President's Year-End Report: 2025–2026

To the Waterloo staff community,

My first year as President has been exceptionally busy with no shortage of challenges, but we also accomplished so much together. I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to continue as President and build on the progress we've made.

I first want to express my immense gratitude to our fantastic Operations Team, engaged Board, dedicated committee representatives and volunteers, and especially our members, whose feedback, participation, and trust make our work possible. A very special thank you to Lisa Habel: your support, guidance and extraordinary involvement as past president has been invaluable.

There’s far more to celebrate than I can cover here, so please check out our 2026 Annual Report for more highlights and the many ways we've supported and celebrated our staff community. Here, I'm taking a closer look at the issues that have shaped my work as President, what we've achieved, and where we're headed.

Ratifying a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the University was unquestionably our biggest accomplishment this year and I cannot overstate the enormous volume of work it took. The new MoA strengthens our ability to represent staff through a formal compensation negotiation process, access to mediation and binding arbitration, an Association grievance process, and clearer consultation and representation rights. I expect before too long, we’ll be seeking member input on future revisions. Our focus has now shifted to implementing policy updates, updating our internal practices, and making the most of these new tools to advocate for staff.

A new negotiation framework

We immediately moved into our first formal compensation negotiations under the new MoA. The resulting two-year settlement established salary increases for 2026 and 2027, a healthcare spending account, and commitments to improve the vacation policy, contract staff sick days, emergency leaves, and the Staff Excellence Fund. I'm pleased with what we achieved on a very short timeline in a challenging financial environment. Nonetheless, fair and competitive compensation remains a key priority. I’m particular concerned with how the Flexible Increase Pool (FIP) will take effect in 2027 (we hope to have more information to share soon). We're also laying the groundwork for a strategic approach to future negotiations with opportunities coming soon for member involvement.

Our Member Advisory Committee addressed more than 234 individual situations since last October, an increase of more than 50% from last year! While this seems concerning (and it is!), it also reflects increased awareness of our services. Individualized support is one of the most important services we provide for members, and ranges from straightforward questions to highly complex cases around policies, organizational change, accommodations, workplace conflict, and more. This work also provides valuable insight into staff experiences, where University processes are falling short, and opportunities for broader advocacy.

At the same time, the growing demand has placed considerable pressure on our small team. We are continuously improving how we deliver these services and developing more accessible information and resources for all staff. But this also means making thoughtful (and sometimes difficult) decisions about our capacity. Through it all, we’re here to support you and please never hesitate to reach out!

Institutional financial challenges continued this year. In January, the University reported 58 budget-related layoffs since early 2025, most affecting staff. Since then, we've seen fewer position reductions and I'm cautiously optimistic about the University's next budget update.

Beyond that, we’ve provided extensive individual support to staff navigating functional reviews, changing responsibilities, and ongoing uncertainty, while advocating broadly for fair processes, clear communication, and consideration of the impacts on workload, job descriptions, and career growth. Throughout, we’ve ensured the University meets its obligations under Policy 18, including appropriate notice, consultation, and protections for affected staff. Our recent staff survey reinforces the effect these changes have, and we'll continue sharing this feedback with University leadership.

We're also closely following the new job architecture framework, which is already influencing organizational changes and staff roles. Despite repeated requests, we have limited information about its implementation and implications. Staff should not have to piece together information about significant changes to their jobs, and even when details and timelines remain uncertain, they deserve proactive communication about what's changing, why, and what to expect.

Flexible and hybrid work remains of utmost importance to staff. Since the Flexible and Hybrid Work Guidelines rolled out earlier this year, we've continued hearing from members about reduced flexibility, inconsistencies across departments, unclear rationale, and impacts on morale, wellbeing, and work-life balance. We've raised these concerns repeatedly with University leadership.

Based on our survey, staff agree that the guidelines generally establish reasonable parameters for flexible work, but opinions on hybrid arrangements are less positive, particularly how these have been implemented. Importantly, staff experiences vary dramatically across campus, with area (department/unit) being the most significant factor in how the changes have been experienced. We will continue to push for the promised review to improve consistency (not uniformity) and support effective and sustainable work practices. For me, this is part of a broader conversation: Staff want to contribute to the University's success, while feeling respected, supported, trusted to exercise reasonable autonomy, and included in decisions that affect their work.

Staff Relations Committee (SRC)—our primary forum for advancing staff policies and working conditions—was very busy this year and has taken on additional responsibilities from the Provost's Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC), which was dissolved following ratification of our new MoA. Here are a few highlights from SRC this year (members can see more in the SRC report in the 2025-26 UWSA Committee and Officer Reports document on our members-only site ):

• Approved housekeeping updates to Policy 18 (Staff employment), streamlined self-funded leaves in Policy 39 (Leaves of Absence), refreshed the UWSA Service Guideline, and improved the Emergency Leave Guidelines.
• Continued development on policies 12 (Compassionate Care and Bereavement Leave), 33 (Ethical Behaviour), and 57 (Employee Accommodations), as well as preparing for updates to Policies 5 (Staff Salary Administration), 6 (Staff Vacation), 36 (Dispute Resolution for Staff), and 54 (Definitions of Staff), among others, to reflect our new MoA and compensation settlement.
• Ongoing discussion of functional reviews and their impacts on staff, alongside routine organizational changes.
• Approved a reimagined Staff Excellence Fund per our settlement. Stay tuned!
• Other key topics discussed included job architecture, performance development, flexible work, pension and benefits governance, generative AI, NOUS and UniForum, and many more.

I'm committed to making SRC's work more transparent and accessible to staff while advancing meaningful improvements for staff as effectively as possible.

We continued to strengthen our relationships with University leadership this year. Beyond formal committee work and negotiations, I've participated in more than 60 meetings with the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Vice-President, Administration and Finance (VPAF), University President, and other senior leaders. I truly appreciate their ongoing willingness to engage with us on the many issues affecting staff. These discussions cover everything from institutional change, our overall relationship, policies, flexible work, parking, biweekly pay, communication, and much, much more. We don't always agree, but maintaining these productive relationships and asking difficult questions is an essential part of our work.

Connecting with other campus leaders

We continue to connect regularly with other employee groups, such as FAUW, CUPE793, CUPE5524, and others, through the Coalition of Waterloo Workers (COWW) and direct engagements. These relationships help us identify shared priorities and advocate more effectively on issues affecting the broader University community.

Behind the scenes, the UWSA Board is developing a new strategic plan and there will be opportunities for members to help shape our future direction. As President, a major focus will be helping translate that plan into supporting members and managing our growing responsibilities. We have big ambitions and limited resources, so strengthening our capacity and setting realistic priorities will be essential.

An important part of that sustainability is our membership. Member dues fund nearly everything we do! While our membership rate has continued to grow, we're navigating a changing hiring landscape and nearly 1,000 staff currently represented by us are not members. With fewer new staff in recent years, reaching existing staff who haven't yet become UWSA members is more important than ever.  You can help! Consider becoming an Area Rep or inviting us to a department meeting to share more about the UWSA, the services we provide, and share your feedback with us.

There's much work ahead, and while we can't tackle everything at once, these are some of my priorities for the coming year:

• Additional policy updates and other commitments coming out of our new MoA and compensation settlement.
• Preparing strategically for future compensation negotiations.
• Advocating for greater transparency, proactive communication, and meaningful staff input on University decisions, such as the job architecture framework and pay frequency changes.
• Continuing to make improvements for contract staff, who are among our most vulnerable members.
• Expanding resources and educational opportunities while keeping our advisory services responsive to growing demand.
• Strengthening the UWSA through implementation of our forthcoming strategic plan.

I'm also excited to welcome incoming President-elect Jessica Zimmerman! I look forward to supporting her onboarding and ensuring a strong leadership transition this time next year.

It's a privilege to represent staff at Waterloo, and I'm looking forward to continuing this work together. Thank you!