AUFA Member Survey Shows Growing Concern over AU’s Leadership
Between July 31 and August 25, 227 AUFA members (about 53% of the membership) shared their thoughts via a member survey. The bulk of the survey focused on questions specific to bargaining and benefits, the results of which have been shared with the AUFA bargaining team for analysis and to guide their approach in negotiations with the employer. This blog post will focus on what we heard from members about the overall workplace climate at AU.
As in previous surveys, we asked members a series of Likert scale questions about the degree to which they agree or disagree with a statement. We have repeated these same questions over several years to help identify trends over time.
AUFA member responses to climate questions, August 2025
As we have seen in the past, many members see a distinction between enjoying their work (60% agree, 17% disagree) and feeling solid morale (35% agree, 38% disagree). This suggests that some members are navigating a landscape where their own work is engaging and fulfilling but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel positive about the institution overall. While this may be a relatively common feature of academic work in general, there are other troubling signs for the institutional health of AU specifically.
The results for trust in the university’s senior leadership and in AUFA are also broadly similar to previous years: generally speaking, far more members have a positive opinion of AUFA (69%) than AU’s leadership (17%).
In addition to these standard questions, we asked members to rate the leadership of AU President Alex Clark on a scale of 1-10. We added this question because we had started hearing anecdotal evidence that Clark’s honeymoon period might be over and we wanted to understand how widespread this sentiment is. While the survey was open, we received, confirmed, and disseminated information about an alarming number of recent executive-level departures from AU. Still, most respondents (188 of 227, or 83%) had already completed the survey by the time we shared this with members, so we do not believe that this new information significantly skewed the results. Subsequent email communications to members about related issues were sent after the survey closed.
The average rating for President Clark was 4.57 out of 10, with most ratings clustered at the very low end and the middle.
AUFA member responses to “Please rate your confidence in Alex Clark's leadership on a scale of 1-10”
In the open-ended comment field related to these general questions, 96 members provided additional thoughts. Of these, 55 expressed some level of concern about President Clark’s leadership, ranging from general confusion to absolute outrage over specific situations. Highlighted in many comments were operational impacts stemming from the priorities and management style of President Clark.
While there were a handful of positive comments about AU’s leadership (n=5), the overall picture the survey comments paint is that Alex Clark and a very small inner circle are heavily micromanaging the university’s public image to the detriment of core academic operations, where decisions are being stalled and resources not allocated where they’re needed. Several members shared their experience in detail but asked to remain confidential; the stories they shared are extremely concerning and point to possible bullying by the very same person who penned a book about being a “happy academic.” Of the more general and unidentifiable comments, these are representative:
“There are many reasons why I am extremely disappointed in his leadership - all talk, no action; focus on his image rather than on operating the university; politicized with UCP rather than remaining neutral publicly - e.g. not supporting academic freedom of universities and supporting constructive discourse; mass resignations in leadership positions and quiet firing of those who speak about the challenges of the university; not replacing archaic systems that are hanging by a thread, while other universities leap ahead of AU in online education; expecting all employees outside of senior leadership to do more while hiring more senior leaders and support staff for them . . .”
“The amount of turnover in upper leadership is really concerning. All of this turmoil, re-organizing, plus hiring freezes/back-logs is starting to negatively affect my ability to do my work. There are things that aren't getting done (like signing agreements) or take too long or are difficult to do (like getting IT supports) that have impacted my funded research activities.”
“What has been accomplished by SL? A SUP in 3 yrs? What are we doing to increase enrolments? What are we doing to provide the IT services necessary to support our initiatives? Lack of transparency. SL seem to be more concerned with aesthetics?”
“This lack of leadership is creating instability and uncertainty. Documents and questions sent up the president’s office are not responded to. […] Initiatives small and large are stalled, plans and policies are outrageously out of date. Invoices have been missed and not paid.”
“Very few decisions are being made, cannot get timely responses for recruitment of base funded positions, senior leaders seem to have mostly all walked out the door, why? Projects are not being completed or have stalled over the last couple years, very little communication about the plans for AU's future - the strategic plan held no outcomes, he started out strong and was hopeful but its definitely deteriorated and morale and confidence is back down to an all time low.”
“My experience with Dr. Alex Clark's leadership is that there is no leadership.”
“The President is not visible and is not making difficult decisions - if any decisions at all. Little seems to move forward and there has been an increasing number of "non academics" - i.e. layers of bureaucracy preventing anything happening.”
“Senior leadership...they're kinda better but that said, I am also waiting to see more. My biggest issue is the fear they seem to have for advocating for the best interest of students, staff and the long term public interest of the university. Instead there is this fear of the UCP mandates and a whitewashing of anything that may offend the ideology of the government. It's problematic speak and act truth to power.”
“For the first time in a very long time, I am considering leaving Athabasca University due to the culture of fear and chaos that has been created here.”
AUFA’s current priority activity is bargaining with the employer to reach agreement on a new collective agreement. Alex Clark’s leadership is not strictly a bargaining issue, but it does set the tone for the university and impact our working conditions. After several years of upheaval and poorly managed change, members are expressing a strong desire for stability, increased focus on our core academic mission, and long-term thinking that centers student learning and research.
As workloads, stress levels, and institutional pressures remain very high for many members, AUFA volunteers serve a critical role in reaching out and supporting each other as colleagues. The Membership Engagement Committee is seeking more volunteers to help conduct Colleague Calls – safe, frank, supportive one on one conversations with coworkers. The time commitment is flexible; please contact engagement@aufa.ca if you are interested or have questions.
Other AUFA committees are seeking volunteers as well, and there remain two vacancies on the AUFA executive. Please reach out to engagement@aufa.ca or any other executive member if you are interested in volunteering in any capacity.
Rhiannon Rutherford
Membership Engagement Committee member