The USFA filed a grievance concerning reimbursement eligibility on a number of APEF claims since last spring. The Employer has since adjusted its position, eliminating the need for furthering some aspects of the grievance. However, still outstanding are issues related to reimbursement denials for cell phones and internet services. For many during the pandemic, cell… Continue reading Update: APEF Grievance
Author: Abbie
Action request: Laurentian University
CAUT is asking faculty across Canada to take action. The time is now to remind MPs that we need to take action to prevent more crises like what we saw at Laurentian University. We have just a few days before MPs break for the summer and head into a potential fall election. We must protect… Continue reading Action request: Laurentian University
Information about a fall return to campus
Even with the Employer’s Framework for a Staged Transition to Increased on-Campus Activity, there continue to be considerable unknowns about returning to campus this fall, particularly with respect to course delivery. The Employer has advised us that individual “units” will decide which courses will be delivered face-to-face and which will be delivered remotely. Each college is approaching… Continue reading Information about a fall return to campus
Assistance with Reviewing Tenure and Promotion Case Files
The USFA would like to once again organize a review process that matches tenure and promotion candidates with experienced faculty members willing to read case files and provide an “outsider’s perspective”. If you wish to participate in this process this year as either a candidate or as a reviewer, please contact USFA Member Services Officer Abbie… Continue reading Assistance with Reviewing Tenure and Promotion Case Files
USFA Statement on unmarked graves found at former Kamloops Indian Residential School
It is with great sadness that we learned the remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. We acknowledge the grief of residential school survivors and those who suffer intergenerational trauma from residential school experiences. We grieve with them. We note that education and the… Continue reading USFA Statement on unmarked graves found at former Kamloops Indian Residential School
University Club Petition
Faculty members have started a petition seeking a special meeting to reconsider the dissolution of the University Club. Concerns have been raised about the vote that was held at a Zoom meeting of members and non-members of the University Club on May 14, which supported a motion to permanently shut down the Club as of… Continue reading University Club Petition
What is your preference for teaching this fall: in-person or remote?
Many of you are being asked whether you prefer to teach in-person or remotely this fall. For those who prefer to teach in person, there is a risk of having to switch mid-stream to remote teaching or perhaps a combination of in-person and remote. The time spent on assigned teaching (including preparation for various delivery… Continue reading What is your preference for teaching this fall: in-person or remote?
Reminder: One-time taxable allocation from APEFs available to USFA members
May 14 is the deadline for the first opportunity to request a one-time allowance from your accountable professional expense funds to help defray expenses associated with establishing a home office/remote workspace to conduct teaching, research, and related professional activities. Funds will be added to June 15 payroll. The next and only other opportunity to make a… Continue reading Reminder: One-time taxable allocation from APEFs available to USFA members
Academic Freedom Event: Open for Business: on What Terms
2:00 p.m. May 13, 2021 Please register in advance. Over a century ago, Thorsten Veblen (1918) warned that the intrusion of business principles in Universities would weaken the pursuit of learning, resulting in a digression of interest and support from scholarly achievements to the competitive acquisition of wealth. With chronic underfunding, Universities, look to collaborative research… Continue reading Academic Freedom Event: Open for Business: on What Terms
When will we be the University the World Needs?
On April 30, USFA Chair Allison Muri wrote to advise President Stoicheff that USFA members had voted resoundingly in favour of the following motion at the Association’s Spring General Meeting: In the spirit of research excellence and discovery, and the need to show local, national and international leadership in vaccine development, education and use, the… Continue reading When will we be the University the World Needs?