By Natasha Udell, COFAS President
Dear COFAS Members,
I hope that your return to work in Fall 2022/Winter 2023 year will be a more positive “back to normal” return following the COVID-19 pandemic. I truly believe that every COFAS member has worked extremely diligently to navigate the faculty associations through such uncertain times, and I am grateful to be a member of a group of such dedicated individuals.
I am excited to be your president for the next academic year. I have worked at APUO as in-house legal counsel since January 2010. Though I never knew that faculty associations even existed prior to that time, I am thankful for landing such a unique and interesting job. I enjoy the many people I get to meet on a daily basis and grateful when I can assist individuals during times of stress, anxiety and frustration. It is a rewarding job that has helped me understand the role and importance of unions and associations and I hope during my presidency that I can meet, engage, and learn from all our COFAS members. We all work in such a unique niche that this organization is a fantastic networking opportunity and, I hope that this year’s Executive Committee can help increase some more dialogue amongst our COFAS membership.
Save the date!
COFAS Montreal, QC, on May 25-28, 2023.
Spread the word about COFAS
Reminder about the COFAS Membership Bylaws. Building capacity and a stronger membership will assist COFAS in greater networking, resource sharing and collaboration. Please spread the word that any member employed by a faculty association, whether it be local, provincial, or national is welcome to apply to be a member of COFAS. Here is the Bylaw for your reference:
1.1 Membership in the Organization is open to any person who is currently employed by any faculty association of a Canadian post-secondary institution, by a provincial or national organization of post-secondary faculty associations, who is retired from such employment and not otherwise in a conflict of interest with regard to COFAS or one’s previous employer.
1.2 Individuals who hold membership in the Organization from the date of initial enrolment until:
1.2.1 The individual ceases to be eligible for membership under bylaw I.1; or
1.2.2 The individual informs the Secretary, in writing, that they no longer wish to be a member of the Organization; or,
1.2.3. The individual is expelled from membership under bylaw I.3.
1.3. Any member of the Organization may be expelled from membership for conduct inconsistent with the objects of the Organization by a 2/3rd majority vote of the members present at the annual general meeting.
Too many acronyms? You work where?
Sometimes it is difficult to locate and understand where our members reside, especially if you are a new member, feel free to check out our list of association names and acronyms.
COFAS Salary Survey
The goal of the annual COFAS salary survey is to develop comparative salary data that will assist our staff peers in faculty associations across Canada. Over 47 percent of COFAS members have used the salary survey results to improve their salaries and working conditions and we would like to see this number increase.
In 2022, specific survey questions revealed the impact that COVID-19 had on our job duties, compensation, and benefits. With over 53 percent of respondents now working remotely, and 58 percent expected to work in a hybrid environment, it is anticipated that COVID-19 will have long term effects on our working conditions. The COVID-19 example highlights the type of relevant data that the COFAS salary survey collects.
Please support the continuing efforts to compile annual salary survey data that is not otherwise available.
We thank you in advance for your participation. Stay tuned for the 2023 COFAS Salary Survey link!