usfa@usaskfaculty.ca

2024 USFA Executive Elections: Call for Nominations

This is a call for nominations in the election to fill six vacancies on the USFA Executive Committee commencing July 1, 2024: Category A: one vacancy (2 year term) Category B: one vacancy  (2 year term) Category C: one vacancy (2 year term) Category D: one vacancy (2 year term) Category E: two vacancies (2 […]

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Removing inappropriate comments from SLEQ

Responses to SLEQ are confidential, not anonymous, and it is possible to have inappropriate comments removed. This clearly came through in comments from respondents to our Campus Safety and Student Abuse of Faculty Questionnaire with the suggestion that accountability is needed for anonymous evaluations. Comments from students are treated as confidential and while student identity […]

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Campus Safety and Student Abuse of Faculty – Suggestions from you

Our recent questionnaire on the topic of campus safety and student abuse of faculty garnered 193 responses. Of these, 121 provided detailed answers to three open-ended questions included in the questionnaire: What was the nature of abuse? (Select all that apply, with an option for “Other” and space for specifying details.) Do you have suggestions […]

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Faculty Associations support STF job action

On Monday, the USFA, University of Regina Faculty Association (URFA), Saskatchewan Polytechnic Faculty Association (SPFA), and Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation (STF) held a joint press conference on the state of funding for education in Saskatchewan. (View the press conference here.) Whether it is early childhood and primary or post-secondary education, we share the same concerns and […]

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An important message concerning the Assignment of Duties

Last week faculty members received an email from the Office of the Vice-Provost Faculty Relations regarding the Assignment of Duties process, which is nearing deadlines for completion (Department Heads must complete assignments by March 31, and Deans must approve them by April 30 for the 2024–5 Academic year). You should be aware that, in the […]

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Student Abuse of Faculty Questionnaire: What we heard from you

Thank you to everyone who responded to our questionnaire regarding student abuse of faculty. We received 193 responses (nearly 25% of the faculty complement). You can view the results in a graphic format here. Just over two-thirds of respondents told us they have experienced abuse from current or former students with most abuse (75%) taking […]

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October “Unions Working Together” Meeting

The “Unions Working Together” monthly meetings of the five unions representing university workers, ASPA, CUPE 1975 and 3257, PSAC, and USFA provide an opportunity for sharing news regarding negotiations, grievances, experiences and approaches to better support their members. Shared concerns of interest to USFA members were discussed during the October monthly meeting. USFA representative Julita […]

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CAUT Weighs in on University Council Election Irregularities

Following University Council elections last spring, the USFA Executive decided to ask CAUT to review a summary of the election process. After reviewing the summary, the University of Saskatchewan Act, and University Council’s by-laws on elections procedure with CAUT’s legal staff, Executive Director David Robinson concluded: The short answer is that we are of the […]

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Collectively Speaking May 2023 – Involvement Matters

Whether its involvement in the USFA or involvement in our university, it matters. In this issue of Collectively Speaking, USFA Chair Geraldine Balzer offers suggestions on ways you can become involved. She provides one member’s take on the benefits of being involved in university governance and offers insight into why more and more faculty association […]

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