One of the most thought-provoking presentations at the 2011 Western Regional Conference of Faculty Associations was with respect to administrative practices at universities. Faculty members are faced with an ever-growing burden of administrative requirements. An incremental change to university administrative practices that may appear logical from the viewpoint of administrative personnel may, in some instances, […]
Read More »It has come to our attention that junior faculty have been counseled by some senior administrators not to publish results from their PhD thesis, as the various standards require that tenure candidates provide “compelling evidence that a body of high quality scholarly work has been completed beyond that demonstrated at appointment” (our emphasis). Thus it […]
Read More »The University Standards for Tenure and Promotion state that for tenure as an Assistant or Associate Professor or promotion to the rank of Associate Professor a candidate must demonstrate a “defined program of research or scholarship”. But what does this mean? Will a faculty member with a very narrow focus of research on a highly […]
Read More »A few years ago, senior administration clawed back unit budgets to the tune of $10 million, claiming it was necessary to deal with the global financial crisis and, amongst other things, to shore up the pension plans. These budget reductions were difficult for units and resulted in cuts to academic programming. A change in legislation […]
Read More »There is no question that your Head of department is a vital cog in the academic wheel. At U of S and just about every other institution in Canada, the head is ‘in scope,’ that is, a member of the faculty association and therefore protected by the collective agreement. The role of the Head should […]
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On Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 15th annual conference sponsored by the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan Telling our stories – Making lives better Friday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. Special Guest: Ivan Coyote “As Good As We Can Make It: On bullying, collective responsibility, and actually making it better” Saturday, March 17, […]
Read More »One long-standing feature of the Collective Agreement has been the Reduced Appointment Plan (RAP), which allows faculty members over 55 with at least 10 years of service to gradually downsize their careers by reducing to part-time without a corresponding reduction in benefits. The Collective Agreement states “[e]mployees who wish to participate in the Reduced Appointment […]
Read More »It is heartening to see the January 2012 issue of VOX emerge. We have articles about our past (Millard reprint), the realizations of a newcomer (Springer), thoughts on research agenda (Pratt) and a rumoured institute (Muri). VOX is your voice. What are your thoughts on issues such as: TABBS (Transparent, Activity-Based Budget System): www.usask.ca/tabbs/about? Policy […]
Read More »By: Allison Muri, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Saskatchewan Rumour has it that an agreement has already been signed to establish a Confucius Institute at the University of Saskatchewan, affiliated with the College of Arts & Science. There are over 300 such institutes, which are established to promote Chinese language and culture, in […]
Read More »Vox, Issue #12, March 1993 featured an interview with Peter Millard, past Head of the Department of English, member of the Executive of the Faculty Association, and Chair of the Association in 1987-88. Millard retired two decades ago on December 31, 1991, and passed away ten years ago in December 2001. (The full Issue #12 […]
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