TA loses position

On Jan. 3, after problems with her contract and issues regarding seniority had arisen, Lauren Shepherd, a TA in the Department of Dramatic Arts, had her contract pulled in favour of another TA, despite the fact that it was supposed to run until the end of April.

However, Shepherd has not been a part of any sort of misconduct and was never formally informed about the situation. Also, the course Shepherd was teaching, DART 2F94, is a full-year course. According to Shepherd, it is completely unfair for everyone involved for a Teaching Assistant (TA) to be removed prematurely.

"The course that I was teaching was a full year course, so to pull a TA from that halfway through the year is pedagogically unsound, both for the Professor and for the students. I've been doing this for a semester, I'm clearly qualified, so I don't know why I'm being pulled from it.

"I have students E-mailing me and messaging me saying things aren't the same and asking for advice — asking for help," said Shepherd.

Shepherd said she was first informed that there may be an issue with the terms of her contract towards the end of first semester. No one informed Shepherd formally, so upon hearing the news in the new year that her contract had been cancelled, she was shocked.

"I found out the last week [of first semester] that there was an issue with my seniority and that things were not right. I didn't know what was going on because no one told me formally. Even though I had zero warning officially or hadn't talked with C.U.P.E. or with the Dean about [my contract being pulled]," said Shepherd.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (C.U.P.E.) did not wish to comment as the case is still being dealt with through the grievance process.

According to Shepherd, the Chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Professor David Fancy was informed of the situation, but refused to terminate Shepherd's contract and asked the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Douglas Kneale, to refrain from signing the replacement TA's contract. However, upon returning in the new year, Fancy found a contract awaiting his signature in his office. The contract was signed, and Shepherd was replaced as the TA for DART 2F94.

Shepherd said that the main issue here is not about being replaced, as the Chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts refused to cancel Shepherd's contract. It is not about monetary compensation or even a job according to Shepherd.

"I'm concerned more about the students being aware that things like this are happening and that the system is flawed," she said.

Shepherd also said that in no way is she trying to discredit the TA who replaced her. In fact, the TA who replaced Shepherd was set to teach a course this semester, but filed a grievance after it was cancelled. After taking two years off to complete her Master's of Fine Arts in 2008, Shepherd lost seniority she previously had and was replaced in the course.

Shepherd believes that her replacement is unfair for everyone involved in the course, as the new TA will have to get caught up from the first semester, and the Professor and students all have to adjust to a new teaching and marking style.

"It leaves everyone in an awkward situation, so how do we fix it? And I think that fixing it means that a lot of people need to know about it so that things will get done," said Shepherd.

Shepherd thinks her replacement might be due to non-discriminatory policies practiced by the Brock University Human Resources (HR) Department. According to Shepherd, when her Department created the job posting for the course, they had specified that they wanted either a Drama graduate or upper year Drama student to TA the course. But, because the course is cross-referenced with the Centre for Liberal Arts, equivalencies are added to the job postings by HR, to open them up for more applicants.

The HR Department was contacted, but did not respond in time for publication.

Due to the performance element in the DART 2F94, Shepherd believes that the students need someone with that skill set to help them properly. Shepherd has taught and taken the course herself.

In getting this sorted out, Shepherd has been grateful for the support from the Department of Dramatic Arts. Shepherd said both Fancy and Professor Natalie Alvarez — who filed a grievance with the Brock University Faculty Association (BUFA) — have been a big help.

"They've been really good, they've been trying to do as much as they can but, unfortunately, because it's one of these ‘caught in the system' things there's not a lot they can do," she said.