News Archive
CV Formats for collegial processes
September 21, 2018 | All News
Recently, questions have arisen about CV formats for collegial processes. Should the 29 point version (current) or the 24 point version (revised) be used? The website for the Vice-Provost Faculty Relations includes the statement: “The university is transitioning to a new Standardized CV format. It is anticipated that the transition of received CVs to UnivRS …
Welcome Week Pancake Breakfast September 6th
August 21, 2018 | All News
We invite you to a Free Pancake Breakfast: Thursday, September 6 7:30 – 10:00 a.m. (or until food runs out) in The Bowl Everyone welcome! Gluten free pancakes will be available. Sponsored by: USFA ASPA CUPE 1975 CUPE 3287 St. Thomas More Faculty Union PSAC Local 40004
Invitation to apply: USFA Conference Fund (Fall 2018)
August 21, 2018 | All News
USFA members are invited to submit an application to the Executive Committee for reimbursement of attendance at a conference/workshop/meeting related to the USFA including, but not limited to, labour relations, academic freedom, employment equity, and workplace health and safety. The USFA Conference/Workshop/Meeting Attendance Policy was instituted as a way to ensure that there is an …
Continue reading “Invitation to apply: USFA Conference Fund (Fall 2018)”
Concerns mounting on Teaching Evaluations
August 1, 2018 | All News
The recent arbitration award at Ryerson University directed that Faculty Course Survey results are not to be used to “measure teaching effectiveness for promotion or tenure.” After USFA reported on this, members requested further details. The reports of expert witnesses R.L. Freishtat and P.B. Stark have been published by The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty …
Continue reading “Concerns mounting on Teaching Evaluations”
Conflicts in the Global Institute for Food Security
July 23, 2018 | All News
Following the publication of a recent CBC News article that described the working atmosphere at GIFS (the Global Institute for Food Security) with strong language – “horror story”, “bizarre”, “complete disintegration”, “toxic environment” – several members wrote to USFA relating similar experiences in their own units. USFA cannot comment on the specifics of this or …
Continue reading “Conflicts in the Global Institute for Food Security”
USFA Table Officers 2018-2019
July 19, 2018 | All News
The following USFA table officers were elected at a meeting held June 22, 2018. Chair: Douglas Chivers, Department of Biology Vice-Chair: Susan Fowler-Kerry, College of Nursing Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Meyers, Department of History Senior Grievance Officer: Patricia Farnese, College of Law The terms of these officers began July 1, 2018, along with those of newly-elected members …
One Month Only Sun Life Optional Life Insurance Premium Rate Reduction
July 11, 2018 | All News
There will be a reduction applied to the cost of premiums for Sun Life Optional Life Insurance for the month of July only. The University is making the adjustment to refund to members the provincial sales tax (PST) paid on the premiums. The Saskatchewan Government retroactively abolished the PST on life insurance premiums necessitating the …
Continue reading “One Month Only Sun Life Optional Life Insurance Premium Rate Reduction”
Arbitrator judges student evaluations inappropriate for tenure and promotion decisions
July 11, 2018 | All News
An arbitrator’s decision at Ryerson University released July 6, 2018 has ordered that student-based evaluations of teaching not be used in tenure and promotion cases, effective immediately. The decision stated that the evaluations “are imperfect at best and downright biased and unreliable at worst”. With respect to the evidence provided Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) …
Notable Bargaining Events at other Universities
May 28, 2018 | All News
It has been a challenging two years for many Canadian faculty at the bargaining table. You may be interested in the following outcomes. Most recently, Carleton faculty have reached an agreement after hundreds of hours and one year of collective bargaining, with the assistance of a mediator. Details will be reported soon. Earlier this month, …
Continue reading “Notable Bargaining Events at other Universities”
Normal retirement age doesn’t exist any more
May 8, 2018 | All News
Several faculty members were surprised to receive letters at their homes from Connection Point advising them of benefit packages that will expire as they approach “normal retirement age”. The first round of letters contained references to a normal retirement age of 65; the subsequent letters changed this number to 67. The language of “normal retirement …
Continue reading “Normal retirement age doesn’t exist any more”
Lockouts in Academia
May 4, 2018 | All News
Two recent events in Eastern Canada suggest that University Employers are taking a cynical attitude towards collective bargaining. At Carleton University, the faculty association negotiating team found out just a day ahead of their May 3 regular bargaining session that the Employer had unilaterally filed for conciliation, then advised faculty how mutually beneficial this would …
CUPE’s Pension Issue
May 3, 2018 | All News
Recently, members of CUPE 1975 set up information tables across campus on the theme “PAWS off our Pensions”. CUPE’s Employer, the University of Saskatchewan, went to arbitration to determine whether it had the power to unilaterally change the terms of the CUPE pension plan. The arbitrator ruled in favour of the Employer. Though it is …
Collegial Governance and the Collective Agreement
April 23, 2018 | All News
The Collective Agreement offers significant protection for collegial governance, and resolutions to recent grievances help to illustrate these various protections. The Collective Agreement is clear that the collegial committees established pursuant to the Collective Agreement (renewal and tenure committees, promotion committees for example) are required to determine their own operating procedures provided they are consistent …
Continue reading “Collegial Governance and the Collective Agreement”
USFA ONLINE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE: DEADLINE June 1, 2018
April 17, 2018 | All News
Online applications for the USFA Scholarship will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Friday, June 1, 2018. The USFA Scholarship Program is open to students who are immediate family members of USFA members. Immediate family includes spouse/partner, sons, daughters or children whom USFA members have served as legal guardians. The application form for the 2017-18 USFA …
Continue reading “USFA ONLINE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE: DEADLINE June 1, 2018”
April 12 Academic Freedom Event Cancelled
April 9, 2018 | All News
Please be advised that the upcoming USFA Academic Freedom event has been cancelled because the CAUT representative is no longer able to participate. The position of the USFA Executive is that CAUT participation was essential to provide an informed understanding of the complexities of defending Academic Freedom on Canadian campuses.
Ageism and Buyouts
March 27, 2018 | All News
A recent Globe and Mail article cites Harvey Weingarten, CEO of HEQCO (a research agency funded by the Ontario government), as saying “As the professoriate ages, it has … a constraining influence on … renewal.” In contrast, the Human Rights Office at Queen’s, a U-15 University, publishes on its website examples of what age harassment …
Important Question: Have you been designated a “non-active researcher”?
March 14, 2018 | All News
USFA has heard from faculty members who have found (to their surprise) that they have been designated by the Employer as “non-active researchers” – something you may wish to explore among colleagues within your academic unit. Where did this designation come from? Certainly not from any negotiation or collegial process. Its origin seems to lie …
Continue reading “Important Question: Have you been designated a “non-active researcher”?”
March 31 Deadline to Submit Benefit Expense Claims
March 13, 2018 | All News
Claims for reimbursement for any expenses from any of the benefit plans must be submitted to Sun Life within 90 days of the end of the calendar year in which the expense is incurred. This deadline applies to 2017 claims made under the Dental Plan, Health Plan or Flexible Spending Program (Health Spending Account …
Continue reading “March 31 Deadline to Submit Benefit Expense Claims”
Living our Values – 2
March 12, 2018 | All News
The Executive of USFA met recently with representatives of the University to exchange views on the Living Our Values document, about which we informed you recently. The discussion was lively, but also productive, and we appreciated the opportunity to share thoughts on this matter. The document is a work in progress, but you may wish …
Negotiations update: the College of Medicine
March 6, 2018 | All News
At the outset of this round of negotiations, the USFA requested information from the Employer (in August and then in October) for the purposes of negotiating outstanding issues concerning the College of Medicine, including: services considered to be academic services provided by Provincial Academic Clinical Funding Plan (P-ACFP) contractors to the university; a list of …
Continue reading “Negotiations update: the College of Medicine”