President’s Report for June 2025 + a flexible work survey

Happy summer everyone! I hope you’re able to get away for a vacation (or staycation like me!) in the coming months. In this month’s report, I want to explain a little bit about what I do in my role as president—and not just because we’re getting close to the time of year where we encourage you to run for the position. ;)

At the end of this report is a note on rumours we’re hearing about changes to flexible work guidelines, and a survey that will help us bring robust feedback on this issue to the administration.

A large portion of my work is meeting with senior leaders across campus to ensure staff voices are heard, whether in formal committees or smaller discussions. Recently, Alyssa Kuron, UWSA president-elect, and I have met with:

• The University president and VP admin & finance: We discussed updating our MoA this year and emphasized the need for clearer communication from the President’s Office. We also raised concerns about Nous and UniForum and advocated for UWSA representation on the University Senate.
• The VP admin & finance and the chief human resources officer: We addressed key staff concerns like clearer contract language, flexible work options, and the importance of better training for managers.
• The chief human resources officer and University Relations: We’re working to improve transparency and consistency in university communications and exploring how University Relations can help us share accurate information with you.
• The incoming interim provost: We discussed flexible work, faculty-staff relations, MoA updates, and again pushed for UWSA representation on the Senate.

The UWSA holds half of the seats on each of the Staff Relations Committee and Provost's Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation. Visit our website for details about those committees and your representatives. Lately, these committees have been focused largely on policy updates, SEF proposals, and preparing for salary discussions.

I also spend a lot of my time with members—and would love to do more of this, so please let us know if you can add us to the agenda of your upcoming department meeting!

• New staff orientation: Our communications officer, Laura McDonald, and I welcomed new employees on May 27, introducing them to UWSA and the services we offer.
• Area Representatives: We heard some important updates at this month’s Area Reps meeting, on the new Workday ‘recruit’ module, the UniForum survey, and staff career advising and development. Ask your rep for details!
• Volunteer appreciation lunch: We held our annual celebration of UWSA volunteers on June 18 with a simple lunch and small tokens of appreciation—and UWSA get-to-know-you Bingo! Thank you once again to everyone who gives their time and energy to the association and its members. [photo]
• Member advisory cases: As president, I also serve on our Member Advisory Committee, which helps individual members navigate workplace situations.

If you have concerns about any of the above—or anything else relating to staff working conditions or policies—please let me know through our suggestion box or book a meeting with me. If you need support with an individual workplace situation, Gail Spencer is our dedicated Staff Advocacy Officer and your first point of contact for that!