Blog

Upon joining the University of Waterloo last year, I was pleasantly impressed with how the university’s new values, Think Differently, Act with Purpose and Work Together resonate with my perceptions of Ubuntu. Thinking differently, acting with purpose and working together are essential pillars in the Ubuntu philosophy, and I hope sharing my perspective on Ubuntu can enhance our shared understanding of these values. 

The Staff Association membership is incredibly diverse. We encompass a wide range of roles, backgrounds, lived experiences, and so much more. Our mission at the UWSA is to cultivate a progressive work environment where staff feel safe, empowered to grow, and able to thrive, but we need different things to make this a reality.

To help us all understand each other better, we’re launching a new blog and social media series featuring members’ own experiences and words. We’re kicking it off with contract staff, who make up 18% of the UWSA.

In the last post, we talked about the difference between the work of the Board and the work of the presidents and Operations Team. Now we’ll hear directly from current directors and presidents about what it’s like to serve in these roles!

There are two big categories of UWSA activities, which we refer to as “governance” and "operations." The operations team is concerned with serving UW staff, and the board is concerned with stewarding the UWSA as a corporation.

Internally, the UWSA has two key governing documents that say what we do and how we do it, our Articles of Incorporation, and our By-law.

Welcome to our “UWSA 101” series, in which we explain how the UWSA works, your rights as a member, and how to participate in our elections! 

Our formal relationship with the university is what allows us to officially represent staff interests, and it is defined in our Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the university.

Here’s Yessenia’s report from the Area Representatives meeting on March 14, covering our member survey, recent announcements from the University, the importance of staff participation in the Freedom of Expression focus groups, and more.

It is officially February and I’d like to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month—please check out the events happening on campus and in the community.

It’s the start of a new year for the Staff Association, with our directors and presidents turning over at the end of October. I want to extend a warm thank you to outgoing president Agata Jagielska for her work and welcome Lisa Habel as our new president-elect. At the board level we welcome Tracelyn as vice chair, as well as two new directors: Gitanjali Shanbhag and Alana Guevara. And finally, yours truly, the new president for this next year!

This is my last report as UWSA president; Yessenia Guerrero will be stepping into the role November 1! I want to thank all the area representatives and staff who have been attending our monthly meetings, and bringing information back to your departments.