It did go somewhere.

Last June, Local 417 filed a grievance regarding the new Course Outline format. The new format dictates which learning activities, learning resources, and assessments will be used in the course. This is material that is supposed to be in the Learning Plan that individual professors design, not the Course Outline that is used by multiple professors across many programs.

The new Course Outlines make it so that YOU CANNOT CHOOSE HOW TO DESIGN, DELIVER, AND ASSESS YOUR COURSE. It also makes it so that the same learning activities, learning resources, and assessments are used in all of the deliveries for that course, regardless of program. For example, this means that students in Vet Tech and Business would have the exact same Communications course learning activities, readings, assignments, and so on, and you would not have the academic freedom to tailor their learning to their subject matter.

Here is the outline that was grieved: GrievedCourseOutline.pdf

In November, there was a resolution in the union’s favour, and a new course outline was offered by the college. The outline template in the new format below is supposed to be less prescriptive and more suggestive.

AmendedOutline_GrievanceSettlementVersion.pdf

[Please note, you must be logged out of your college account to access these files as they are stored on the Local 417 SharePoint, not the college’s.]

If you are undergoing program review and you are told you must use the new outlines that have the learning activities, learning resources, and assessments included, you can push back and remind the Program Planning, Development, and Renewal (PPDR) team that the grievance was settled in the union’s favour.

Your Local Executive Committee continues to pursue this issue. Please let us know if you are being asked to use the new Course Outline and/or if you are being told the “grievance didn’t go anywhere.”