Page 6 The Retirees' Newsletter
The Retirees's Association ( Faculty, Librarian, Administrator), University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont. Canada
Vol X iI, No. 3, September 2002
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS |
MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE
For October 2002 - September 2003
to the attention of the Treasurer,
Retirees' Association
c/o University of Windsor Post Office
For Additional Information
Please Call the Secretary, Jane Black at 519-973-5920
or send an email - jblack@uwindsor.ca
There are a number of members who have not paid their dues for 2001-2002, kindly forward your cheques.
An invoice has been included in the newsletter
Parking
On CampusFor the benefit of new retirees and those who are unaware of the procedures, please note that you can purchase a set of Ten parking Permits for $ 12.00 from Campus Police. These tickets are valid until you use them.
Parking is limited to only one attended Visitors' Lot D at
the corner of Wyandotte Street and Sunset Avenue.
Pure Zeal
A Book By George McMahon
Recounts Earlier History of
Post Secondary Education in Windsor.
Historian and former Assistant Vice-President, Alumni Affairs,
George McMahon has completed the first part of his project to write
the history of the University of Windsor.
Although it touches on the founding of Assumption by the Jesuits in
1857, the focus of his book, Pure Zeal, is on the Development of
Assumption College from its take over by the Basilian Fathers
in 1870 through to the Second World War. The book is now
available at the University of Windsor Bookstore.
When George McMahon took retirement, he told former President
Ron Ianni, that someone should write the history of the university,
while there were still people alive, who remembered the details.
Ianni turned the tables, saying George had better get started, and
provided the office of former President Francis Leddy in the library
as a place to work.
McMahon is currently working on the book on the post-war era.
CAERA / CURAC
By Alan Metcalfe
On Firday 31 May, 2002, Alan metcalfe, President WURA attended, on your behalf, the CAERA (Canadian Association of Emeriti & Retired Academics) Conference at Victoria College,the University of Toronto. There were 83 participants from 22 universities spread from U.B.C. to Memorial. There was only one university represented from Quebec, Concordia. The object of the conference - the restructuring of CAERA to become an actual national organization. At the end of the day it was decided to form CURAC (Council of University Retirees Associations of Canada)
At the outset I was very sceptical about this organization, the
differences appeared far greater than the similarities. There were
totally different organizational structures from the elitist UBC emertii
only, to the Faculty and librarians, to, perhaps the most common,
staff, faculty and librarians. The objects of the groups were very
different from the purely social of UBC to our more activist
association. Additionally the relationship between the administration
and faculty association varied widely.
Paul Davenport's ( President of UWO) talk focused on a President's
view of retirement. His talk and the reaction highlighted several
factors, none of which will be totally new to you.
1. The attitude of the administration is critical - a supportive president is immensely important.
2. Where there is a unionized faculty association their attitude is critical.
3. Pressure by retiree groups CAN work. However, ALL indicated that it took a tremendous amount of effort to make even small gains.
4. One interesting little point was the fact that PARKING was a
universal problem and very important to retirees.
In the question period the following emerged.
1. Pervasive view that retirees were NOT regarded as part of the academic community.
2. Must be vigilant over pension issues.
Thus, at the end of the morning sessions I was still sceptical. This
changed totally during the very informative afternoon sessions - to
such a degree that I gave strong support to the idea of WURA joining
CURAC. I indicated that I would be recommending to the
membership that we join CURAC. It became immediately apparent
that all the associations need to communicate with each other and
that we need a central organization to collect and disseminate
information.
Pensions
The afternoon began with a session on pensions and, in particular,
the McMaster experience. This presentation was given by an active
faculty member, Less Robb. Iit is very clear that McMaster had very
DIFFERENT legal advice than the University of Windsor. To cut a
long story short, the Administration and Association at McMaster
have been negotiating since 1998 on the distribution of the surplus.
The surplus is going to be distributed this year to everyone who has
been a member of the plan, a total of 4500 employees past and
present. Of course, retirees are getting their share of the surplus.
average will be $17,000.
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