APUO Bulletin

APUO Executive Committee 2007-2008  

At the Annual General Meeting of the APUO this April, a new Executive was elected by the general membership.  Many thanks to those members who put their names forward for election and congratulations to those who have been elected (or re-elected).  The membership of the executive for the upcoming year will be as follows:

 Atef Fahim (engineering) - President 
Micheline Lessard (history) - First Vice-President 
Alysse Weinberg (SLI) - Second Vice-President 
Merridee Bujaki (management) - Secretary-Treasurer 
Antoine Morin (biology) - Assistant Secretary-Treasurer 
Tyler Chamberlin (management) - Member at Large 
Cameron Metcalf (library) - Member at Large 
Richard Blute (math & stats) - Past President

Implementation of Anomaly Funds Negotiated in Current Collective Agreement

APUO members will be aware that as a part of the last settlement between the APUO and the employer, provisions were agreed upon to correct salary anomalies among APUO members (see section 41.4.9 of the current collective agreement).  Under section 41.4.9.1(a), funds have been set aside to address individual anomalies, and it was understood that members who wished to have an individual anomaly looked at would have to apply individually for this purpose.  However, the APUO and the employer have arrived at a memorandum of understanding to revise the process.  It is now agreed that all APUO members will be automatically reviewed regarding potential individual anomalies, so it will no longer be necessary for anyone to apply separately for consideration under 41.4.9.1(a). 

Modification to Tuition Bursary Benefit for APUO Member Dependents

Background

In the November 2005 issue of the APUO Bulletin we reported on a cautionary advisory issued by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) regarding the tax implications of tuition fee bursary plans for the dependents of university employees.  The basic point is that tuition fee bursaries must meet the standards of a scholarship (as defined under the Income Tax Act) in order for the bursary amount to be given special tax treatment.  At issue is the question of whether the amount of the bursary benefit can be assigned as the income of the dependent or whether it must be attributed to the employee as a taxable benefit.

CAUT advised in 2005 that the tax status and treatment of bursaries was unclear when a scholarship/bursary is given to the dependent.  The existing practice in most bursary programs has been to assign the amount of scholarship/bursary to the taxable income of the person who receives the benefit, i.e. the dependent child who receives the scholarship/bursary.  This is exactly the practice that has been followed at the University of Ottawa .  However, in two recent cases, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) required the University of Western Ontario and the University of Waterloo to alter their treatment of tuition scholarship programs for taxation purposes.  The CRA required the payments to be taxable to the employee, even when the benefit was for a dependent child, on the grounds that the bursary programs did not meet the standards for a scholarship as set out in the Income Tax Act.  The CRA also required some retroactive tax reassessments in those cases.

As a result of this advisory the APUO entered into discussions with the employer on the issue of tuition bursaries, and the two sides have agreed on modifications to the bursary program to ensure consistency with the criteria required by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).  Please note that the changes do not modify those tuition fee benefits that are received as a reimbursement directly to the member/employee.  The change applies only to tuition bursaries awarded to dependents.

Changes to tuition bursaries

Effective 1 May 2007, the following minimum levels of scholastic attainment will be required in order for a dependent to be eligible for a bursary:

(i)   for students who have completed fewer than 12 credits in a university program and who have been granted the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent qualifications from other provincial, state or national jurisdictions, a minimum scholarship average of 75%, and if not available, an admission average of 75%.

(ii) for students currently enrolled in a university program either on a full-time or part-time basis who have completed a minimum of 12 credits or more, a CGPA of 7.0 or an average of 75% or more in all university courses taken.

For students registered in Medicine, because there is no official CGPA, the parties have agreed to an alternate system to provide for participation in the program.

There will also be limits on the number of bursaries available in any academic term.  For the spring/summer 2007 semester, 15 bursaries are available.  For each of the fall 2007 and winter 2008 semesters there will be 75 bursaries available.  (The number of bursaries available will be reviewed on a regular basis and will be modified based on changes in the number of APUO members.)  If the number of eligible applicants for bursaries (applicants who qualify under the criteria spelled out above) exceeds the number of bursaries available in any given term, the available bursaries will be awarded to those applicants with the highest scholastic rankings. 

If an applicant does not receive a bursary, she or he will have their tuition benefit treated as a reimbursement to the APUO member/employee.

Bursary requests must be made through Human Resources Service to the Financial Aid and Awards Service of the University, who will assess the files.  A separate application must be submitted for every semester in which a student requests a bursary.

For further background on this issue, see the November 2005 issue of the Bulletin in which we first reported on the bursary tax problem.  Past issues of the APUO Bulletin are available on the APUO website.

(Members are reminded that they are expected to pay amounts that are not covered by the tuition support program, that is, incidental fees, general student fees, and any tuition fees that are over and above what is not covered under the program.)


Confidentialité des Communications Électroniques

Étant donné la multiplication des communications électroniques, en particulier le courrier électronique, des questions de protection des renseignements personnels et de confidentialité se posent dans différents contextes de la vie. Ces questions ont aussi été soulevées dans le cas de l’utilisation de l’Internet et des services et comptes de courrier électronique dont l’Université d’Ottawa fait la prestation, situation qui peut enfreindre les principes de la liberté universitaire, notamment. Les membres de l’ APUO sont informés d’autres enjeux depuis quelques mois. La sécurité du courrier électronique et la protection des renseignements personnels dans le contexte universitaire sont considérées au site Web de l’ACPPU à http://www.caut.ca/en/bulletin/issues/1997_dec/it-email.htm.

L' APUO avait certaines préoccupations concernant la confidentialité des communications par courrier électronique entre l’ APUO et ses membres. L’ APUO et l’employeur ont formulé en réponse un protocole d’entente qui établit les règles de sauvegarde de la protection des renseignements personnels et de la confidentialité de ces communications.

Le principal changement à apporter est la création de comptes de courrier électronique réservés à l’ APUO . Ils seront identifiés par l’acronyme «  APUO  » et des règles spéciales s’y appliqueront. Toute communication envoyée à un compte réservé à l’ APUO ou expédiée à l’aide de ce compte et qui n’est pas aussi copiée ou explicitement envoyée à l’employeur sera considérée confidentielle.  
Il est ainsi convenu que l’employeur, son représentant ou son agent n’utilisera ou ne lira ces communications pour aucune raison, sauf sur ordre d’un arbitre, de la cour ou du tribunal du secteur de compétence approprié.

Le protocole d’entente permet à l’employeur d’avoir accès aux communications lorsque c’est absolument nécessaire pour maintenir l’intégrité du système de technologie de l’information de l’Université. Des sauvegardes strictes s’appliqueront à cet accès et seuls des professionnels désignés de la technologie de l’information de l’Université d’Ottawa y auront droit après avoir signé des ententes de non-divulgation interdisant toute forme de divulgation à l’Université ou à l’extérieur. L’ APUO sera informée de tout accès aux comptes réservés à l’Association  et l'employeur devra justifier l’accès. Tous les détails de l’entente et les sauvegardes appliquées sont disponibles au bureau de l’ APUO . Le texte du protocole d’entente sera téléchargé au site Web de l’ APUO .

Le protocole d’entente sur la confidentialité du courrier électronique a été négocié dans le contexte de la disposition 3.1.1 de la convention collective. Il est convenu à cette disposition que l’ APUO a le droit d’être le seul agent de négociation de ses membres. L’ APUO doit donc garantir qu’elle peut traiter avec ses membres, seuls ou en groupes, en toute confidentialité et sur la base du privilège.

Frais de Déplacements
(36.3.1 de la convention collective)  

à partir du 1 mai 2007, les montants qui peuvent être réclamés comme frais de déplacements sont comme suit.

Transport par automobile privée: 42.7 ¢ le kilomètre

Hébergement privé: 20,00 $ la nuit  

Frais de séjour (allocation composée):  78,00 $ / jour (petit déjeuner 13,00 $, déjeuner 12,40, dîner 35,30, dépenses imprévues 17,30)

Pour de plus amples renseignements sur les voyages d'affaires et d'études consultez le règlement 21 sur le site web de l'Université:  http://web5.uottawa.ca/admingov/reglement_21.html.
(For the English version of policy 21 : http://web5.uottawa.ca/admingov/policy_21.html.)