Fair Employment Week (October 22 to 26, 2018) The working conditions of contract academic staff (sessionals) are of both local and national concern, which is why the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) annually promotes and plays a coordinating role…
A recent arbitration award on the use of student questionnaires for teaching evaluations of Ryerson Faculty Association members may have impacts on how these instruments are handled at other institutions for measuring teaching effectiveness. More information is available in an…
Academic staff members meet from time to time with their Department Head or Dean (or equivalent) on a variety of matters. Most such conversations are regarding such things as planning or assessment and are collegial. There are, however, times when…
From time to time University of Calgary Payroll may make errors whereby an academic staff member is over-paid by the institution. The Faculty Association has had concerns with how repayment may have been handled by Payroll in the past. Payroll…
University of Calgary Associate Professor Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt (pictured centre) has been awarded the 2018 CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award. Also pictured are Hon. Marlin Schmidt, Minister of Advanced Education and Dr. Mary-Ellen Tyler, CAFA President, U of…
– By Sandra Hoenle, Faculty Association President – Yesterday the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) released a report “Into the Enbridge Centre for Corporate Sustainability At the University of Calgary”. It is now available at https://www.caut.ca/sites/default/files/caut-ahic-report-calgary-enbridge-centre-for-corporate-sustainability_2017-10.pdf. The Faculty Association welcomes…
- By Sandra Hoenle, Faculty Association President - The provincial government is consulting academic staff across the province regarding putting Faculty Associations under the Labour Act as traditional trade unions. We want to alert you to this exercise, but also…
Dear Colleagues, Fair Employment Week (October 18 to 22) is an opportunity to reflect on the essential role played by sessional instructors in the life of the University and, in our case, the Faculty Association. This term, there are 550…
Schedule B of the Collective Agreement has provisions for paid sick time for sessional staff. However, these provisions are limited and may not be sufficient to accommodate illness due to COVID-19. The Faculty Association and the Governors of the University…
An ongoing pandemic, provincial budget cuts, Alberta 2030 consultations, Growth Through Focus congresses, pressure to return to face to face teaching, and uncertainty about the university budget. To say that this has been a stressful term cannot adequately capture the…
In Search of Professor Precarious is a documentary feature in which the director, a long-time precarious contract instructor, travels Canada to lift the curtain on higher education's dirty little secret. The search takes viewers into the lives of precarious contract…
We want to remind all members in the pension plan that you have two years from the date of receiving a tenured contract to purchase prior service. If you do not purchase the prior service during that window, you cannot…
The winter term has now come to an end and we have met the challenge of fall and winter terms delivered predominantly in an online format. This was demanding and you should be proud of the work you have done.…
The Honourable Minister of Advanced Education, Demetrios Nicolaides, released the much-anticipated Alberta 2030 strategy on April 29th. The Faculty Association welcomed opportunities to participate in this engagement process and will continue to engage in this process. We have several concerns…
Normally, the Faculty Association offers workshops related to the tenure, renewal of tenure track, promotion, or transfer between the streams for academic staff members who are considering applying through these processes. Given the current situation, we are unable to provide…
You are likely aware that CAUT has censured the University of Toronto. Our Faculty Association has been supportive of this move by CAUT Council as the actions that have been taken by the leadership at the University of Toronto are…
As with most of our members, the Faculty Association staff continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to do our best to help members to navigate through issues as they arise despite the pandemic. When an academic…
The Faculty Association would like to remind its members about the right to representation in situations of conflict, discipline, or potential discipline. Many conflicts can be resolved informally at an early stage by the academic staff member alone (sometimes with…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
The Faculty Association has begun undertaking surveys to allow the academic staff members in various faculties and similar units to provide direct input to the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and the review committee (if applicable) regarding the performance of the…
According to our records there are currently (as of March 17, 2021) 1861 ongoing academic staff working at the University of Calgary. Below is an overview of the Faculty Association membership numbers.
As you prepare your taxes, remember that your Faculty Association dues (which include your CAUT dues) are tax deductible. You can find these dues on your pay stub and in box 44 of your 2020 U of C T4.
The Election Committee reports the following results for the election of Association Board of Directors members. Ballots for the election were issued to 2477 electors using Simply Voting on February 25, 2021 and voting closed on March 18, 2021. There…
According to the list of academic staff members that the University Administration provides to the Faculty Association, there are currently 2,418 academic staff members at the University of Calgary (Datamart: September 21, 2021). Of these, 552 (23 per cent) are…
Fair Employment Week (FEW) is taking place from October 18 to 22, 2021. Fair Employment Week is CAUT's annual campaign to raise awareness about precarious employment on campuses and support local organizing to improve the working conditions of contract academic…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
Dear Colleagues, I know that the fall term is not beginning the way we hoped and that many remain anxious and uncertain about how it will unfold. I appreciate that many of you reached out to TUCFA over the summer…
There will be a federal election on Monday, September 20th. Decades of underfunding post-secondary education has led to higher tuition, higher workloads, and less job security, inevitably resulting in increased inequity on campuses. While these issues are not new, they…
The Faculty Association and the Governors of the University of Calgary have agreed to provide sick time to for sessional academic staff (with Fall 2021 appointments) who become ill with COVID-19. Sessional academic staff who become ill with COVID-19 will…
The University of Calgary has decided to close operations on September 30th, in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Faculty Association office will also be closed for the day. There will be several activities on campus…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
The Faculty Association staff continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to do our best to help members navigate through issues as they arise despite the pandemic. When an academic staff member contacts the Faculty Association, their…
The Faculty Association would like to remind its members about the right to representation under the Collective Agreement. One of the key purposes of the Faculty Association is to protect academic staff interests through its work to resolve conflicts between members…
David Stewart, President Dear Colleagues, We are beginning a new fall term unlike anything any of us have experienced before and one which will bring challenges that none of us anticipated. The personal has become professional in ways that have…
You may recall that the Faculty Association filed a grievance regarding the use of USRI in tenure, promotion, merit assessment and hiring with the Provost last June. The grievance has moved through the grievance process of the Collective Agreement and the Faculty…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
The Faculty Association would like to remind its members about the right to representation under the Collective Agreement. One of the key purposes of the Faculty Association is to protect academic staff interests through its work to resolve conflicts between members…
As with most of our members, the Faculty Association Staff continue to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a strange and difficult time for new members to begin a career at the University of Calgary. We hope that…
The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary, in accordance with its policy concerning the Assessment of Deans and equivalents, has completed a survey of the academic staff members in Faculties where the Dean is at the end of their…
Dear Colleagues, As I’m sure you are aware, Fair Employment week (October 19 to 23) is an opportunity to note the significant role played by sessional instructors in the life of the university and, in our case, the Faculty Association.…
Fair Employment Week, taking place from October 19 to 23, is CAUT’s annual campaign to raise awareness about precarious employment on campuses and support local organizing to improve the working conditions of contract academic staff. In light of COVID-19, this…
As reported in the Academic Views in June, the Association filed two policy grievances on sessional issues. The first grievance is related to Winter 2020 Sessional instructors; the second is related to Spring/Summer 2020 sessional instructors. In both grievances, the…
According to the list of academic staff members that the University Administration provides to the Faculty Association, there are currently 2,343 academic staff members at the University of Calgary. Of these, 497 (21%) are sessional instructors. Based on the list…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
We are thankfully coming to the end of this challenging term with a large amount of marking confronting many of us. This term may well have been the most demanding teaching term you have experienced in your career and you…
The University’s Academic Crisis Management Task Force has been central to the University’s response to the pandemic. Representatives from the Faculty Association had been participating in the Task Force’s meetings but the Task Force was unfortunately disbanded in September.
The Faculty Association has been receiving inquiries from members as to whether Heads or Associate Deans can unilaterally change the grades of students. The University Calendar outlines a general appeal process and some Faculties have implemented their own appeal processes…
The Faculty Association would like to remind our members of the “Letter of Understanding: Recognition of Graduate Student Supervision” in the Collective Agreement. When graduate students are hired under Article 23.2 L) (to provide teaching experience for a registered graduate student…
Each academic year, a Sessional Travel Fund Committee will distribute a Sessional Travel Fund of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) amongst eligible Sessional appointees to reimburse certain travel expenses per the Collective Agreement. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, there are changes to the…
The Faculty Association raised concerns with the Administration around access to campus resources leading up to, and following sessional appointments. It has been clarified with the Administration that sessional instructiors should have access to email, the bookstore, the library, and…
The Faculty Association provides Member Emergency Funding to help individual members under emergency circumstances due to a sudden loss or decline in remuneration from the University. Member Emergency Funding is not intended to be used in cases where normal remuneration…
The Faculty Association is encouraging members to participate in a survey from the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) regarding workers’ experience during the pandemic. While this survey originates in Ontario, the survey is National and relevant to academic staff. This…
The Faculty Association is seeking nominees to the Association Board of Directors. There are five (5), three-year term, vacancies open for election on the Board of Directors. All nominees must be current members of the Association. In addition, the designated…
The Faculty Association office will be closing for the holidays on December 18, 2020, and will reopen on January 4, 2021. The Association’s voicemail will be checked regularly on days that the University is open. The Faculty Association staff will…
The following is a list of Department Representatives, by department, for the 2020-2021 academic year. If your department or faculty is not listed below, it is because the Faculty Association has not received information about the election of a representative…
The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary, in accordance with its policy concerning the Assessment of Deans and equivalents, has completed a survey of the academic staff members in Faculties where the Dean or Dean-equivalent is at the mid-point…