Joint FA/FR RPT Presentation on New CA Language

Dear Members,

Thank you to everyone who attended Monday’s session on the changes to reappointment, tenure, promotion (RPT), and evaluation processes under the 2025-2029 Collective Agreement. We appreciate the thoughtful questions and discussion. The presentation slides, with further explanatory notes, are attached, and posted here for your reference, and the presentation is now posted and can be found here. Information below is drawn from the presentation and speaker notes. As you review the material and prepare for upcoming evaluation and RPT cycles, we would like to highlight several key reminders:

Unit Standards

• Existing Unit Standards remain in effect until revised standards are fully approved. However, members and committees may also apply new Collective Agreement language where it is relevant, including new provisions related to Student Experience of Learning (SEL), Scholarly Activity, and Research.
• Departments have until February 23, 2027 to complete approval of revised Unit Standards. Revised standards should focus on discipline-specific expectations and should not duplicate language already contained in the Faculty Evaluation Policy or Collective Agreement.  Discipline-specific language in the Unit Standards must be congruent with CA and FEP language, i.e. it cannot contradict it. 
• Unit Standards must provide clear guidance regarding promotion criteria, expectations by rank, circumstances that may constitute “exceeding expectations,” the assessment of Indigenous members, and unit specific definitions of Normal Workload.
• A number of units at UVic have already developed language addressing Indigenous and decolonial scholarship, teaching, and service. Departments are encouraged to build on existing examples and seek support from Faculty Relations, the Faculty Association, Indigenous academic leaders, and colleagues who have experience in this area.

Fall 2026 RPT Transition Provisions

• For the Fall 2026 RPT cycle, members may either follow the previous SEL requirements or use the new provisions that emphasize reflective statements on how SEL feedback informed improvements to teaching.
• Where SEL response rates are 50% or lower, members are not required to submit SEL frequencies under the new provisions and may instead provide a reflective statement describing how they reviewed and used SEL results to develop and improve their teaching.

Scholarly Activity and Research

• The definition of Scholarly Activity for Teaching Stream faculty has been broadened and clarified. Examples now explicitly include educational resource development, course and program development, curriculum innovation, educational technology scholarship, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), research, and related scholarly leadership activities.  
• Members should remember that, for teaching-stream promotion files, a particular activity can only be counted in one category, although overlap may be identified and described where relevant.
• Research assessment language now reflects principles of responsible research assessment and requires that Unit Standards recognize a broad range of possible research outputs and impacts in assessing RPT files, including public scholarship, Community-Engaged scholarship, open scholarship, impact on public and community policy, and societal impact.

Reappointment and Peer Review Changes

• The Collective Agreement now more clearly distinguishes between a member’s career achievements in research and scholarly activity and research activity and scholarly activities undertaken since appointment to UVic when assessing reappointment files.
• Members should ensure they clearly document research activities and scholarly activity undertaken during their appointment period including work that is in progress, but not yet published or otherwise publicly circulated, or other ongoing work, including that related to developing relationships with communities. Such work should be taken into account in Unit Standards for the assessment of reappointment files.
• Peer review requirements and timelines have been simplified and clarified. Formal peer-reviewer training is no longer required under the Collective Agreement.

Mentorship and Support Provisions

• Members who are successfully reappointed but whose committees identify concerns will be offered mentorship support.
• Members who receive a “does not meet expectations” salary evaluation will be offered mentorship; those declining mentorship will be expected to develop a written improvement plan.
• Members of equity-deserving groups may request a support person, in addition to a Faculty Association representative, to attend RPT, UAAC, or disciplinary meetings with them.

Resources

Responsible Research Assessment )RRA / DORA

• UVic is a signatory to DORA and the CA now requires that research assessment must be conceptualized broadly and reflect the San Francisco Declaration of Research Assessment (DORA).
• The Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation (OVPRI), in collaboration with VPAC and UVic Libraries, is developing a university-wide website on Responsible Research Assessment (RRA), with a target launch by early 2027.
• Most UVic Faculties already support key RRA principles, including contextualizing quantitative metrics and considering qualitative evidence of research impact and scholarly contributions. What is RRA?
• A holistic approach to research evaluation that emphasizes the quality and significance of work rather than relying primarily on quantitative metrics. Recognizes a broad diversity of scholarly outputs, impacts, career paths, and disciplinary practices. Treats metrics such as Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and h-index as tools to inform expert assessment, not substitutes for peer judgment. Seeks to promote fairness, transparency, and reduce systemic bias in research evaluation.
• VPAC and VPRI jointly sponsor an interdisciplinary taskforce on RRA, launched in Summer 2026, to advance best practices in research assessment and foster an institutional culture consistent with RRA principles while respecting disciplinary norms.
• Units looking for guidance are encouraged to consult the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), particularly the Resources section, which contains open-access tools and examples.
• AVPR Alexandra D’Arcy will present to Dean’s Council later this fall on a review of RRA practices reflected in existing Unit Standards and Faculty Evaluation Policies under the previous Collective Agreement. The review includes recommendations for future practice and may provide useful guidance for Deans, Chairs, Directors, and evaluation committees as they implement the new Collective Agreement’s RRA provisions.
• The Faculty Association is also hoping to organize a presentation for Chairs and other FA members regarding DORA/RRA sometime over the fall.

Community Engaged Research

• Community Engaged Research Resources – Impact Assessment- Community-Engaged Research at the University of Victoria by Dr. Crystal Tremblay.

Questions and Assistance

We strongly encourage members, Chairs, Directors, Deans, and committee members to review the Collective Agreement language carefully and seek advice early if questions arise regarding preparation of files, interpretation of new provisions, or development of revised Unit Standards. Questions may be directed to:

• Faculty Relations and Academic Administration: [email protected] or your Faculty Relations Consultant
• Faculty Association: [email protected] or [email protected]

Thank you again for your engagement and for your work supporting fair, transparent, and inclusive evaluation processes.

All the best,

Lynne

(sent to Chairs and Directors October 8, 2026)