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

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?

Please warmly welcome these new APSA members who have joined us in the past month. Albright, Mackenzy     Head PreparatorRehire SFU Galleries External Relations  Budgell, Meagan Administrative CoordinatorNew to SFU MED Undergraduate Medical Education Medical School Chan, Fiona Human Resources AssociateNew Appointment Labour Relations & Compensation Human Resources

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. The amendments will now go to the APSA members for ratification. Please learn more here. 

Each month, the Advocacy Committee answers your questions about the AD 10 policies (aka, your terms and conditions of employment.)

We have recently received some great news from SFU. Tess Williams and APSA have been advocating for gender-affirming care for members since our last round of negotiations in 2022. We gave previous updates on both SFU's commitment to gender-affirming care coverage and to proactively complete preliminary work to provide a basic suite of gender-affirming benefits with our benefits carrier, Pacific Blue Cross. In a letter on August 1, 2024, Chris Hatty, Executive Director, Human Resources and Labour Relations, wrote to us:

APSA has finally received the agreed-upon mediated recommendations for the Basic Agreement. [To ratify these amendments, here is what's planned. On August 20, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., we will hold an information session on the changes so you can speak to the main committee members who helped secure these amendments. Please look out for an email with more details and a link to register for the session.

  Learn more about the Basic Agreement: Current Basic Agreement Ratification Updates

Left Behind: The Impact of Job Cuts