Hello APSA Members, You're invited to join us for Conversations with the Board — Spring edition. Come by for a coffee and chat with an APSA  board member at your campus. We'd love to speak with you about your work life and how APSA can help you.  Tuesday, February 25, from 11:30 - 1:00 p.m. at Harbour Centre at Vancouver Campus, Room 2250 Tuesday, March 4, from 11:30 - 1:00 p.m. at Surrey Campus, Room SRYC 2746 Tuesda,y April 15, from 11:30 - 1:00 p.m. at Burnaby Campus, Room HAL 114

As SFU's staff and faculty hiring freeze persists and APSA positions continue to be eliminated, some troubling issues surround SFU's people-centred approach in which these position eliminations are conducted. While there are HR Strategic Business Partners who conduct these meetings with the care and compassion necessary for the circumstances, there are far too many instances where our members feel like SFU’s treatment of them is more punitive and less like they were valuable employees whose positions had to be eliminated due to a budget crisis.

February Update

Transparency and SFU’s Budget

On January 23, 2025, the SFU Provost office announced the closure of the Vancity Office of Community Engagement and SFU’s Office of Community Engagement, eliminating several key positions in those programs. SFU has apparently made this decision without a well-communicated plan or approval by the Board of Governors. It was deeply disappointing to many of SFU’s staff and students that SFU did not present solutions on how the work of these vital offices, which evidently continues, will be supported.

We love our volunteers. Why volunteer for APSA? Volunteers are an essential part of the operation and culture of APSA. Every volunteer makes a difference to APSA members from all of SFU’s campuses. We would love for you to be one of them. Please have a look below for the volunteer opportunities, time commitment for each chance and details below. You could improve the workplace and work lives of over 1700 people. What’s in it for me?

APSA has been hearing more and more about issues with SFU's current Hybrid Work Arrangements. We wanted to learn about your concerns about returning physically to work at SFU and what you’re looking for in hybrid work arrangements. Below are the results from our recent survey on hybrid work arrangements at the University. *Please note that some questions remained the same as those in the 2021 survey for benchmarking purposes.

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Chen, Winston C.Y. Senior Financial Analyst New to SFU Research Accounting

Tess Williams played a vital role as an APSA board member, advocating for the inclusion of gender-affirming care in the extended healthcare benefits for SFU employees. Her activism for gender-affirming health care extends beyond SFU. Tess is also a part of the Society for Advocacy for Gender-affirming Healthcare (SAGAH), which is currently calling for:

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Abdullah, Amal Javed  Project Coordinator Rehire Centre for Dialogue VPA Engagement & Dialogue   Boehringer, Justin Associate Director, Indigenous Perspectives New to SFU MED Student Learner Affairs Medical School   Dhillon, Sandeep Senior Financial Analyst New to SFU MED Office of the Dean

Negotiations Joint University/Association Committee: JUAC has been meeting monthly to discuss and attempt to resolve such matters of mutual concern as may arise. These matters may include updates to legislation, flexible working conditions, and other items that can affect APSA members’ terms and conditions of employment and work life at SFU.

Hello everyone, Welcome back to a new year at SFU, and my best wishes to you and your family for 2025! I hope that your time of the holidays was peaceful and relaxing.

January Update

It's January and the start of a new year! Here's a quick list of benefits that reset each calendar year. 1. Vacation time AD 10.8 You now have access to your yearly vacation allotment. Here's a table below for reference. Number of Calendar Years of Employment Length of Vacation Entitlement

December Update

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Acheson, Cassidy Lynnae Specialist, Knowledge, Mobility & EDI New to SFU VPRI Administration VPR VP Research Summary   Acierno, Chelsey Caroline Director, International Student Recruiter

Negotiations Joint University/Association Committee: As part of completing the Basic Agreement Bargaining, the parties will now begin the process of meeting to discuss negotiating non-monetary items for the APSA membership. JUAC is in the process of selecting an external mediator to support this committee. The committee met last month and will meet this month before our Winter closure.

Resources: https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/co… https://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/administrativ…

Hybrid Work and You

Register today for APSA's Winter Social 2025 When: January 15, 2025, from 3-5 p.m. Where: The Study, Burnaby Campus

  We’ve got you covered on what happened at the meeting.

APSA is pleased to announce the new officers for the APSA board of directors. Ben Boyle was voted in as the 2025 president, Kim O'Donnell was voted in as the new vice-president, and Patrick McClarty is your 2025 treasurer. Please take a moment to congratulate all the appointees. We know they are dedicated and will work hard to achieve the interests of APSA members.

Before heading off on holiday, have you taken note of these year-end items? Paid leave – Holiday closure AD 10.08 Once again, the University will be closed for the holiday break. Continuing members will be paid for this time. Temporary members will be paid for this time period if the last day of your temporary appointment is after the holiday closure.

Negotiations Joint University/Association Committee: As part of completing the Basic Agreement Bargaining, the parties will now begin the process of meeting to discuss negotiating non-monetary items for the APSA membership. JUAC is in the process of selecting an external mediator to support this committee.

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Chartrand, Anik Colette Program Manager, Indigenous Grad Programs New to SFU Beedie Graduate Programs Beedie School of Business   Curtis, Danielle Marie Travelling Therapist

Should Sick Notes be Required for Short-Term Illnesses? The Canadian Medical Association is calling for sick notes not to be required for short-term or casual illnesses, citing the need for them as a 'human resource' issue rather than a medical one.

After a lengthy hiring process over the summer, APSA is pleased to announce our newest member of the APSA team, Aicha Araba Etrew.

The APSA team has received many questions from our members about this policy and the opportunity it presents for members to enrich their careers and bring new innovative ideas to the University.

Termination without Cause: Some Troubling Developments Before I let you know of a new development SFU recently introduced, a little background about what our collective agreement says about the subject of termination.

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month.   Brodersen, Jenna Danielle Coordinator, International Programs  New to SFU Beedie Office of the Dean      Beedie School of Business                                     Brown, Kristen Lee

Negotiations Joint University/Association Committee: As part of completing the Basic Agreement Bargaining, the parties will now begin the process of meeting to discuss negotiating non-monetary items for the APSA membership. JUAC is in the process of selecting an external mediator to support this committee.

Each month, our Advocacy Committee answers your questions about the AD 10 policies (aka, your terms and conditions of employment.) Hello. I’m Mike Peragine, an advocate on APSA’s Advocacy Committee. On behalf of the Committee, I’m answering your question about recourse for job description changes.  

  Resources August 20, 2020 Letter https://apsacentral.ca/sites/default/files/2023-0…

Overtime Revisited

Congratulations to your new Board Members for 2024 Three members were nominated for APSA’s Board of Directors for a three-year term, and one member has been nominated for a one-year term. The board positions have been determined by acclamation.   Patrick McClarty Project Manager — UniForum@SFU Dear APSA Members,

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Albright, Mackenzy Head Preparator Rehire SFU Galleries VPA Engagement   Cheung, Brandon Operating Systems Consultant ll New to SFU

Negotiations Basic Agreement Bargaining: APSA and SFU negotiated the Basic Agreement on January 15-19 and February 1 and were in mediation from April 15-17. Chris Sullivan, the mediator, released mediated recommendations on May 16, which the APSA board of directors approved. SFU's Board of Governors and APSA members have both voted to approve the recommended changes, which will go into effect once both parties sign the document.

Each month, our advocates answer your questions about workplace challenges, the AD 10 policies, and how they’re applied. Questions? Submit them anonymously here. These questions will be answered in a monthly advocacy corner issue. For an immediate answer, please contact APSA.

APSA's Board of Directors has four open director positions. Are you interested in applying? Director position description A director:

Hello APSA Members, You're invited to join us for Conversations with the Board — Fall edition. Come by for a coffee and chat with a board member at your campus. We'd love to speak with you about your work life and how APSA can help you.  Wednesday, November 6, from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. at Harbour Centre at Vancouver Campus, Room 2105

A huge thank you to all the members who participated in ratifying the Basic Agreement recommendations from mediator Chris Sullivan. APSA is pleased to note that we had 634 members participate, despite the information session and voting being held over the summer.  We had 621 votes accepting the recommendations and 13 votes rejecting them, for an overall 97.75% support of accepting the changes. This means that the ratification vote has passed and our next steps would be to have both SFU and APSA sign the document.

September Update Happy new academic year! Since my last update in June, there's been quite a few developments to provide updates on:

The Impact of Job Cuts on Your Work: Part II Last month, in this column, I wrote about the impact of job cuts on your work. I also asked for your anonymous, written responses to a single survey question: Since the mass job cuts in May, what has the impact been on your workload and other aspects of your position?