CUEFA : Action

August 20, 2023

Pursuant to section 25 of the Collective Agreement, CUEFA is providing you with a Grievance Notice. This Grievance is launched by CUEFA as a policy grievance in relation to two matters associated with the administration of Article 11 - Advancement in Rank.

1. President Loreman denied Advancement in Rank to two CUEFA members in opposition to the recommendations of the Advancement in Rank Committee and maintained that there is no right to appeal in either case. These actions create a two-tiered system within the Advancement process, not allowing for fair process for applicants and bypassing the usual processes available to members applying for Advancement.
2. The process for appealing a decision by the Advancement in Rank Committee this year was not correctly followed by the University - as no member from the same department may sit on an Advancement committee or make a decision on a colleague from their home department. This not only goes for the AIRC but the same rules apply for the ad hoc appeal committee put together by the GFC (Article 11.12.2(a)). This was not followed in at least one appeal this year.

May 24 2023

We resent our letter on May 4 asking that our letter be distributed to the entire Board, as previously the Board Chair, John Acheson, had not distributed it to the Board members. A response was received after the May 19 Board meeting again denying our request to meet. The letter further stated that the Board did not consider the concerns we brought forward (see Concerns Bulletins link on the side) to be a Board responsibility and that the Board now "considers the matter closed". No mention was made of the recent membership No-Confidence Vote in the President and the Board Chair.

The letter, signed by the Board Chair, John Acheson, stated:
"It is the decision of the Board that it will not meet with the CUEFA to consider the expressed concerns of the CUEFA. It is the Board’s view that the Collective Agreement includes a full opportunity to address grievances and that the grievance procedures contained therein must be followed. Further, the Board takes the position that the organizational structure that is in place to administer CUE is sound and that matters such as communicated to the Board by the CUEFA are to be addressed by the Administration and not by the Board. To this end the CUEFA is encouraged to express their concerns directly with the President as the Board will not give them further attention. Further, and to reiterate, the Board is of the view that the issues contained in the several communications over the past weeks between the Board and CUEFA are not governance issues but administrative issues; given this the Board considers that the matter is now closed."

Please read the official response from the Board here.

March 24 202

On March 24, 2023 CUEFA, afer consulting with the membership, sent a letter to the Board of Governors (BOG) of Concordia University of Edmonton to requesting a special all-faculty meeting with the BOG to discuss serious problem endangering the short- and long-term future of the University. We requested the the attendance of at least 10 Board members at the meeting, and that the President and other senior CUE administrators not attend.

We indictaed that at the meeting we would like to discuss the following concerns with the Board:

• How financial decisions are damaging student services and the basic academic programing of the university, jeopardizing the ability of programs to maintain minimum standards for accreditation;
• How Concordia has become a dysfunctional workplace characterized by disengaged and anxious staff, students and faculty;
• How the reputation of the university is at risk of being severely damaged to the point that the viability of the university is in doubt.

We requested the Board’s acknowledgment of receipt of this notice from CUEFA no later than March 27 4:00 p.m. 2023, and a formal response from the Board Chair to Glynis Price, President of CUEFA, no later than 4:00 p.m. on March 31, 2023.

Please read the official full letter here that was sent.