Changes to the salary review procedures that were negotiated in the last round of bargaining are in place for the process just getting under way. Soon information about the total sum of money available to Departments and Colleges will come from the President’s Review Committee, if it hasn’t already. The changes, aimed at improving both […]
Read More »The USFA has been in ongoing discussions with the employer regarding SEEQ comments. We have been informed that as of September 2009 all comments can be linked to the person making the comments. While the comments remain confidential, the ability to link comments to the person making them ensures that natural justice can take place […]
Read More »The USFA Executive Committee is once again hosting lunches for USFA members in the first few years of their appointment at the U of S. The purpose of these lunches is to put a face on the Association, to talk about the roles of the USFA and the importance of the Collective Agreement. It’s an […]
Read More »The 2011-12 academic year is well underway. The usual bumps are being negotiated and some new challenges, like the recent changes respecting copyright, are presenting themselves. As you’re maneuvering your way through these and other matters, know that the USFA is here to assist you. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. […]
Read More »So you’re all set to teach your courses… course syllabus complete, lecture notes in place and posted on PAWS/Blackboard, reading lists done, and assignments prepared. But have you thought about copyright? Much information has been circulated recently about changes to copyright policy on campus. Out of concern for implications for our members, USFA is alerting […]
Read More »Sorry, no substitutions! Something to be aware of during your qualifying period for tenure or promotion is that no special arrangements can be made regarding meeting the standards. As a hypothetical example, suppose a Dean asks you to become a Department Head and offers to champion your promotion/tenure case if your research suffers as a […]
Read More »Practice of professional skills remains a troublesome category for members in many units, particularly the professional colleges. When the university standards for tenure and promotion were last revised, there was a wish to distinguish recognize practice of professional skills, but still require practitioners to show ability in research, consistent with the teacher/scholar model. Unfortunately, the […]
Read More »Discussing the teachers’ job action, a local columnist commented that the arguments of the teachers’ union for “sharing the wealth” is flawed. The author writes that “fair share” “implies someone has contributed directly to creating what is they want to share” and that such reasoning “smacks of an entitlement mentality”. (Star-Phoenix, “Sharing the wealth not […]
Read More »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 […]
Read More »Today is the best day to start thinking about your promotion/tenure case. You have a lot of resources to help you in the preparation of your case file. By May 31, your Department Head or Dean should have met with you to discuss your progress in meeting the approved standards, which you should make yourself […]
Read More »