Dear OCADFA Members:
As we approach the end-of-semester “storm before the calm,” a couple of important items have come to the fore.
- Presidential review process: numerous members have asked for guidance on best responding to this survey. We will circulate our thoughts on this tomorrow. You have until April 20th to complete the questionnaire, so there’s still time to think about it.
- On a related point, many people have asked if we can distribute the results of our survey. The answer is, yes, and we’re preparing a document that we hope to circulate in the next few days.
- Taxes: I’ve mentioned before that you may be able to get a deduction for your ocadfa dues. Your yearly amount is recorded on your T4, in box 44. In addition, if you have a home office or studio, you may be able to get a deduction through a “Declaration of Conditions of Employment” (T2200). It only takes a few minutes to complete, and then get it signed by your dean.
- Faculty live/work space: A government agency has asked me if there’s interest amongst faculty in affordable, conveniently located live/work space (meaning, built specifically for and to meet the needs of OCAD U faculty. This is very much a “show of hands” question at this point – we just want to know if this would be attractive.
- Committees: We’ve had great response to our various recent requests for committee members. However, we still need a few folks for the committee looking at affiliation with another union. As I’ve said, it’s important that all groups are represented, from TAs to full professors, from sessional to tenured, as well as academic staff. So, if you’d like to help lead this important conversation, please send a note to Connie Reid (conniereid@ocadu.ca).
As always, thanks for all you do to make OCAD University a better place to learn.
Best regards,
Charles