The New University

A reader noticed that the language quoted in the previous blog does not apply to the appointments of the President, the Vice-Presidents, and Associate Vice-Presidents. It does apply to appointments of Deans, but then does not apply to the appointment of Associate Deans.

Roughly, the appointment structure is as follows. The President is appointed by a 12 member committee chaired by the Chair of the Board of Governors, who recommends a name to the Board. The Vice-Presidents are appointed by 12 member committees chaired by the President, who recommends a name to the board. The Associate VPs are appointed by 12 member committees chaired by a VP, and the President recommends a name to the board.

In the case of Deans, the Committee is encouraged, once a short list is arrived at, to involve faculty and staff via forums and seminars. Associate Deans are appointed by 6 member committees chaired by the Dean.

Posted by emn075 at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the Concerned Academics blog, Chary points out that the recent appointment of Vice-President Academic and Provost, the academic leader of the university took place without consultation with faculty members. The procedures at the Board of Governors state that:

"4. Although the Committee may determine its own procedures, when a short list of candidates has been arrived at, the Committee is encouraged to make every effort to involve faculty and staff through such means as faculty staff forums or seminar presentations. The opportunity for faculty and staff to provide confidential written statements to the Chair of the Committee about short-listed candidates should also be provided."

You can read the complete report on these procedures on the website for the Board of Governors at http://www.usask.ca/university_secretary/pdf/Appt_Procedures_04.pdf.

The Collective agreement has an LOU stating that "the appointment and reappointment of senior Administartive officers has an impact of the working conditions of the Faculty", that points to these procedures, and concludes with the clause "The University restates its commitment .. to allow the full range and extent of consultation envisioned by these policies".

Why were the usual procedures not followed? Faculty deserve an explanation.

Posted by emn075 at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chris Axworthy chaired his first USFA meeting, Tuesday, December 5th, and it was a stormy one. In his remarks to those assembled, he clearly stated his intentions to take USFA in a new direction by opening communication channels with the Administration. This met with a range of responses, to say the least.

Professor Axworthy is an experienced politician who has been elected as an MP, an MLA, and has acted as a Cabinet Minister. This cuts both ways with USFA members. While some members see his background as providing a useful skill set, and echo support for his approach, others are suspicious of Axworthy’s relationships with the President (both are members of the College of Law) and other political insiders. The same members perceive his approach to labour relations as conciliatory, arguing that our administration tends to favour spending on “initiatives” rather than employees, and, consequently, labour relations here will always be adversarial. However, there is no question of Professor Axworthy’s position in this regard. Despite several challenges from the floor, he did not softpedal, even after some boos. He repeated that there is little to be gained from “automatic confrontation” and is committed to pushing this approach.

For this approach to external relations to work, Professor Axworthy will have to address the internal issues as well: that is, calm the concerns expressed at the meeting, as well as increase the engagement of his supporters. Can someone who has only managed a province handle the USFA membership?

Posted by emn075 at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Some are saying USFA did not do enough for CUPE. Others are saying we did enough, or too much.

You might ask: What has the Association done for us lately?

On a day-to-day basis, USFA handles many problems, many of which are confidential. During the month of November, the USFA Executive dealt with the following:

Academic Procedures: Remember how much fun it was, waiting for that tenure or promotion decision? A former Dean called it “tenure terror”. It is harder yet when committees do not follow procedures or observe published standards, and a faculty member must deal with the fallout of a negative decision. USFA provides support and advice for members going through these processes.

The Schools issue: During the last round of bargaining, management made a clear commitment to USFA that there was no intention to use "schools" to bypass collegial procedures. Some faculty members are suspicious that “schools” will be used for patronage appointments and the like, and the Association believes that transparent procedures are the best guard against this. During the past month, the Association has studied this issue and discussed its concerns with the Provost’s office.

Pensions and Retirement: End of Mandatory Retirement (Age Discrimination) in Saskatchewan. Very few of us change our gender, but we all get old. The Sask Justice website Q&A says that the purpose of the legislation is not to force you to work, but to give you a choice as to when to retire. Other commentators feel that this like losing the 5-day week. During the month of November, several of your representatives attended meetings to study this issue, and USFA will be organizing a forum on this topic for the New Year. Needless to say, we also dealt with ongoing matters regarding staffing of two pension committees and proposed pension amendments.

Grievance issues: At any time, our Grievance Officers are dealing with a range of problems. During the CUPE job action many issues arose for our members. For one, the Association was able to persuade management not to suspend the health benefits of those who honoured picket lines. Two, despite having the right to observe a picket line as a matter of individual conscience, a “wildcat” strike is practically a thought crime. (See excerpts from the Trade Union Act at the end of this article.) Some USFA members contemplating activity that could be construed as wildcat activity were provided with timely advice regarding the legal and subsequent financial danger to which they were exposing themselves, and the Association. USFA is also currently arguing for equitable treatment of all members who honoured picket lines, consistent with the language in the collective agreement.

I have not even got around to parking! There is no such thing as a routine day at USFA. If you have concerns with the way some matters are handled, please get involved.

(i) a cessation of work or a refusal to work or to continue to work by
employees acting in combination or in concert or in accordance with a
common understanding; or
(ii) other concerted activity on the part of employees in relation to their
work that is designed to restrict or limit output or the effective delivery
of services;

These definitions are broad. If you so much as discuss the idea of observing a picket line with a workmate, and you both consequently observe, this may satisfying the definition of “cessation to work…by employees acting .. in accordance with a common understanding.”

Posted by emn075 at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cake in the Department office. A plain brown paper sign with "We missed you" written in felt marker hanging in the Engineering Building. Handshakes, smiles, hugs, everywhere. What a community!

Posted by emn075 at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did a day go by during the recent job action that our Employer did not try to use the media against the CUPE leadership?

Day One. HR alleges to the media that some CUPE members are threatening and intimidating other CUPE members about crossing the picket line. To this day, has evidence been presented to support this? Unbelievably, faculty and ASPA members who joined the picket lines were asked by the press if they were afraid of the picketers.

HR then alleged that CUPE was being uncooperative regarding provision of essential services. As I recall, this discussion was dragged out over a weekend.

Then, there were the emails, in clear violation of two collective agreements, stating that health and pension benefits for USFA and ASPA members honouring the picket line would be suspended. Thanks to speedy and effective actions by our bargaining units, these were retracted.

Shortly thereafter, ASPA members were advised by email that their paycheques would be docked if they attended a CUPE event over their lunch break. This was retracted within hours.

On it went, until the weekend of November 24th, when HR published a bargaining update twice implying that the union was “play[ing] games”.

Finally, the capper. On the morning of Tuesday, November 29th, the day on which the CUPE membership was to vote on the University’s “Final Offer”, HR did the only thing tackier than a full page ad. They took out two full page ads, one which reproduced an email from the president.

(Public relations is a tough business. Thus I pity the consultant who advised that the President send an 11th hour email “hop[ing] for wisdom on the part of those entrusted with the decision”. Write when you get work.)

Some may wonder why negotiating in the press, and speaking directly to the members via mailouts is not considered an unfair labour practice. Apparently, such activities may be judged unfair shortly after a union has just been certified, but it is more difficult when the union and the employer have a mature relationship.

The CUPE action showed that the “mature relationship” case cuts both ways. If the relationship is mature enough to allow an employer to use mailouts and full page advertisements, the relationship is mature enough that the employees will make up their own minds on the basis of the facts and their level of trust, and not on the basis of last minute media rhetoric and posturing by the employer.

Thus, taking on the role of chief negotiator for a bargaining unit is not for the faint of heart.

Given the outcome, anyone out there care to comment on the benefits of this approach?

Posted by emn075 at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)