News Archive
USFA Scholarship Application Deadline Reminder
May 27, 2013 | All News
This is a reminder to all faculty whose family members are students eligible for the USFA Scholarship and who have successfully completed degree credit courses taken in the 2012-2013 academic year (May 1, 2012 –April 30, 2013). The USFA scholarship is open to students who are immediate family members of members of the University of …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Eleventh in a series
May 21, 2013 | All News
It has come to our attention that junior faculty have been counseled by not to publish results from their PhD thesis, as the various standards require that tenure and promotion candidates provide “compelling evidence that a body of high quality scholarly work has been completed beyond that demonstrated at appointment” (our emphasis). One reading of …
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When to go forward for tenure or promotion – Tenth in a series
May 16, 2013 | All News
Who judges your case file? – By your colleagues. How is your case judged? – By the standards that your department, college and university colleagues have written, and using the written case that has been prepared. Two important points to note. The first is that it will benefit you to provide a well-written and straightforward …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – ninth in a series
May 14, 2013 | All News
The summative parts of SEEQ in aggregate form can be used in case files. But can SEEQ comments be included in the tenure/promotion package? The Association has been in discussions with the Employer for some time concerning the status of free-form comments in student evaluation forms. As long as the encrypted ID can identify the …
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Scholarship Application Glitch Fixed
May 9, 2013 | All News
A glitch was detected last week in the on-line application process for the USFA Scholarship Fund. Those who tried to access the on-line application were advised wrongly that the application deadline had passed. If you encountered this error, please try again. Applications can be found at http://students.usask.ca/current/paying/scholarships/. The application deadline is 11:59 pm June 1, …
When to go for tenure or promotion – Eighth in a series
May 2, 2013 | All News
It is surprising how often we evaluate a colleague’s research career by metrics like publication counts, page counts, or order of authorship, which border on numerology, rather than considering the actual contribution. Although time is the true test of research, the reason we do this is that the practicalities of our processes force us to …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Seventh in a series
April 25, 2013 | All News
Practice of professional skills remains a troublesome category for members in many units, particularly the professional colleges. Similar problems are arising with the new Academic Programming appointments. The intent behind these appointment categories was to relax research expectations as defined in Section 4 of the University Standards so as to allow certain kinds of colleagues …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Sixth in a series
April 23, 2013 | All News
Interdisciplinarity: the agony and the ecstasy. The university encourages interdisciplinary research, and many colleagues enjoy the excitement of working with a team on a project with a great deal of potential. But there are also potential pitfalls to doing this early in your career. Interdisciplinary work really means building a new area of specialization that …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Fifth in a series
April 19, 2013 | All News
The various University, College, and Department Standards contain language to the effect that your research must have made a “significant achievement”, that your contribution is “recognized as substantial” by authorities here and abroad, and there must be “evidence of leadership in the establishment and execution of a clearly defined program of research”. There is considerable …
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Spring General Meeting April 19, 2013
April 11, 2013 | All News
The USFA Constitution provides for two general membership meetings per year. The meeting package for the Spring General Meeting will be going out in the next few days. This meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 19th at 2:30 in Arts 241 Neatby-Timlin Theatre and will include presentations to USFA Retirees. Following the meeting please join …
When to go for tenure or promotion – Fourth in a series
April 5, 2013 | All News
Read your standards carefully. Similarly, write your standards carefully. For example, “The candidate must hold a Tri-Council grant” means something very different from “There must be evidence that the candidate can obtain Tri-Council funding.” The first phrase narrowly ties a candidate to actually holding Tri- Council funding at the point of the tenure/promotion decision. This …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Third in a series
April 3, 2013 | All News
The Collective Agreement is clear that you must meet the approved standards for tenure and promotion. Sometimes, candidates who have met the standard are advised to “wait until your case is stronger”. This may be well-intentioned, but can delay tenure or pay grades that you are entitled to. No one – not your Dean, Department …
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When to go for tenure or promotion – Second in a series
April 1, 2013 | All News
Today is the best day to start thinking about your promotion/tenure case. You have a lot of resources to help you with your case. By May 31, your Department Head or Dean should have met with you to discuss your progress with respect to the approved standards, with which you should be familiar. You don’t …
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June 30 – Salary Review – Article 17.5.(ii)
April 1, 2013 | All News
by June 30 the Department Head or Dean shall have advised the candidate to provide such information as the candidate wishes to produce
June 30 – Promotion – Article 16.6(iii)
April 1, 2013 | All News
by June 30 the Department Head or Dean shall have advised the candidate to provide such information as the candidate wishes to produce
June 30 – Renewal of Probation – Article 14.5.9(ii)
April 1, 2013 | All News
by June 30 the Department Head or Dean shall have advised the candidate to provide such information as the candidate wishes to introuce
When to go for tenure or promotion… First in a series
March 26, 2013 | All News
The Collective Agreement is clear – you can elect to go for tenure or promotion in any year if you believe you have met your standards. The applicable standards may be less clear, and it may be difficult to gauge how strong your case should be. First, be sure you know which standards apply to …
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USFA Scholarship Application Deadline Reminder
March 25, 2013 | All News
This is a reminder to all faculty whose family members are students eligible for the USFA Scholarship and who have successfully completed degree credit courses taken in the 2012-2013 academic year (May 1, 2012 –April 30, 2013). The USFA scholarship is open to students who are immediate family members of members of the University of …
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Member Social 4:00 p.m. March 26 University Club
March 20, 2013 | All News
The next USFA member social is at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26 at the University Club in the Windows Room. Join Executive Committee members and USFA staff for some refreshments. There’s a lot happening on campus and this is an opportunity to connect with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere.
One week left for Executive Committee Nominations!
March 18, 2013 | All News
Have you considered running for election to the USFA Executive Committee? Each year one-half of the Executive Committee is elected by USFA members. A package soliciting nominations has been mailed and any regular member of the Association is eligible to run for a position. While being an Executive Committee member is a big commitment, our …
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