA members.

(b) The above-noted awards shall be allocated to the Faculties / University Library on the basis of the Faculty’s / the Library’s proportion of bargaining unit members as of 1 May 2003, 1 May 2004, and 1 May 2005. Eligible employees shall be those who are members of the bargaining unit on 1 September 2002 and expected to continue to be members on 1 July 2003, and 1 September 2003 and expected to continue to be members on 1 July 2004, and 1 September 2004 and expected to continue to be members on 1 July 2005. Merit awards shall be paid as a lump sum, less deduction required by law, and will not be incorporated into the base salaries of those employees who receive them.

· I.e., to be eligible for this year's merit exercise, faculty / librarians must have been members of the Association on September 1, 2002 and expected to continue to be members on July 1, 2003.

2. Merit awards shall be used to reward meritorious accomplishment in the previous one (1) year, and shall be based upon:

in the Professorial stream an evaluation of each employee’s research / scholarly / creative / professional contributions, teaching, and service to the University and professionally related community service;
in the Alternate stream, normally an evaluation of each employee’s teaching and service to the University and professionally related community service unless the employee opts by 15 October 2003, 15 October 2004, or 15 October 2005 in writing to the Dean / Principal / University Librarian of the unit to have his/her research / scholarly / creative / professional accomplishments included in the evaluation;
for Professional Librarians, an evaluation of the employee’s professional performance, contributions to librarianship and scholarship, and service to the University.

All deadlines for the 2003 merit exercise are one month later than they were for the 2002 exercise.

In contrast to 2002, this year's merit exercise is based on evaluations of 'meritorious accomplishment' in the previous year (rather than the previous three years).
Because the Employer regards the period to be evaluated in the 2003 merit exercise as 'transitional,' YUFA has been informed that the precise period to be evaluated might differ from Faculty to Faculty. E.g., according to the Employer, the period to be evaluated in Atkinson and Arts, is May 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003; in Physical and Applied Science, July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003. If in doubt, consult your relevant Deans' / University Librarian's offices.
Whereas some Deans' offices have specified what kinds of accomplishment are to be evaluated, the Collective Agreement does not identify such a role for the Employer in merit exercises. Instead, Appendix M, 6.d (below) specifies that:

Faculty Committees or the University Library Committee [i.e., Merit Advisory Committees consisting solely of YUFA members] may identify standards consistent with paragraphs 2 (a), (b), and (c) [above] and 6 (a), (b), and (c) [below] in respect of merit awards in the relevant Faculty or the University Library and refer to these standards in the Committees’ recommendation to the Dean/ Principal / University Librarian on the distribution of merit awards.

In particular, the new, 2003-06 Collective Agreement specifies the following concerning service (in Article18.08.4):

Service includes, but is not limited to, the factors listed below:

participation on Senate and Subcommittees of Senate;

participation on Faculty, School or Departmental Councils and their Subcommittees;

participation in the Association and Subcommittees;

participation in joint YUFA / Administration committees and activities;

participation in the governance and activities of the Research Centres;

participation in such units as the Centre for the Support of Teaching, and advising Centres;

participation in deliberative and governance bodies of the Colleges;

holding of academic administrative positions, not mentioned above, as set out in Appendix P;

participation in unit or faculty level academic and administrative committees including but not limited to Executive, Academic Planning, Curriculum, Hiring, Affirmative Action, Program Review Committees, and Tenure and Promotion Committees;

University Advisory Committees and Task Forces;

Service to organizations outside the University which is of an administrative nature, and not part of an employee's research program, such as serving on review committees for awards, grants, and scholarships;

University related development activities.

Service may include both service of a routine administrative nature, as well as service which contributes to the academic goals and governance of an employee's unit and/or Faculty, the Association and the University as a whole. Consideration of service may distinguish between membership on and leadership of the various activities and committees. The time horizon used in considering service may exceed one (1) academic year.

3. Evaluations shall be based upon summary information and up-to-date c.v.s to be provided by the employee to Dean / Principal / University Librarian by 15 October 2003, 15 October 2004, and 15 October 2005. Eligible employees may also be nominated by others with the approval of the eligible employee and the provision by the nominated employee of summary information and an up-to-date c.v. to the Dean / Principal / University Librarian by 15 October 2003, 15 October 2004, and 15 October 2005. An employee who fails to provide such information and c.v. shall not be evaluated for merit.

· Although some Deans' offices have encouraged YUFA members to submit their c.v.'s in electronic form, the 2003-06 Collective Agreement specifies the following (Article 22.07):

Digital copies of curricula vitarum of employees shall not be required by the Employer.

· Whereas some Deans' offices have cited storage and convenience as reasons for submitting digital copies of c.v.'s, several YUFA members have objected to this practice, for a variety of reasons: E.g., digital copies of such material have been -- even if only inadvertently-- distributed to those for whom they were not intended; by copying and pasting, digital copies can be readily used for purposes other those for which they were intended; much work and difficulty can result from handling dozens of relatively large files on-screen, or even worse, from attempts to print them. To prevent such misuse of, and problems with, confidential materials, Article 22.06 states that:

Except as specified in this Agreement, documents and materials used by the Employer in the professional assessment of an employee, and the documents and materials prepared for and used in the process of consideration for promotion or the granting of tenure / continuing appointment of an employee, shall not be made available to third parties except in the performance of their duties under this Agreement and related University documents and policies, or except at the request of the employee.

· Although some Deans' offices seem to have conflated the annual call for merit submissions with the annual request for c.v.'s, Appendix M, 8 (below) states clearly that:

Merit evaluation files shall not be used for any purpose other than evaluation of an employee for merit.

4. (a) By 1 November 2003, 1 November 2004, and 1 November 2005 the Employer shall provide to YUFA, and to each Faculty / University Library, a list of those eligible to be considered for merit and the total number of merit awards available for distribution in the Faculty / University Library.

(b) Employees on sabbatical or other leave are entitled to be considered for merit. No such employee shall be denied a merit award on the grounds that he/she is on such leave. In order to be evaluated, such employees shall comply with the provisions of paragraph (3) above.

(c) Eligible employees who are cross appointed to more than one department in the same Faculty shall elect a unit for purposes of consideration for a merit award, and shall do so to the Chairs involved by 15 October 2003 and 15 October 2004 and 15 October 2005.

(d) Eligible employees who are jointly appointed between Faculties shall be eligible for consideration in each Faculty. Merit evaluation files of employees recommended for a merit award shall be forwarded by the respective Dean to the Vice-President (Academic) who will make decisions regarding merit awards for such jointly appointed employees.

5. Each Faculty and the University Library shall have one or more elected committees which shall make recommendations to the Dean/ Principal / University Librarian on the distribution of merit awards. Along with their recommendations, committees shall indicate in an aggregated manner the total number of recommendations which were based on (i) professional contribution and standing, (ii) teaching, (iii) service and (iv) the various possible combinations of the three (3) areas of professional responsibility. Aggregate information will similarily be provided to the Association for the list of award recipients. The Dean / Principal / University Librarian of the unit will be responsible for decisions on distribution of merit awards from among employees who comply with the provisions of paragraph (3) above.

· New to the 2003-06 Collective Agreement is the above stipulation that aggregate (i.e., anonymous, numerical) data specifying the numbers of recommendations based on any combinations of professional contribution and standing, teaching, and service be compiled by merit advisory committees consisting solely of YUFA members and by Deans / Principal / University Librarian / Vice-President (Academic).

· Click here for details of ways in which elected Merit Advisory Committees arrived at their recommendations during the 2002 merit exercise.

6. Criteria and procedures to be used in respect of the distribution of merit awards shall:

ensure that no achievement during the period under assessment in any of the areas of performance being evaluated is excluded from consideration for a merit award;
allow for accomplishments by employees who were, during the period being assessed, particularly strong in any area(s) of activity, or equally strong in all areas of activity under consideration;
be applied in the evaluation of all employees eligible to be considered for merit in the unit;
Faculty committees or the University Library Committee may identify standards consistent with paragraphs 2(a),(b), and (c) and 6(a), (b), and (c) above in respect of merit awards in the relevant faculty or the University Library and refer to these standards in the Committees’ recommendation to the Dean / Principal / University Librarian on the distribution of merit awards.

7. On or before 15 November each Dean / Principal / University Librarian shall forward to the Vice-President (Academic) a summary of his or her merit award decisions.

· As noted above, deadlines for the 2003 merit exercise are one month later than they were for the 2002 exercise.

8. Merit evaluation files shall not be used for any purpose other than evaluation of an employee for merit.

· See Appendix M, 3 (above).

9. Upon completion of the merit exercise, all employees and the Association shall be provided with a list of those who received merit awards by Faculty.

10. Decisions concerning merit awards will be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedure of the Collective Agreement only to the extent of allegations that a decision concerning merit was discriminatory as defined in Article 3 of the Collective Agreement, or made in a manner contrary to the procedures set out herein. However, in no case shall an arbitrator have the jurisdiction to make a merit award.