AUFA Solidarity Statement

Public allegations have been made that during the public session of the Athabasca University Board of Governors meeting on December 9, 2022, a member of the Athabasca University Board of Governors made racist and exclusionary comments. This board member’s comments are alleged to have been made in an open question period following a presentation made by two Athabasca University student leaders who were highlighting the extraordinary financial pressures AU students are under.  

AUFA is releasing the following statement:  

AUFA condemns all forms of overt, covert, and structural racism. Please refer to our equity statement to understand the breadth of AUFA’s commitment to anti-racism and decolonization.  

We value diversity in our students, and we care deeply about students’ learning conditions, especially their feelings of belonging at AU. We therefore denounce the alleged comments that specific students and/or programs of study are less valuable or less worthy of inclusion in our university community.  

We are in solidarity with our colleagues who have been harmed by racism, and we support their right to work in an environment free of racism. We acknowledge that when alleged comments like this come to light at our workplace, people with lived experiences of racism are harmed. Racism in the workplace causes significant physiological and psychological harm, making the workplace a distressing space and increasing the efforts needed in order to conduct one’s work. AUFA is working to be a place where these experiences can be brought forward and members can trust they will be believed, taken seriously, and their concerns acted upon.  

We are in solidarity with the critical work that the Athabasca University Students’ Union (AUSU) is doing to advocate for our students, including their call for a tuition freeze and increased financial support for students. It matters if students are increasing their use of food banks. If students are having to drop out or take fewer courses because the cost of tuition is prohibitive, this is a serious concern for all of us.  

In lieu of an AU equity office to which to take this issue, AUFA has sent a formal request for information clarifying the alleged comments to AU President, Peter Scott, and Sara Kunto, Chief Governance Officer. These allegations are very serious, and they have already had harmful effects among students, staff, and faculty. We look to our leaders for an investigation and an appropriate remedy. 

Upcoming AUFA Elections

Elections for the AUFA Executive and committees will take place at the upcoming Spring General Meeting on Tuesday, May 31, 1:30–4:00pm MST. This blog post outlines the positions that will be elected and highlights other ways to get involved in AUFA.  

Nominations for all elected positions will be open until the final call during the Spring General Meeting (that is, individuals can be nominated from the floor during the meeting). However, if you would like to nominate yourself (for any position) in advance and have a candidate statement included in the meeting package, please send this to Brenda Skayman by end of day Friday, May 20.  

Executive 

The AUFA Executive includes five officers (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Past President) and up to nine member representatives (also called constituency representatives). Each of these positions, with the exception of Past President, will be up for election as part of the Spring General Meeting. The one-year term will begin on July 1, 2022, and end on June 30, 2023.  

The time commitment and scope for these positions varies, as there are few rigid requirements in the current AUFA bylaws. In addition to regularly attending AUFA Executive meetings, officers or member representatives may chair or serve on other AUFA committees, attend conferences or meetings of umbrella or allied organizations, or participate in other initiatives undertaken by the AUFA Executive. For example, the incoming AUFA Executive may choose to pursue projects related to the Equity Audit that is currently underway.  

Questions about any of these positions can be directed to Jolene Armstrong, AUFA Past President, who chairs the Nominating Committee.  

In addition, the AUFA Executive includes non-voting positions: the two AUFA staff members (Executive Director and Professional Officer) and the AUFA representative on the AU Board of Governors (who is currently one year into a three-year term).  

Elected Committees 

Also up for election will be several committee positions. The AUFA bylaws state that both the Equity and Social Committees will “normally” consist of five members each, though in previous general meetings the AUFA membership has extended more flexibility to these committees to expand this number. The terms for elected members of these committees will be one year, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. For more information, contact the AUFA office to be connected with current committee members.  

As well, there are two committees outlined in the collective agreement that will be up for election this year, each with two-year terms (from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024): 

• Professional appeals: Five non-probationary, full-time professional staff members—three primary members, two alternates. See Article 9.5.10.a in the collective agreement for more.  

• Professional appeals with respect to position evaluation: Five non-probationary, full-time professional staff members—three primary members, two alternates. See Article 9.6.4 in the collective agreement for more. 

There is also an academic appeals committee (Article 9.5.10.b in the collective agreement), but this committee is currently in the middle of a two-year term and will be up for election in 2023. Contact the AUFA office or Jolene Armstrong for more information about these committees.  

Appointed Committees  

There are also a number of committees that are appointed by the AUFA Executive.  

The AUFA Executive is currently seeking interest in serving on the Occupational Health and Safety committee. Two members are required to serve on the single, central joint committee that includes employer representatives as well as representatives from each bargaining unit (AUFA, CUPE, and AUPE). These positions are appointed by the AUFA Executive; contact the AUFA office or current OHS representatives (Rhiannon Rutherford or Bob Barnetson) for more information.  

Other appointed committees include the Grievance, Membership Engagement, and Joint Benefits committees. Contact the AUFA office for more information on these committees.  

Jolene Armstrong 

AUFA Past President 

Chair, Nominating Committee 

Board Report, December 10, 2021

Several AUFA members attend the December 10 Board of Governors (BoG) meeting. These are the observations they shared with AUFA.

• Riot Act: The Board chair started the meeting by telling observers not to disrupt or record the meeting. Observers are only able listen in a phone. This warning was apparently unprecedented. It may suggest the Board is beginning to feel some pressure over their poor behaviour at the bargaining table and were worried about disruption of BoG meetings.

• Opaque governance: The reports that comprise the agenda are not available to the public and are mostly dealt with as part of the consent agenda (i.e., there is no discussion). This means that most of the business of the Board is transacted in secret. The meeting ran only about 90 minutes of the 4.5 hours allotted.

• Executive dominated: The university executive did approximately 90% of the talking at the Board meeting. Only one public Board member asked a substantive question, albeit a minor one. It is unclear how engaged the Board members actually are in governance.

• President’s report: The acting president’s verbal report touched on four issues: performance funding metrics, progress on the near virtual initiative, downward enrollment trends, and progress on EDI initiatives. The acting president said nothing substantive, and no questions were asked of the acting president by Board members.

• Enrollments: Some additional analysis of enrollments was presented. The 2020/21 COVID bump in enrollments appears to have been driven by existing student taking more courses, rather than an influx of new students. Some institutions are charging students fees (e.g., the U of L charges $100 for students to take a course elsewhere), which may be affecting visiting enrollments (which are off precipitously). According to the VP University Relations, AU is not doing much recruitment in response to an 11% year-over-year drop in enrollment because it is awaiting the development of an enrollment management strategy.

• Lease extension: A two-year extension of leases at the Trail Location (for approximately 7000 sq feet of space) was approved. This was explicitly discussed as transitional space for meetings, hoteling, and collaborations. The leases were to provide for an early termination option.

• Chair’s report: The totality of the chair’s report was a gift presentation to the departing acting President and an announcement of seasonal gifts for Board members. There was no discussion of AU’s growing labour unrest.

Thanks to the members who attended this meeting and reported back. The next BoG meeting is March 5, 2022, from 8:30 am to 1 pm

Letter to Minister of Advanced Education

On August 16th the Ministry of Advanced Education began a comprehensive overhaul of public board positions, replacing roughly 60 public post-secondary board members before the normal expiration of their terms. This includes three board members at Athabasca University, including the Board Chair. The Athabasca University Faculty Association views this drastic change as interference in the independence of public universities in pursuit of an austerity agenda.

The attached letter was sent to Minister Nicolaides by AUFA President Jolene Armstrong on behalf of members.