New measures for fall return to campus
Message from Ed McCauley, President of the University of Calgary to the University Community on August 17, 2021. https://www.ucalgary.ca/risk/sites/default/files/Covid-19%20Folder/Joint%20Statement%20UofC%20UofA%20UofL_FINAL.pdf University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and University of Lethbridge to include rapid testing or vaccination, and masks as part of…
Call for mandatory Covid measures
Message from David Stewart, Faculty Association President sent to members of the Faculty Association on August 16, 2021. Last week in an effort to protect those who are teaching in the fall (and indeed the entire University community) as fully…
Opportunity to reassess modality for academic staff and additional teaching supports
Joint message from Teri Balser, University of Calgary Provost and Vice-President (Academic), and David Stewart, Faculty Association President, sent to members of the Faculty Association on August 10, 2021. In the past week, conversations between the University of Calgary administration…
President’s Report
As the summer term begins, most of us have turned our thoughts towards the fall and the challenges that term will bring. The government assures us that everything will be open, and the university is acting on that assumption and…
Member Privacy and University Resources
The pandemic has brought many new and unprecedented challenges as we work remotely, including staying connected, teaching, and collaborating on research. We have been introduced to many new communications tools which went from obscurity to ubiquity in a matter of…
Clarification on the Suspension of the 2021 Merit Assessment Process
As we and the Provost have reported previously, the Faculty Association and the Governors agreed to suspend the merit assessment process for the July 2019 to June 30, 2021 assessment period. Unfortunately, the Faculty Association has been hearing from members…
Role of Department Representatives
We would like to acknowledge and thank the members of the Faculty Association who served as Department Representatives for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. This year has been a particularly challenging and uncertain time, and we appreciate the valuable insights that…
Return to Campus
The past 16 months have been stressful for many academic staff members. Many members will view the prospect of returning to campus and in-person instruction with excitement and relief, while others will be more cautious and may experience additional stress.…
Faculty Association Office
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 navigate through issues as they arise despite the pandemic. When an academic staff…
Results from Dean Surveys
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 end…
Access to Campus Resources for Sessional Instructors
During the last round of negotiations, the Faculty Association raised concerns with the Administration around access to campus resources leading up to and following sessional appointments. It has been clarified that sessional instructors should have access to email, the bookstore,…
Sessional Travel Fund
Each academic year, a Sessional Travel Fund Committee distributes a Sessional Travel Fund of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) amongst eligible Sessional appointees to reimburse certain travel expenses to a maximum of $1,500 per sessional appointee as agreed in Schedule B…
Board of Directors and Officers for 2021-2022
The Faculty Association Board of Directors Members for the 2021-2022 academic year are as follows: David Stewart (President) John Baker (Grievance Advisor) Marie-Andrée Bergeron Tavis Campbell (non-voting, Board of Governors Nominee) Nigel Caulkett (Officer at Large) Kent Donlevy (Grievance Advisor)…
Statement on Laurentian University
Our Faculty Association’s Executive joins CAUT Council and our colleagues at Laurentian and across Ontario in opposing the actions that have taken place at Laurentian University and the threat to public universities posed by those actions. We stand with our…
CAFA’s comments on Alberta 2030
The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations has released a press release responding to the Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs report that was released last week by the Alberta Government. The response from CAFA highlights several concerns that may be…
Upcoming Drive-by Protest
Faculty Association members, including President, David Stewart, will be participating in a drive-by protest on March 27 to show support for post-secondary education in Alberta. This will be similar to the January 30 protest and will involve a drive-around of…
AASUA Petition: Protect Alberta Education
The Faculty Association at the University of Alberta is requesting support for an online petition and also looking for help for a more general campaign. Please visit protectourfuture.ca for more information and to participate.
Health Measures and Vaccine Updates: Impacts to the Post-Secondary Sector
A message from Alberta Advanced Education: March 16, 2021 Alberta Health has updated their Health Measures to reflect the latest Step 2b changes that came into effect on March 8th and Dr. Hinshaw announced on March 15th, details of Alberta’s…
Statement on 2021-22 Alberta Provincial Budget
We are disappointed that the government has persisted with cuts to college and university funding and we wish to make clear that the removal of $90 million from post-secondary operations will not contribute to higher quality education. Unfortunately, the budget makes clear that…
Stop PSE Cuts Drive-by Protest
On January 30, 2021, the Faculty Association of the University of Calgary joined other supporters of post-secondary education in Alberta in voicing our support for stable funding of post-secondary education and expressing our concern about the province’s future. We hope…
New Alberta Health Measures from Dec 8th, 2020: How they apply to Post-Secondary Sector
A message from Alberta Advanced Education: December 10, 2020 On Tuesday, December 8th, 2020, Alberta announced new measures to protect the health care system and reduce the rising spread of COVID-19. Alberta's government, under the guidance from the Chief Medical…
New Alberta Health Measures from Nov 24, 2020: How they apply to Post-Secondary Sector
A message from Alberta Advanced Education: November 27, 2020 On Tuesday, November 24, Alberta announced new measures to protect the health care system and reduce the rising spread of COVID-19. With respect to Alberta's post-secondary system, Alberta's government under the…
Alberta 2030 Consultations
Letter from Faculty Association President, David Stewart, to McKinsey & Company Alberta-2030-ResponseDownload Related to submission from Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations which is available here
Federal Advocacy – MP Outreach
The Faculty Association at the University of Calgary is joining the call for stronger federal support for post-secondary education. Universities and colleges are critical to the COVID-19 response and recovery, providing much needed research, knowledge, education and training. Yet, as in Alberta,…
Support for Health Care Workers
The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary (TUCFA) supports the efforts of front line health care workers to protect their jobs. We urge the Government of Alberta to reconsider the elimination of these positions and honour the contributions these…
Anti-Racism Statement by the Faculty Association of the University of Calgary
The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary is standing in solidarity with our members and members of the community who are raising their voices to fight racism and discrimination in our communities and within the Academy. The Faculty Association…
National survey on contract academic staff reflects local experience
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…
Ryerson arbitration award on student evaluations significant for Associations nationally
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 have right to representation
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…
Recovery of payroll errors requires explicit consent
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…
U of C Associate Professor receives CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award
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…
Designation of MaPS employees
September 25, 2018 The Faculty Association has filed a Labour Board application to designate all Management and Professional Staff (MaPS) as Academic Staff (except those few who might be excluded - e.g. HR/Labour Relations). It will take some time for…
CAUT report on Enbridge Centre for Corporate Sustainability
– 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…
Possible Hidden Dangers/Consequences in Government Consultation
- 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…
Department Representative Bulletins 2017-2018
October 11, 2017 November 16, 2017 March 21, 2018 May 10, 2018
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Current and past University related acronyms and abbreviations (.pdf)
President’s Report
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…
Sick Time for Sessional Staff with COVID-19
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…
President’s Report
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’ Film Streaming During Fair Employment Week
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…
Increasing Your Pensionable Service
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…
President’s Report
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.…
Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs
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…
Tenure / Promotion / Renewal / Transfer
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…
Censure against University of Toronto
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…
Faculty Association Office Remains Available
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…
Faculty Association Representation
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…
Member Emergency Funding
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…
Dean Surveys
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…
Association Officers for 2021-2022
The Board of Directors has announced the Association's Officers for 2021/22 (effective July 1, 2021). Joining President, David Stewart on the Executive will be: Vice-President and Treasurer - Justine Wheeler Principal Negotiator - Hamid Habibi Grievance Advisors - John Baker…
CAUT Dues Changes 2021-2022
Minor changes in the CAUT dues take effect on July 1, 2021. These dues fees are calculated based on average academic staff salaries by rank, as reported annually by Statistics Canada, applied against an approved mil rate. The mil rate…
Membership by the Numbers
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.
Dues are Tax Deductible
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.
Election of Board of Directors Members
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…
Sessional Instructors by the Numbers
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…
CAUT Fair Employment Week Activities
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…
Member Emergency Funding
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…
President’s Report
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…
Upcoming Federal Election
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…
Sick-Time for Sessional Staff with COVID-19
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…
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
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…
Member Emergency Funding
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…
Faculty Association Office
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…
President’s Report
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…
Updates and Changes to the USRI
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…
Membership Emergency Fund
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…
Faculty Association Representation
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…
Faculty Association Office Remains Available
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…
Deans Surveys
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…
President’s Report
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.…
CAUT Fair Employment Week Activities
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…
Impact of pandemic on sessional academics
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…
Sessional instructors by the numbers
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…
Membership Emergency Fund
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…
President’s Report
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…
Academic Crisis Management Task Force Disbanded
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.
Grade Reappraisals; Powers of Associate Deans
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…
Recognition of Supervision of Student Sessional Instructors
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…
Changes to Sessional Travel Fund During the Pandemic
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…
Access to Campus Resources for Sessional Instructors
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…
Membership Emergency Fund
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…
Second Phase of OHCOW Survey of Workers’ Experience during a Pandemic
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…
Nominations for Board of Directors
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…
Faculty Association Office Closures
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…
Department Representatives
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…
Deans Surveys
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…