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Communications related to COVID-19: Implications for TFA

  1. Approval process in lieu of signature
  2. Faculty/Course Survey
  3. In-class teaching assessments
  4. DHC meetings and hiring recommendations
  5. Extension of Acting Assistant Professor timeline
  6. Extension of probationary period in light of COVID-19 pandemic

1. Approval process in lieu of signature

As a result of working remotely, during the pandemic, committee members serving on the many and various Ryerson committees do not have the opportunity to physically sign the documents that are generated by the committees on which they are serving.

To address this situation the following guidelines with respect to electronic signatures will be utilized for the above noted committee correspondence:

  • All emails in lieu of a ‘signature’ for a committee document must be sent via an @ryerson.ca email address.
  • Once a document has been finalized by a Committee (including, where appropriate, minority views which have been incorporated to the satisfaction of all members of the Committee), a copy of that document should be sent to all committee members for their ‘signed’ approval. The finalized document should be in PDF format. Please note that a ‘shared’ or linked document is not acceptable for signature purposes.
  • Committee members are required to send back the original email, including the PDF document they are agreeing to, and within the body of the message of this email each sender should state that they agree with the content of the attachment and that this email serves as their signed approval.
    (Note: using the ‘Forward’ email functionality ensures all attachments are included).
  • The approval emails should be sent to an agreed upon person, normally the Chair of the Committee, who will receive emails from each of the Committee members and compile a final approved document.
  • The final approved version of the document will be compiled once such emails have been received from all the members of a committee. This final compiled version should be in PDF format and should include the date/times each individual committee member agreed (per email) to the document. This will be deemed to be a final ‘signed’ document.
  • This final ‘signed’ document should be circulated to committee members, and then sent to the intended final recipient (e.g. a Dean).

2. Faculty/Course Survey (FCS)

Winter 2022

  • For all tenure-stream (probationary and tenured) and Limited Term Faculty, the FCS will continue to be administered online.
  • The FCS will be modified to include only the following five course operations questions that speak to the student educational experience:

i. I received feedback on my work prior to the drop date.

ii. The course handouts/postings contain all the information I need about the organization of this course.

iii. Students are treated fairly.

iv. The class meets as scheduled and on time.

v. The instructor is available for consultation as specified on the course handouts/postings.

  • The other nine questions on the FCS have been removed.
  • Information collected through the FCS for Winter 2022 shall automatically be included in faculty annual reports.
  • NEW: For all faculty members the FCS will be administered online, during class time. A portion of class time will be set aside for students to complete the online FCS in-class, regardless of whether the class is in-person or remote. For remote, asynchronous course delivery the faculty member will allocate a portion of the lecture time for completion of the FCS.

The RFA and the OVPFA are working collaboratively on a new enhanced process for FCS that we hope to launch in Fall 2022. It will include the above summative course operations survey at the end of the semester, that speaks to the student educational experience as well as voluntary confidential formative assessments of teaching throughout the term that will allow faculty to incorporate ongoing student feedback.

3. In-class teaching assessments

Winter 2022

  • In the Winter 2022 term, regardless of mode of delivery, in-class teaching assessments for pre-tenure faculty members will take place. The normal process regarding communications to pre-tenure faculty members as to the number of assessments and the scheduling of these will continue as per the Collective Agreement.
  • Pre-tenure faculty members who previously elected to either waive the normally scheduled assessments, or chose not to include completed teaching assessments in their PCF, will be required to have additional teaching assessment(s) to make up for the ones that were missed or completed assessments that were completed but the member elected not to be included in their PCF. In these instances, if reducing the number of teaching assessments by one per year would make it so that the pre-tenure member will not reach eight assessments by the end of the fifth year of their probationary period, the DEC does not have the option to reduce the number of teaching assessments by one assessment per year. For pre-tenure faculty members who commenced working at the University during the pandemic, if they did not receive two in-class teaching assessments in their first two semesters, two in-class teaching assessments should take place in each of their next two teaching semesters. There ought to be a minimum of eight teaching assessments (and a maximum of 12) over a standard six year probationary period and this number may be adjusted for a shorter probationary period.
  • In the exceptional circumstance where a pre-tenure faculty member is being reviewed for tenure in 2021/2022 and is unable to complete the minimum number of 8 teaching assessments, the faculty member shall nevertheless be reviewed for tenure and no adverse inference shall be drawn based on the fact that they have fewer than 8 teaching assessments.
  • For Winter 2022, the pre-tenure faculty member and a prospective assessor are strongly encouraged to have a discussion to determine the most appropriate manner to carry out the assessment, taking into consideration the mode of delivery.
  • In Winter 2022, the following statement will be appended to the pre-tenure faculty member’s teaching assessment: “This Teaching Assessment took place during the challenging conditions caused by the pandemic and should be viewed in that light. It is understood that the pre-tenure faculty member may not have had the opportunity to demonstrate the normal range of in-person teaching skills.”

Requests for an extension to provide the written assessment beyond three weeks of the class visit/virtual assessment can be forwarded to vpfa@torontomu.ca.

If a teaching assessment is not completed (e.g. an assessor was not available), the Chair of the DEC must write a letter indicating the assessment was not done and the reason why. The letter must be copied to the Chair of Department/Director of the School, the member’s PCF, the Dean, and the RFA. Such missed assessments are not made up in future semesters.

4. DHC meetings and hiring recommendations

Many DHCs are in the process of recruiting and hiring faculty and may not be able to pause this work. If possible, interviews should be done virtually and the DHC must ensure all candidates are treated in the same manner. DHCs are encouraged to have committee meetings virtually (if possible) and draft and approve their recommendations electronically.

5. Extension of acting assistant professor timeline

The University and the Ryerson Faculty Association (RFA) acknowledge that the current COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a negative impact on your ability to obtain your terminal degree within the required timeline. In response to this, the University and the RFA have agreed to provide you, on a without prejudice basis, an extension to your timeline to obtain your terminal degree of an additional year.

This extension to your timeline matches that which was provided to all Acting Assistant Professors who already held Acting Assistant Professor appointments on April 1, 2021.

The terms of  (PDF file) Article 4.5, Acting Assistant Professors, shall continue to apply except for the amendment to the timeline from two years to three years.

The adjustments to your timeline will be confirmed in a letter to you, from your Dean, providing the new dates.

Please note that the agreement to provide this extension to Acting Assistant Professors has been reached without prejudice between the RFA and the University, and it is limited to only those faculty members holding an Acting Assistant Professor appointment on April 1, 2021 or earlier.

Any questions about this process can be sent to vpfa@torontomu.ca.

6. Extension of probationary period in light of COVID-19 pandemic

In the year you are scheduled to be reviewed for tenure, you will be asked to select whether or not you wish to extend your probationary period by one-year.

Normal Tenure Review under the ‘New Tenure Review Process’ commences May 17. If you are scheduled to begin your tenure review in May 2022, you must choose whether or not you wish to extend your probationary period by May 17, 2022. Please make your selection through Extension of Probationary Period form. (external link) 

If your tenure review begins in subsequent years, we will provide you with time to consider how COVID-19 may impact your SRC and potentially your tenure review. You will be asked to choose whether or not you would like to request a one-year extension of your probationary period by March 31 of the year you are scheduled to submit your application for tenure. You will be asked to submit your selection closer to this deadline.

Should you elect an extension, your election will automatically be accepted. The University and the Ryerson Faculty Association (RFA) have confirmed that this is an optional election that does not require you to provide a rationale as to why you are electing to extend your probationary period. Following your election, a confirmation will be sent to you from your Dean’s Office.

The deadline for requesting an extension is March 31 of the year you are scheduled to submit your tenure application.

In carrying out your Year-End Assessments and Intermediate Reviews, Departmental Evaluation Committees will be advised to take into consideration any potential impact that COVID-19 may have on your Teaching, SRC, and Service responsibilities. As always, you have the option of submitting additional information with your Annual Report, and you may choose to provide an explanation of how COVID-19 has affected your duties and responsibilities.

Should you choose to defer your tenure review please be assured that there will be no negative inference by the evaluation committees, or the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs. Further, the criteria to be applied for tenure review will be unchanged as a result of this extension, and what is expected of the candidate will be as if the extension had not occurred.

Agreement to provide this extension opportunity to pre-tenure faculty members has been reached without prejudice by the RFA and the University, and it is limited to only those faculty members who held a pre-tenure appointment on April 1, 2021.

Any questions about this process can be sent to vpfa@torontomu.ca.