YUFA's Race Equity Caucus (REC) cordially invites you to attend a panel discussion on the issues arising from student course evaluations, particularly as they relate to tenure and promotion.

Racism in Rating the Teacher: Implications for Tenure, Promotion and Other Issues

A Panel Discussion featuring:

Professors Ena Dua (York), Sophie Quigley and Andrea Noack (Ryerson)

Friday, November 1, 2019

2:00 - 4:00 pm

Founders College 152

In 2018, Arbitrator William Kaplan issued an award in relation to a grievance filed by the Ryerson Faculty Association contesting the use of student course evaluations in employment related decisions such as tenure and promotion. In his award, Arbitrator Kaplan stated that evidence "establishes, with little ambiguity, that a key tool in assessing teaching effectiveness is flawed, while the use of averages is fundamentally and irreparably flawed."  Accordingly, Arbitrator Kaplan ruled that student course evaluations should no longer be used in tenure and promotion decisions at Ryerson.

Several reports, including those from CAUT, OCUFA, and court decisions and research from the USA and other countries uphold the finding that the use of student course evaluations in tenure and promotion decisions is highly problematic.

The panel discussion aims to explore the concerns with student course evaluations in greater detail

REC member, Professor Enakshi Dua, is the Interim Director of Centre for Feminist Research (CFR) and a faculty member in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies (GFWS). In 2017, she co-authored the landmark book The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity in Canadian Universities (2017). Professor Dua has conducted research on classroom racism faced by faculty of colour at York University.

Professor Sophie Quigley is a Professor of Computer Science at Ryerson University who specializes in human-computer interaction. In 2009, she was the Grievance Officer of Ryerson Faculty Association; in that role, she was responsible  for filing the grievance that ultimately led, nine years later, to the Kaplan award. 

Professor Andrea Noack, an Associate Professor of Sociology from Ryerson University, specializes in the history and politics of survey designs, politics of knowledge, teaching and learning in higher education. She was part of Ryerson committee that has closely examined the methodological flaws reflected in the faculty evaluation instruments will also be speaking.

The forum on Nov. 1 will provide an opportunity to hear from Ena Dua about her findings at YorkU and to learn from the Ryerson Faculty Association members about their experiences in order to increase our knowledge about student course evaluations, to provide support to faculty of colour, Indigenous faculty and other equity seeking faculty members at York, and explore alternatives and further action that YUFA can take on these issues.

All are welcome.

Please RSVP to [email protected] by 5pm on Monday, October 28. (Use REC Forum in the subject line)