Staff Relations Committee

The general role of the Staff Relations Committee is to serve as a mechanism for communication between those responsible for the staff relations function of the University and the University staff.

The Committee discusses issues related to staff working condition and other matters with respect to staff-employer relations.

Policies affecting staff exclusively will be developed by the Staff Relations Committee and will recommend new or amended policies to the President and Vice-Chancellor. Depending on the nature of the policy, the President and Vice-Chancellor may issue it as a University Policy, or recommend it to the Board of Governors for approval.The Staff Relations Committee has joint responsibility with the Faculty Relations Committee for Class FS policies. 

Please see Policy 1 for more details.

The Secretary to the Committee is Sarah Willey-Thomas. The Associate Provost, Human Resources and the President of the Staff Association will serve as co-chairs, alternating meeting to meeting.

Staff Relations Committee - Membership

Members 2023-2024

Last Updated: 21 February 2024

President and Vice Chancellor's Appointees

Position Name
Vice-President, Academic & Provost James Rush
Chief Human Resources Officer Michelle Hollis [Chair]
Director, Human Resources, Total Rewards Lee Hornberger
Director, Employee Relations and Planning Lisa Yuhasz
Senior Manager (2 year term) Kate Windsor
Executive Council Member (2 year term) Catherine Newell Kelly
Faculty Dean (2 year term) Sheila Ager

Six Members of the University of Waterloo Staff Association Executive

Position Name
UWSA - Director Kenneth Berry
UWSA - Director Bill Baer
President Yessenia Guerrero [Chair]
President Elect Lisa Habel
Past President Agata Jagielska
UWSA Director Sara Perkins

University of Waterloo Staff Association Member - at Large

Position Name
UWSA - Member-at-Large Goldi Gill

Chief Human Resources and are Co-Chairs to this Committee

Staff Relations Committee - Meeting Dates

2023-2024 Meeting Dates

Date Meeting Time Place
June 22, 2023 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Microsoft Teams
September 7, 2023 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
September 21, 2023 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
October 5, 2023 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
October 18, 2023 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
November 2, 2023 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
November 16, 2023 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
November 30, 2023 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
December 14, 2023 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
January 11, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
January 25, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
February 8, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
February 22, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
March 7, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
March 19, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
April 4, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
April 18, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 2, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 16, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 30, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
June 10, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
June 27, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams

2024-2025 Meeting Dates

Date Meeting Time Place
September 5, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Microsoft Teams
September 19, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
October 3, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
October 17, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
October 31, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
November 14, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
November 28, 2024 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
December 12, 2024 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
January 9, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
January 23, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
February 6, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
February 20, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
March 6, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
March 20, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
April 3, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
April 17, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 1, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 15, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
May 29, 2025 Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
June 12, 2025 Committee Business Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams
June 26, 2025  Organizational Change Meeting 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m Microsoft Teams

Staff Relations Committee - Agendas & Minutes

1. Meeting in open session resolution

WHEREAS, by custom and for practical reasons, the Staff Relations Committee (“the committee”) has historically carried out its meetings entirely in confidential session;

AND WHEREAS the committee recognizes the benefits to the university community of promoting transparency in its work, where feasible and appropriate;

AND WHEREAS the committee affirms the importance of informing the campus community of significant matters related to staff-university relations;

NOW THEREFORE the committee resolves as follows:

  1. THAT, on a trial basis, the committee shall conduct its meetings in both open and closed sessions; and
  2. THAT the open session of the committee’s meetings shall be open to attendance from all members of the university community; and
  3. THAT the confidential session of the committee’s meetings shall be closed and will be attended only by members of the committee and any required resource persons or invitees as the committee may invite from time to time; and
  4. THAT meeting agendas and minutes for the open portion of the meeting shall be made available to the campus community through the Secretariat; and
  5. THAT meeting agendas and minutes for the confidential portion of the meeting shall be circulated only to committee members; and
  6. THAT the committee co-chairs, in consultation with the committee secretary, shall determine which items of business are to be included in each of the open and confidential sessions; and
  7. THAT the trial period shall be for meetings of the committee held from 1 January 2014 to 30 June 2014, inclusive.

Note: at its meeting of 25 June 2014, the committee directed that open sessions of the committee’s meetings be implemented on an ongoing basis.

2. Agenda and minutes

Informing and governing documents