(d) Forum for Executive Committee Candidates - J. Gerlach

14 (d)
(2015-04)
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d’université
Executive Committee
Comité de direction
Nomination Form / Formulaire de mise en candidature
Nominee / Candidat ou candidate
James H. Gerlach
Position / Poste
Chair, Contract Academic Staff Committee / Président,
Comité du personnel académique contractuel
To use this form / Comment utiliser ce formulaire
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Save this file to your desktop / Enregistrez ce fichier sur votre ordinateur.
Open the form using Adobe Reader / Ouvrez le formulaire à l’aide d’Adobe Reader.
Fill in the fields / Remplissez les champs indiqués.
Attach additional documentation as required / Joignez, au besoin, toute documentation supplémentaire.
Save completed form to your desktop / Sauvegardez le formulaire rempli sur votre ordinateur.
Documentation / Documentation
Nominations should include / Les dossiers de mise en candidature doivent comprendre :
(a) a letter of nomination / une lettre de mise en candidature
(b) the agreement of the nominee to serve if elected / le consentement du candidat ou
de la candidate advenant son élection
(c) a completed executive committee nomination form / le formulaire dûment rempli de
mise en candidature au Comité de direction
Nomination deadline : March 1
Date limite des mises en candidature : 1er mars
Send completed form to
Faites parvenir le formulaire dûment rempli au
Chair, Elections and Resolutions Committee
Président, Comité des élections et des résolutions
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d’université
2705, promenade Queensview Drive, Ottawa (Ontario) K2B 8K2
Email / Courriel : nominations@caut.ca
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CAUT Executive Committee : Nomination Form
Comité de direction de l’ACPPU : Formulaire de mise en candidature
Contact information / Renseignements personnels
Name / Nom
Email / Courriel
James H. Gerlach
jgerlach@wlu.ca
Telephone / Téléphone
Fax / Télécopieur
519.498.4567
519.885.7603
Full institution address including academic unit / Adresse complète de l’établissement, y compris l’unité académique
Wilfrid Laurier University
Depts of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry
75 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5
Languages / Langues
CAUT’s official languages are English and French. Indicate your level of competence.
Les langues officielles de l’ACPPU sont l’anglais et le français. Indiquez votre niveau de compétence.
English - First language
French - Some reading
University and college appointments / Postes universitaires et collégiaux
Provide a brief summary of the university/college appointments held including name of institution, position and years.
Décrivez brièvement les postes universitaires/collégiaux occupés et indiquez le nom de l’établissement, le titre du poste et les années en poste.
2006 - present Contract Academic Staff
Departments of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry
Wilfrid Laurier University
1988 - 2003 Assistant Professor (Adjunct)
Departments of Biochemistry and Oncology
Queen’s University
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CAUT Executive Committee : Nomination Form
Comité de direction de l’ACPPU : Formulaire de mise en candidature
Experience in academic staff affairs / Expérience des affaires du personnel académique
Provide a summary of your involvement with academic staff associations at the local, provincial, and/or national level.
Décrivez brièvement vos activités au sein d’associations de personnel académique à l’échelle locale, provinciale et nationale.
2013 - present
Member, Contract Academic Staff Committee, CAUT
2014 - present
Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Contract Faculty and Faculty Complement, OCUFA
2011 - present
Treasurer, Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association
2010 - 2011 & 2013 - 2014
Member, Negotiating Team for WLU Part-time Bargaining Unit
2007 - 2008
Full-time in Strike Office (Finances and Technology) during 2008 CAS strike
Member of WLU Part-time Bargaining Unit Strategy Committee
2002 - 2003
Involved in organizing Adjunct Staff at Queen's University
Other relevant experience / Autre expérience pertinente
Provide a brief summary of experience or qualifications which you feel would be useful in the position for which you have been nominated.
Décrivez brièvement l’expérience ou les compétences acquises qui vous permettraient d’occuper le poste pour lequel vous avez ét
Although I have only been a member of the Contract Academic Staff Committee since the fall of 2013, I
feel I have a good appreciation of the committee and its functions. This is due in large part to the current
chair, Cathy Christie, who ensured that I was made welcome and that I understood the role and
responsibilities of the committee. During my time on the committee I believe I have learned enough to
serve as an effective chair.
I believe I have proved an effective member of the WLUFA executive, both as treasurer and as a general
member. As treasurer, I inherited a deficit of more than $49,000 for the 2010 - 2011 fiscal year. Through
my efforts and, more importantly, those of the executive and WLUFA staff, we were gradually able to
reduce that deficit without resorting to drastic cuts or increasing dues (currently 0.9%). Most recently, I was
pleased to report a surplus of almost $64,000 for the fiscal year 2013 - 2014. An ad hoc executive
sub-committee, of which I was chair, examined compensation for CAS members of the WLUFA executive.
Despite concerns by some executive members, we were able to establish compensation of one-half
stipend for CAS members serving on the executive plus additional funds for specific positions (e.g., $1,000
for CAS liaison officer).
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CAUT Executive Committee : Nomination Form
Comité de direction de l’ACPPU : Formulaire de mise en candidature
Priorities for CAUT / Priorités de l’ACPPU
Identify what you feel should be major priorities for CAUT in the next two years.
Quelles devraient être, selon vous, les grandes priorités de l’ACPPU pour les deux prochaines années?
Priorities for the Contract Academic Staff Committee:
1) Increase involvement of CAS members in CAUT through local and nation-wide events and campaigns
2) Build alliances with provincial organizations (e.g., OCUFA) and other CAS unions (e.g., CUPE)
3) Re-examine pro-rata model in light of the increasing numbers of CAS in Canadian universities
4) Revitalize or replace Fair Employment Week
5) Establish a CAS-specific social media presence for CAUT
If there is one thing I believe concerning CAS and RAS is that they must work together if the university
system as we know it is to survive. The current atmosphere where universities are viewed increasingly as
corporate entities is a threat that we cannot ignore. Internecine divisions between university educators can
only accelerate this trend. The way to reverse this trend is to insure mutual respect between the two
groups. I believe that CAUT, as a national organization, is in a position to help make this happen.
Additional comments /Autres renseignements
Provide any additional information you feel would be useful to Council delegates in their consideration of your candidacy.
Ajoutez tout complément d’information utile que les délégués du Conseil pourraient prendre en compte dans l’appréciation de votre candidature.
My communication abilities were influenced primarily by three sources:
1) I learned collective bargaining from Doug and Joyce Lorimer, Neil Tudiver and Jim Turk.
2) I learned mediation through Conrad Grebel University College and the Community Justice Initiatives.
3) I learned about precarious employment through 40+ years' experience in the university system.
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Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
(519) 884-0710, Ext. 3721 • Fax: (519) 888-9721 • Email: wlufa@wlu.ca
April 1, 2015
David Robinson
Executive Director
CAUT
Dear David,
On behalf of the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association, I would like to inform you that we
wholeheartedly support the nomination of Jim Gerlach for Chair of the CAUT Contract Academic Staff
Committee.
Jim has been involved with WLUFA since shortly after arriving at Laurier in 2006. He started as a
member of the Strategy Committee during the CAS negotiations in 2007 and followed that up with
participation on the CAS Negotiating Team during the last two rounds. He has been an elected member
of the WLUFA Executive Committee since 2011, and has served as WLUFA Treasurer during that time,
doing a remarkable job of making Association finances transparent and even entertaining at general
meetings!
I would like to highlight Jim’s contributions as a member of the CAS Negotiating Team because I think
that it is his skills in this area that will serve him well as Chair of the CAUT CAS Committee. Jim can
interpret complex clauses and develop creative language; he can cost out proposals and articulate
arguments. Beyond that, though, his ability to build consensus on the team and in the Bargaining Unit is
invaluable. Through listening to multiple viewpoints, he ensures that all sides feel involved in the
process and he is able to move forward, even in the most challenging situations.
Jim is a well-respected member of our CAS Bargaining Unit, with his opinions and advice valued by all of
our members (RAS and CAS). Because of this respect he is able to advocate for CAS at Laurier. He will be
able to continue that advocacy work at CAUT and will be an excellent Chair for the CAS Committee.
Sincerely,
Michele Kramer
President-Elect, WLUFA
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS
ONTARIO CONFEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY FACULTY ASSOCIATIONS