Important Information for International TAs

The time for applying for the UHIP reimbursement will most likely be in the month of October, 2010. You have to come to the office from (times to be announced).
As in previous years, there will be a sign-in sheet at the office for you to register your application, but remember, you must bring a two very important documents with you to the office at the time of your application — a pay stub to show your Employee Number and the document that proves you have paid for UHIP. WIthout these two documents you will not be able to apply!
In order to qualify for this reimbursement, you must be, or have been, a TA during 2010.

Download the Unit 1 Collective Agreement

Download the Unit 1 Application Form

Unit 1 includes Teaching Assistants (TAs) and some Graduate Service Assistant-1s (GSA-1s) (those employed in “work related directly to the academic enterprise”). During the Fall and Winter terms at the University of Guelph there are over 900 TAs and GSA1s employed by the university, with a much smaller number employed during the spring term. All Teaching Assistants and Graduate Service Assistants classified as GSA-1 are members of the Local during the time they are employed, and for one year following the end of their appointment.

Your rights and responsibilities as a GTA or GSA are laid out in your Collective Agreement. If you have questions or concerns about the Collective Agreement, your rights as a member, or if you feel the agreement is being violated by your employer, contact your departmental steward or the unit’s Chief Steward: Jaime Brenes Reyes.

Rights of Teaching Assistants

Teaching Assistants employed by the University of Guelph have available to them a wide range of rights and protections. This message surveys some of the most visible and most often violated ones.

Departments are obliged to provide to Teaching Assistants certain facilities, services and equipment (free of charge) that a TA may require to fulfill her responsibilities, such as office space, computers, laboratories, and photocopiers.

TAs have the right to take leave time for various reasons including illness, parental & family responsibility, bereavement, and to attend academic conferences. TAs have the right to receive special training and equipment if they are required to work in dangerous conditions, and in addition, TAs have the right to refuse or stop work where health or safety is in danger as prescribed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The Teaching Assistant has the right to keep her capacity as an employee of the University and as a graduate student separate. This means, among other things, that if a TA receives a poor performance evaluation as a TA, this cannot be used against her academic career. Likewise, problems arising in your academic career can not be used as grounds for disciplinary action in your capacity as a TA. For the purposes of performance evaluations, the University is not permitted to electronically monitor the TA.

In the event that a Teaching Assistant is disciplined in any way and for any reason, the TA has the right to a process of progressive discipline. This means that if your supervisor or department wishes to file a negative performance evaluation, or terminate your contract, or take any other action for any alleged wrongdoing, the University must produce sound reasons for its decision; it must warn you that it is so doing, and it must do so at a meeting specifically called for just that purpose and nothing else. Moreover, the TA has the right to know the reason for the action, and to challenge the decision using an appeal process known as a Grievance Procedure. The Grievance Procedure can also be used to appeal unfair hiring practices. If the action is demonstrably unfair, it can and must be reversed.

In the classroom, Teaching Assistants have the right to be free from harassment and discrimination, just as the students do. In the interest of keeping professional relations with their students, Teaching Assistants have the right not to reveal to their students their home telephone number or other personal information, if they choose not to.

A full TA position normally requires 140 hours of work each semester, or ten hours per week, and if this maximum is exceeded you have the right to be paid appropriately for your work. TAs are advised to keep a record of how much time they work each week for this purpose (you can download this TA Log Hours Sheet for your own use – PLEASE NOTE – this is not a time-sheet to be submitted to your supervisor). If you feel that you are going to go over your assigned hours for the semester, inform your supervisor so that your workload can be adjusted, or you can get paid for your extra hours. If you have any questions or problems with your hours of work, please contact the office.

Finally, within the range and scope of the course, Teaching Assistants have the right to teach, speculate, research, and criticize freely and without deference to prescribed doctrine, so long as it has academic substance; this is the basic right of academic freedom available to everyone engaged in the academic enterprise at this University.