Allan Rock responds to criticism of his planned avoidance of sexual assault training

Here is Allan Rock's you-got-my-attention response to THIS OPEN LETTER (LINK) from the student federation.

From: Allan Rock <arock@uottawa.ca>
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 8:50 AM
Subject: RE: Training regarding sexual violence on campus
To: Mireille Gervais <director.src@sfuo.ca>
Cc: Vice-recteur Etudes <vretudes@uottawa.ca>, Mona Nemer <mnemer@uottawa.ca>, Louis De Melo <ldemelo@uottawa.ca>, Marc Joyal <Marc.Joyal@uottawa.ca>, Diane Davidson <Diane.Davidson@uottawa.ca>, "Julien, Francois" <Julien@telfer.uottawa.ca>, Arts Dean <deanarts@uottawa.ca>, Nathalie Des Rosiers <Nathalie.Desrosiers@uottawa.ca>, Celine Levesque <Celine.Levesque@uottawa.ca>, DEDUC <deduc@uottawa.ca>, dean@genie.uottawa.ca, DEANGRAD <deangrad@uottawa.ca>, "Steve Perry (Dean, Science)" <deansci@uottawa.ca>, Marcel Merette <mmerette@uottawa.ca>, Helene Perrault <Helene.Perrault@uottawa.ca>, Jacques Bradwejn <Jacques.Bradwejn@uottawa.ca>, APUOPRES <apuopres@uottawa.ca>, "Coordonnateur.rice syndical.e Union Coordinator" <info@cupe2626.ca>, APTPUO info <info@aptpuo.ca>, PSUO President <president@psuo-ssuo.ca>, Vanessa Dorimain <vp.university@sfuo.ca>, Anne-Marie Roy <president@sfuo.ca>, Maxime Goulet-Delorme <redaction@larotonde.ca>, Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi <editor@thefulcrum.ca>, Ajà Besler <communications@gsaed.ca>, Caroline Andrew <candrew@uottawa.ca>, Lucie Allaire <Lucie.Allaire@uottawa.ca>, Michael Orsini <morsini@uottawa.ca>, Julien de Bellefeuille <jdebellefeuille@sfuo.ca>, Termeh Ataei <reception.src@sfuo.ca>, Jordan Alexander <advocate1@sfuo.ca>, Timothy Mott <tmott@sfuo.ca>, Cabinet du recteur - Office of the President <recteur@uottawa.ca>

Dear Mireille, 

Thank you for your message. I would also thank you and the team at the Student Rights Centre for taking the time to complete the training on sexual violence offered by CALACS and ORCC.

Your comments are certainly relevant and fair, and I would like to confirm that at the next AC/deans council meeting, on November 24, members of the University’s senior administration will receive the same two-hour training that has been offered to others on campus.  

In addition, once the new sexual violence protocol is approved, the Action Team and our Human Rights Office plan to hold an additional training session specifically on this topic for deans and members of the Administration Committee. Another training session will be held once the new policy on sexual violence is in place.

In terms of the evaluation process, the Action Team has hired an external reviewer to conduct a full evaluation of the CALACS and ORCC pilot project, which includes training sessions and counselling services on campus by the two organizations. Part of this review will involve evaluating the relevance and suitability of the training provided with a view to ensuring, in particular, that: 

·         Individuals who have completed the CALACS or ORCC training have a better understanding of the myths surrounding sexual assault and its various forms.

·         Individuals who have completed the CALACS or ORCC training have a better understanding of the notion of consent.

·         Training participants have developed the core competencies necessary to respond appropriately to a disclosure.

·         Training participants are familiar with the procedures and protocols in place at the University of Ottawa for cases of sexual assault and know where to refer members of the University community looking for support following an incident of sexual assault.

In order to complete her evaluation, the reviewer will first send a survey to all training participants. She will then conduct individual interviews and hold group discussions with members of the groups that attended the sessions in order to evaluate the skills and knowledge they acquired during the training.

I hope the information I have provided answers your questions. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss the matter further.

Sincerely, 

Allan 

Allan Rock Recteur et vice-chancelier | President and Vice-Chancellor Cabinet du recteur | Office of the President Université d'Ottawa | University of Ottawa Pavillon Tabaret | Tabaret Hall 550 Cumberland (212) Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 613-562-5809 | 1-888-uOttawa

Director of the Student Rights Centre is holding Allan Rock to account for his "lip service" to sexual violence recommendations

We all remember the national media celebration of Rock's strategy apparently intended to avoid taking radical (to the root) steps to address sexual violence (LINK-CBC). And we recall student groups not being convinced of Rock's authenticity in this matter (LINK1)(LINK2)(LINK3). The student view of Rock is not surprising given his first-reaction hesitance and denial (LINK).

Well now the Director of the Student Rights Centre (of the Student Federation University of Ottawa) is holding Mr. Rock to account regarding what appears to have been an elaborate media and corporate-image management device?

This is the open letter that was sent to president Rock and to some twenty or so university executives and student media:

From: Mireille Gervais <director.src@sfuo.ca>
Date: Fri, Oct 9, 2015 at 12:26 PM
Subject: Training regarding sexual violence on campus
To: [many]

Mr. Rock,

On Tuesday, October 6, 2015, the staff at the Student Rights Centre of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SRC-SFUO) attended the training organized by the U of O regarding sexual violence on campus. As you know, this training, which was delivered by the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, was offered in an effort to implement some of the recommendations made in the Report of the Task Force on Respect and Equality: Ending Sexual Violence at the University of Ottawa (the Report). Specifically, the Report called for better leadership commitment, including mandatory training to all members of the senior administration: 

“We recommend that the University demonstrate its commitment to preventing sexual violence and promoting a culture of respect and equality by providing mandatory training to all members of the senior administration, including the deans, vice-deans and chief administrative officers of all ten faculties, on the nature and causes of, and solutions to, the issue of sexual violence, before the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year” (section 6.2) 

The training we attended was scheduled for two hours, which in fact was not a sufficient amount of time to go through all the material that had been foreseen.

I have been informed that you, however, along with the other members of the upper administration as well as the deans, intend to receive a shortened version of this training, to last one hour, in November. 

In my opinion, this does not illustrate better leadership commitment on the part of the university administration. This is particularly worrying considering that in many cases, it is the deans themselves who have the responsibility to investigate and/or discipline alleged perpetrators of sexual violence. 

The training stresses the importance of considering power differential when discussing sexual violence. Considering that the upper administration, including the deans, hold the most power within our hierarchical structure, in my view, your training should be twice as long rather than twice as short.  

In light of this, please confirm that the upper administration, including the deans, will receive, minimally, the same training that was foreseen for the rest of the university community.

Furthermore, I am concerned that the short session that is planned will be a one-time occurrence that will not provide the necessary technical training to the deans. Sexual violence on campus is a serious and complex issue that demands ongoing discussion and education. In the interest of transparency, please provide the training plan for the upper administration beyond what might otherwise be seen as paying lip service to the recommendations made in the Report.

Finally, please inform us of the evaluation methods that will be implemented to ensure that the key concepts of the training have been understood. Considering the importance of this issue for our campus, I believe it is essential to ensure that the training has met its intended goals.

Sincerely,

Mireille Gervais
Directrice, Centre des droits étudiants
Director, Student Rights Centre

Fédération étudiante de l'Université d'Ottawa / Student Federation of the University of Ottawa
director.src@sfuo.ca
tel: 613-562-5800 X 2952
fax: 613-562-5767
UCU 101
www.rights.sfuo.ca

Rock administration refuses to appoint the duly chosen director of the School of Political Studies -- It's political!

Professor Christian Rouillard

The U of O School of Political Studies academic staff is outraged by the machinations of the Rock administration in refusing to appoint the duly chosen next director of the School.

The School's top administrative members have co-signed THIS OPEN LETTER (LINK) to Allan Rock (in French, dated October 5, 2015), outlining outright machinations to avoid appointing the duly selected new director.

The said duly selected candidate (92% approval within the School) just happens to be Professor Christian Rouillard, the recent president of the professor's union (2011-2015), who has been a needed bulwark against the transgressions of the Rock administration.

The Open Letter explicitly describes a litany of moves that would make Kafka uncomfortable, and expressly identifies conflicts of interest, and breaches of procedural and natural justice.

[big mess big mess - university administration misbehaving] ... nous faisons donc appel, monsieur le recteur, à votre sens de responsabilité envers notre communauté universitaire, de justice procédurale et d’équité de traitement, de respect des processus collégiaux et de la convention collective, et vous demandons d’intervenir personnellement en appuyant la solution précédemment décrite pour mettre un terme à cette situation déplorable et inutilement conflictuelle.