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 […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »For those who have not yet completed the online questionnaire related to childcare services for faculty on campus, this is a reminder that the closing date for the questionnaire is scheduled for March 12, 2018. Depending on your responses, the questionnaire should take approximately 5 to 15 minutes of your time. Your responses will be anonymous as you will not be asked to provide […]
Read More »The Employer has proposed changes to Article 3 (Management Rights). This seems to arise from a key interest for the Employer in this round of negotiations, that is, to address issues of authority and governance at our institution, articulated as follows in the November Labour Update: Our interest is in ensuring that we are negotiating […]
Read More »Since last June we have met with the Employer on 16 separate dates, and have scheduled 10 more between now and June. Talks have proceeded slowly, due to both scheduling difficulties and some lengthy dialogue concerning issues where our interests are far apart. Coming into negotiations with a mandate themed “Equity and Stability,” we encountered […]
Read More »The Committee on Women’s Issues, chaired by Susan Fowler-Kerry, continues to work actively to raise awareness about women’s issues at the university. Most recently, they have been engaged in a series of discussions related to evaluations of Indigenous Women on this campus. In an effort to promote transparency and fairness as we embrace diversity and Indigenization, […]
Read More »In November 2017, USFA received notice of the drafting of Living our Values, described as a code of conduct. In subsequent weeks, representatives of the Employer met with our grievance officer, and our professional officer to discuss a more detailed draft. We subsequently heard rumours to the effect that the Association had approved the document; […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »