Power and Restraint

In this post from one of our members, Dr. Jane Arscott explains the problems inherent in de-designation and its impact on Athabasca University as a whole.

De-designation of even one individual is a matter of concern to AUFA. Revision to the Postsecondary Learning Act has given Boards unilateral power to bypass faculty associations in the determination of who counts as an academic. AUFA seeks to have the Board either withdraw or revise any new designation policy, and thereby retain the status quo ante. De-designation is contrary to the best interests of Athabasca University. Here’s why.

Reverse Course on Labour-Management Relations

Labour-management relations have been in a bad way at AU since 2008. The situation worsened in 2012 when the AU-AUFA Equity Committee ceased meeting and has deteriorated further since then. It is long past time to reverse course. Why? Simply put, management should be positioning AU to be the lynchpin in Campus Alberta by year’s end when the Government of Alberta commissioned report 2030: Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Alberta is completed. With collective bargaining scheduled to begin in the fall, the issue of designation needs to be resolved now so as not to poison the well.

A significant gesture of good will

De-designation would level a terrible blow to the university’s reputation just when it could be having its “Cinderella moment” (Climenhaga, 16 June 2020). To conjure that magic, management would first make a significant gesture of good will. Longtime employees may recall a transformation of typesetters designated to AUPE re-designated to become web designers in AUFA back in the day when good will enabled negotiated settlements. The first move rests with management since the designation power conferred by legislation now entitles the Board as the powerholder to use it, without actually requiring its use.

Forbearance is a form of restraint through intentional inaction. It is as much a legitimate use of power as its exercise. The Government of Alberta has empowered PSI Boards to act unilaterally in the designation of employees. In the absence of good will, positions harden and acrimony follows.

How we got here

For the last six months the lives of professionals, academic coordinators and other AUFA members have been disrupted: “Will they, won’t they, will they, won’t they, will they halt this dance?” The members most likely to be affected have borne the brunt of cascading uncertainties caused by work intensification, COVID, and changes to the work environment, including working from home. Stress on members is further compounded by announced cuts to the university’s expenditures, now postponed to next year. Then there is the looming restructure, about which information is lacking, as is its relation to de-designation.

How the prospect of de-desigination feels

Destabilized conditions of work affect workers’ concentration, energy and contribute to cognitive overload. Low mood, depression, mental health conditions and low morale result. The toll on employee health exacted from on-going work-related strain, stress and anxiety ripples out to work morale and organizational health in addition to families and communities. Such effects are real and largely avoidable. The results of the employee engagement survey completed in early June may reflect some of these negative impacts.  

Co-operation and collaboration to co-create AU for the next 50 years

In order for AU to be a leader in Campus Alberta AU would have to restructure itself to become more cooperative, collaborative and creative. Internally, AU’s labour-management relations must transform academic work so as to bring about AU’s vision of transforming lives and communities. Externally, new kinds of sustainable partnerships with other PSIs to share resources, technology, infrastructure and programming in Alberta are foreseeable. AU requires exemplary labour-management relations to enable AU to thrive not by fiat but through successful negotiation with AU’s staff associations.

Academic work relates to AU’s Mission

The passion of staff for their academic work exceeds formal role descriptions in service to students and co-workers in the best interests of the university. Academic work reflects AU’s institutional culture and structures, without explicitly saying we are all involved in academic-related work flowing from AU’s Mission. This integrated learning ecosystem frames what can be achieved externally through consultation and negotiation. Here’s how to change the status quo.

De-designation is the canary in the coalmine. The bird’s health depends on the ecosystem. Professionals and academic coordinators require equitable access to healthy air as much as the professoriate does. They need to be valued equitably for their subject-matter expertise, professional judgment and academic freedom just as the professoriate are. I believe all staff need to be seen, recognized and prized members of the academic work of Athabasca University in the achievement of its Mission. AU staff should be treated according principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). That is what I understand to be what one AU does by building relationships.

Role descriptions

The Academic Role Description of the professoriate is just one type of academic-related employment, and is certainly not the only one that is crucial to the thriving of AU, and the dignity and worth of the people and communities that have affinities to it. Members of four remarkably cohesive employee associations keep AU operational through thick and thin. Responding to wildfires like those of nature, financial exigency, other existential threats and, most recently, a pandemic are contingencies AU people surmount in order to thrive.

The storied “Athabasca handshake” is outmoded at a time of physical distancing, though the kernel of passion at its heart remains as before. I believe good will remains in the sinews that connect all who work and study at AU.

An invitation in closing

In conclusion, I invite the Members of the Board of Governors to use the power of designation in the best interests of Athabasca University. I ask for forbearance through non-use of the Board’s unilateral power of designation. Instead, bring AU’s people together in a shared commitment to quality postsecondary education, excellence in research and service coordinated by AU’s Mission and actualized by revised job descriptions that relate to the mission and the best interests of the university.

Join with us in that conversation. Renewal of good will could begin today with a meaningfully negotiated resolution of the designation issue.

Join us, won’t you?

Jane Arscott

Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences