The USFA does not accept the projected structural deficit of 44.5 million dollars. Our analyses indicate that any supposed structural deficit is significantly smaller and that the Employer has adopted assumptions that compound any financial problems that may exist. Once again, the strategy of creating a crisis to soften resistance is being employed. We suspect… Continue reading Facts Not Fear
Articles
It’s Winter, no time for cherry picking
The USFA has asked for assurances from Senior Administrators that there will be no involuntary job loss for faculty as the University navigates its way through the current financial “crisis.” To date this assurance has not been given. Senior Administrators and the Board of Governors have projected a $44.5 million operating budget deficit by 2015-16… Continue reading It’s Winter, no time for cherry picking
Nominations are Now Open: Peter C. Dooley Legacy Award and Peter T. Millard Award
Peter C. Dooley Legacy Award On April 12, 2013 the first Peter C. Dooley Legacy Award was presented. The Dooley Award is intended to recognize and celebrate champions of collegial self-governance and to ensure that the role Peter Dooley played as such a champion in making the USFA what it is today is not forgotten.… Continue reading Nominations are Now Open: Peter C. Dooley Legacy Award and Peter T. Millard Award
December 31 Deadline for Flexible Spending Program
It’s important to regularly check on the balance in your Health Spending and/or Personal Spending Accounts under the Flexible Spending Program and note when available funds “expire.” Unspent funds can only be carried forward for one year and funds you do not spend after two years revert to the employer. You can find account balances… Continue reading December 31 Deadline for Flexible Spending Program
The Emperor Isn’t Wearing Any Clothes: Intellectually Bankrupt Academic Prioritization
This is proving to be a busy fall for VOX and we welcome it. We have received a number of comments in response to our last two issues, both directly and indirectly. Thank you for those. As stated clearly in each issue of VOX, this occasional publication is “a forum for the expression of opinions… Continue reading The Emperor Isn’t Wearing Any Clothes: Intellectually Bankrupt Academic Prioritization
Let’s set the record straight
Statements being made by Senior Administrators are leading to the unfortunate conclusion that the ‘dire straits’ in which the College of Medicine finds itself is the fault of lazy faculty not willing to fulfill their duties. Let us set the record straight. Reliance on the expertise of clinical faculty to deliver clinical service has impacted… Continue reading Let’s set the record straight
Is there really a $44.5 million deficit?
Senior Administrators and the Board of Governors have budgeted an operating deficit of $44.5 million by 2015-16. This budgeted deficit is very different than having a deficit in the audited financial statements, and is based on a number of questionable assumptions that can fluctuate from year to year and have a significant impact on the… Continue reading Is there really a $44.5 million deficit?
Incentive Plan for Retirement – application deadline and FAQs
USFA members who have a combined age and years of service equal to or greater than 85 are eligible to apply for the Incentive Plan for Retirement (IPR). The application deadline is October 31, 2013. See http://www.usask.ca/vpacademic/collegial/index.php for application form and additional information. Members are reminded that they may withdraw an application for the IPR… Continue reading Incentive Plan for Retirement – application deadline and FAQs
Checking Out of The Bates Motel: Thoughts From a Recent Retiree on the Changing Face of the U Of S
By Terry Matheson Emeritus Professor (Department of English) University of Saskatchewan In a recent article, literary critic Stanley Fish wrote about the fears he was experiencing when contemplating his own impending retirement. He asked a former colleague who had recently retired what his thoughts were: did he feel dread of the future, regret the abandonment… Continue reading Checking Out of The Bates Motel: Thoughts From a Recent Retiree on the Changing Face of the U Of S
Get science right
Get Science R!ght is a CAUT campaign to raise awareness about the way the federal government policy and funding decisions are threatening Canada’s future in science and research. We have a limited number of posters from this campaign which we are distributing to FARs so they can be posted in prominent locations. Go to www.getscienceright.ca… Continue reading Get science right