Committee Members: Carson Au, Rummana Khan Hemani, Jo Hinchliffe, Laura Shields, Wanda Dekleva and Anne Mason. Tracy Bruneau is currently taking a leave from the committee to focus on her temporary position of Manager, Administration of Applied Sciences.
In February 2011, Joe Van Snellenberg left his position at the University and consequently, his position as Chair of the Advocacy Committee. Joe had been the Chair since it’s inception and did valuable work leading the committee and coordinating the advocates, as well as acting as APSA advocate in many complex cases. His departure had a strong impact on the committee and in order to ensure continuity and a smooth handover, the APSA Board agreed to compensate him, until his official retirement at the end of August 2011, for recruiting and training new advocates for the committee, for finishing up the cases he was working on and providing documentation on important aspects of the work of the committee.
After Joe’s retirement, the committee met to review the structure of the committee. Committee members agreed that due to time constraints, duties like assigning and tracking cases and doing the initial intake of advocacy cases should be assigned to APSA staff, specifically the Association Director. This would allow the Chair of the committee to be responsible for ensuring the committee meets and preparing the agenda and to take on the Association Director’s advocacy duties in her absence. Carson Au and Rummana Khan Hemani agreed to co-chair the committee for 2011. The committee also recommended to the Board that the Association Director take the lead on complex, lengthy cases, with the assistance of one or more committee members.
In 2011, the Committee dealt with:
16 position eliminations
Often due to budget cuts and reorganizations.
4 investigation meetings
Investigation meetings can involve issues ranging from performance issues to allegations of gross misconduct. They are often very time consuming – meetings can last as long as 3 hours and each investigation can involve 2 or more meetings. As well, the issues addressed are often very serious and may involve the need for legal assistance.
10 advocacy cases
Advocacy cases typically deal with workplace issues or a potential violation of the AD10 policies and informal discipline meetings.
11 assistance cases
Assistance cases are calls to the APSA office, typically involving workplace issues that are resolved prior to being assigned as advocacy cases.
2 return to work cases
An employee returning to work after extensive sick leave, and usually returning from Long Term Disability, has rights not only under the AD10 Policies but the Human Rights Code. The committee assisted two members with Return to Work issues this year.
Three of the above mentioned cases proceeded to the grievance stage but were resolved at either step 1 or 2.
The committee is planning a one-day educational retreat to increase their skills and to build the cohesiveness of the group.