At the recent AGM, after Senior Grievance Office Patricia Farnese reported despite unprecedented numbers of arbitrations, some members asked whether this is an attempt to strain the resources of the Association. Secretary-Treasurer Susan Fowler-Kerry reported that USFA remains in a good financial decision. Almost thirty years ago, the membership of USFA voted to establish a […]

At our Annual General Meeting, Senior Grievance Office Patricia Farnese reporting on behalf of the Association Grievance Committee (AGC) said that the number of grievances the Association is dealing with has been unprecedented. Some highlights from her report: For the second time, a member of Senior Administration was found to have discriminated or retaliated against […]

The Association has filed a grievance with respect to the recommendation for tenure and rank after a decanal level appointment. This is not a personal attack on the qualifications of the unit leader, but a matter of upholding the integrity of the collegial processes defined in our Collective Agreement and protecting the jurisdiction of the […]

An Arbitrator recently ruled that the actions of a Dean in removing the responsibility for a University exchange program from a faculty member’s assigned duties for the 2015-2016 academic year was a violation of the collective agreement, and that the Dean’s action was discriminatory and retaliatory in nature because the member had expressed her intention […]

Some time ago, as part of the UnivRS project, the University undertook to convert curricula vitae of faculty members to a standard format. The process of conversion has not proceeded as quickly as anticipated, and many faculty members have shared concerns with us about errors in the data entry process, limitations with the software, and […]

Members of the Executive of the Faculty Association, including our Senior Grievance Officer, Patricia Farnese, had an opportunity to discuss forthcoming changes to computer security with senior ICT staff, including Associate Vice-President of Information and Communication Technology, Shari Baraniuk. The plan includes increasing the security around sensitive institutional information, but also requirements for more security […]

The issue of excessive workload assignments has been raised by members in at least one unit who feel the burden of the institution’s financial concerns are being shifted onto the backs of members. More than a decade ago, USFA negotiated an article entitled Guidelines for Assignment of Duties (article 11.5 in the Collective Agreement). The […]

Those reading Academica’s Top Ten, especially in combination with local messaging, may have noticed mixed messages as regards attitudes towards faculty compensation. Recently, Academica’s Top Ten cited a Star-Phoenix report that “Despite its recent fiscal challenges and what a recent report described as the erosion of Canada’s research competitiveness, the University of Saskatchewan is ‘punching […]