QUFA Bargaining Consultation and Staff Bargaining Update (Virtual) Town Hall Meeting
2025-01-30 09:00 - 11:30 UTC
Dear QUFA Members,
As you likely know, the collective agreement between QUFA and Queen’s University expires on 30 June 2025. In preparation for bargaining a renewal agreement, QUFA’s Bargaining Team would like to hear from QUFA Members about their priorities for this round of bargaining. Please join us for a virtual town hall style meeting on Thursday 30 January from 9:00am-10:30am. The meeting will begin with a brief overview of recent activities by the Bargaining Team, and then the virtual floor will be open for you to share your thoughts on what is working, what isn’t working, and how you think it ought to be fixed.
You also likely know that many of the campus staff unions are currently at their respective bargaining tables. In the case of the five CUPE locals, the Ontario Ministry of Labour issued No Board Reports recently setting of a 17-day cooling off period and setting the stage for a possible strike or lock-out as early as midnight on 3 February. This does not mean that a strike or lock-out will happen, only that it could. The parties are continuing to meet to try renewal agreements. If they have not already reached an agreement by 30 January, representatives from the CUPE locals will be on hand at the QUFA Town Hall to provide an update and to share with QUFA Members how we can best support them in their efforts to negotiate a fair agreement. We will also discuss Article 12 – Strikes and Lockouts of the QUFA – Queen’s collective agreement so that you know what your rights and responsibilities are in the event of CUPE job action.
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the Town Hall meeting starting at 9:00am on Thursday 30 January. RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca.
Sincerely,
QUFA Staff

Childcare Support Plan Deadline
2025-02-01 08:00 - 17:00
The deadline is February 1, 2025. Please see Appendix M of the Collective Agreement and click here for the application form: https://queensuca.sharepoint.com/sites/HR-employees/SitePages/Childcare-Support-Plan.aspx

Fund for Scholarly Research and Creative Work and Professional Development (Adjuncts)
2025-02-03 08:00 - 17:00
The Winter deadline for the Fund for Scholarly Research and Creative Work and Professional Development (Adjuncts) is Feb. 3. Please visit the Queen’s website for the application and more information: https://www.queensu.ca/facultyrelations/qufa/research-fund

Virtual New Faculty Meeting to introduce PACC and talk about new faculty experiences
2025-02-05 12:00 - 13:30
The QUFA Political Action and Communications Committee (PACC) invites New Faculty to a Meeting to introduce PACC and talk about new faculty experiences.
PACC will introduce its work and touch base with new faculty to discuss their work-related experiences and bargaining priorities for new faculty. A member of the QUFA Bargaining Team will also be present at the meeting.
Please register by contacting Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca
For further information or questions, please contact PACC Chair Vanessa Thompson at vt25@queensu.ca

Ontario Provincial Election: Meet the Candidates (Campus Event)
2025-02-26 19:00 - 21:00
The AMS is organizing a “Meet the Candidates” event for the Kingston and the Islands candidates in the upcoming Ontario Provincial Election. It is scheduled for Wednesday February 26 at 7pm. Location: Goodes Hall, Room 101.

Tuition Support Plan Deadline
2025-02-28 08:00 - 17:00
The winter submission window is January 1 to February 28, 2025. See Appendix N of the Collective Agreement and click here for the application form.

QUFA Town Hall About Potential USW and PSAC Job Action
2025-03-07 10:30 - 11:30
As many people know, our staff colleagues in USW 2010 and PSAC 901 (Unit 1) will be in a legal strike position on March 10th at 12:01 am. USW 2010 represents support staff, academic assistants, and residence dons and PSAC 901 (Unit 1) represents graduate students who are teaching assistants, teaching fellows, or research assistants. Both bargaining units are continuing to meet this week to attempt to reach renewal agreements with the administration. If there are no agreements by Friday March 7th, QUFA will hold a Town Hall to answer questions from our Members and to discuss how we can best support USW and PSAC in their efforts to negotiate a fair agreement. We will also discuss Article 12 – Strikes and Lockouts of the QUFA-Queen’s collective agreement so that you know what your rights and responsibilities are in the event of USW or PSAC job action.

Friday March 7th, 10:30-11:30am
RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the Zoom link.

Panel Series - AI, Austerity, and Pedagogy: Generating Change in Postsecondary Education through Data
2025-03-07 14:00 - 15:30
You are invited to attend the second installment of the QUFA Political Action & Communications Committee (PACC) Panel Series, Divesting from Austerity: Solidarity and Equity in Labour Struggles.
This panel will explore the intersection of AI, austerity politics, and pedagogy in postsecondary education. As AI and data-driven approaches reshape educational landscapes, we will examine how universities are using data to influence resource allocation decisions and teaching practices, and to justify cost-cutting measures. By challenging the assumption of “neutral” data, the panel will explore how AI and data impact not only educational policies but also pedagogy, curriculum, and student engagement amidst economic pressures.
Panelists:

Dan Cohen (Department of Geography & Planning)
Milka Njoroge (PSAC 901 Bargaining Team)
Christina Pilgrim (former PSAC 901 Information Officer)
Rebecca Sweetman (CTL)
Catherine Stinson (Department of Philosophy) – NEW PANELIST

Commenter: Norma Möllers
Moderator: Pinar Tuzcu
Organized by QUFA PACC members: Pinar Tuzcu and Norma Möllers.
Date: March 7, 2:00–3:30 pm.
Location: George Teves Room @ The University Club (168 Stuart St.) and on Zoom.
Event Format: Hybrid (In-person and Virtual). Email QUFA Office Administrator Elizabeth Polnicky (ep43@queensu.ca) for the Zoom link. Please RSVP even if you are attending in-person.

Special General Meeting (Bargaining Mandate)
2025-03-13 09:00 - 11:30
QUFA will hold a Special General Meeting on March 13, 2025 at 9am via Zoom. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca to receive the Zoom link. The deadline to RSVP is March 12 at 3pm.
This meeting will deal exclusively with QUFA Bargaining. After the meeting, members can participate in an online vote on the Bargaining Mandate through Simply Voting. You will receive a ballot via email when the vote opens, after the meeting. The vote will be open until Monday March 17th at 4:30pm.

QUFA Spring General Meeting
2025-04-24 13:00 - 15:00
2025 SGM Meeting Details
The QUFA Spring General Meeting will be held on Thursday April 24, 2025 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm via Zoom. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca to receive the Zoom link. The deadline to RSVP to attend the SGM is April 23 at 3pm.
2024 Executive Committee Elections
QUFA is holding elections for some Executive Committee positions at the SGM. Election policies can be found here. In accordance with By-Law No. 1 (A, iii), nominations close one week prior to the meeting. Candidate statements are available here.
To vote in elections, you must be an Association Member who has sent an email RSVP to Elizabeth. Everyone paying dues to QUFA is part of the Bargaining Unit (covered by the Collective Agreement), but you must fill out a Membership Form to be an Association Member which allows you to vote in Executive Committee elections. If you have already filled out a Membership Form in the past, you don’t need to do it again. An online Membership Form is available here: https://qufa.ca/membership-form/
Association Members who RSVP before April 23 at 3pm will receive Simply Voting ballots via email the day of the meeting and the election will open and close during the meeting.

RTP/RCAP Workshop - Heads and Committees (virtual only)
2025-05-05 11:30 - 13:00
Please join us for a workshop on Renewal, Tenure/Continuing Appointment, and Promotion. This workshop is specifically for Heads and Committee Members. This will be a virtual meeting. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the Zoom link.

Ratification Meeting
2025-05-05 14:30 - 16:00
As you know, we have reached a tentative 1-year roll-over agreement with Queen’s to extend the current Collective Agreement (CA) to June 30, 2026 (it is due to expire on June 30, 2025). This morning, the Executive Committee agreed to send this tentative agreement to the membership for a ratification vote. We are holding a virtual Ratification Meeting on Monday May 5 at 2:30-4:00pm to discuss the tentative agreement. A ratification vote will be held after the meeting if the members who attend the meeting so decide.
If you would like to attend the Ratification Meeting, please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky (ep43@queensu.ca) to receive the Zoom link.

For more details visit our Bargaining page at: www.qufa.ca/bargaining

RTP/RCAP Workshop - Applicants (virtual only)
2025-05-06 11:30 - 13:00
Please join us for a workshop on Renewal, Tenure/Continuing Appointment, and Promotion. This workshop is specifically for applicants. This will be a virtual meeting. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the Zoom link.

Adjunct Rights Workshop (virtual only)
2025-05-07 11:30 - 13:00
Please join us for our annual conversation about Adjunct rights at Queen’s. This will be a virtual meeting. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the Zoom link.

QUFA Welcome Back BBQ
2025-09-16 16:00 - 18:00
Please join us for our annual Welcome Back BBQ on September 16 at 4pm in Breakwater Park (King St. at St. Lawrence Ave.). Family welcome. Food supplied by Fryway and QUFA (vegan and gluten free options will be available). Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca by September 11 with your number of guests and any dietary restrictions. The rain date is September 17 at 4pm.

Adjunct Fund Deadline
2025-10-06 00:00
The application deadline for the Fund for Scholarly and Creative Work and Professional Development (Adjuncts) is October 6, 2025. The application and guidelines are located here. If you have any questions, please contact QUFA Member Services Officer Doug Nesbitt at d.nesbitt@queensu.ca.

New Member Quaff
2025-10-07 13:00 - 14:30
New Faculty, Librarian, and Archivist Members (hired within the past 5 years) are invited to join QUFA for a social to kick off the fall term. Our annual New Member Quaff will be held on October 7 at 1pm at the Grad Club (162 Barrie St.). Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca.

Tuition Support Plan Deadline
2025-11-01
The fall submission window is September 1 – November 1, 2025. See Appendix N of the Collective Agreement and click here for the application form.

Special General Meeting
2025-12-03 10:00 - 12:00
Special General Meeting: December 3 at 10am. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca by 4pm on December 2 for the Zoom meeting link. The official notice was sent on November 17 and the agenda was sent on November 25.

Fall General Meeting
2025-12-18 13:00 - 15:00
The QUFA Fall General Meeting will be held on December 18, 2025 at 1:00pm via Zoom. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca by December 17 to receive the Zoom link.

Bargaining Town Halls
2026-01-12 - 2026-02-11
Bargaining Town Halls: Save the date for bargaining town halls in the New Year! Most town halls will be held in a hybrid format. Please RVSP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the room number or Zoom link to attend the meeting.
January 12 – Law – Law Building 11:30am-1:00pm
January 19 – Health Sciences (excluding Nursing/Rehab) – Botterell Hall – 12:30-2:00pm
January 20 – Physical Sciences – Chernoff – 12:30-2:00pm
January 21 – Social Sciences – MacCorry – 1:30-3:00pm
January 26 – Library – MacCorry – 12:30-2:00pm
January 27 – Business – Goodes Hall – 2:30-4:00pm
January 28 – Adjuncts – Fully Remote – 12:30-2:00pm
February 2 – Smith Engineering – Jeffrey – 11:30-1:00pm
February 4 – New Faculty – Fully Remote – 12:30-2:00pm
February 9 – Nursing/Rehabilitation Therapy – Botterell – 12:30-2pm
February 10 – Education – Duncan McArthur – 12:30-2:00pm
February 11 – Humanities – MacCorry – 1:30-3:00pm

Childcare Support Plan Deadline
2026-02-01
The deadline is February 1, 2026. Please see Appendix M of the Collective Agreement and click here to access the application portal. Please read the application guidelines carefully. If you have any trouble with the Queen’s Intranet, please contact HR as QUFA cannot assist you with those issues.

The Fund for Scholarly Research and Creative Work and Professional Development (Adjuncts)
2026-02-02
The Fund for Scholarly Research and Creative Work and Professional Development (Adjuncts): The Winter term deadline is February 2, 2026. The application form is available here.

Bargaining at Queen's: An Online Workshop
2026-02-25 14:00 - 16:00
As QUFA prepares for a new round of bargaining, this online workshop will inform Members about the bargaining process and how best to prepare in this crucial period. It will address the history of QUFA and bargaining at Queen’s, as well as what it means to get ready for a new round of bargaining. What should Members look out for? How can Members get involved? How can Members best mobilize their colleagues? The workshop will also review various campaign-based bargaining approaches and provide examples of how other faculty associations have deployed these strategies successfully.
Moderated by Vanessa E. Thompson and Pinar Tuzcu (QUFA-PACC). Speakers: Kimiko Inouye (Director of Collective Bargaining Services at OCUFA), Jordan Morelli (QUFA Chief Negotiator), and Ayça Tomaç (QUFA Equity Representative and QUFA Bargaining Team).
Wednesday 25 February 2026, 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m via Zoom. Please RSVP to ep43@queensu.ca by Wed. 25 Feb. 2026 at 12.00 noon for Zoom link

Tuition Support Plan
2026-02-28
Tuition Support Plan: The Winter 2026 submission deadline is February 28, 2026. See Appendix N in the Collective Agreement and click here to access the application portal. Please read the application guidelines carefully, especially the Important Changes notices. If you have any trouble with the Queen’s Intranet, please contact HR as QUFA cannot assist you with those issues.

Adjourned General Meeting (Continuation of Fall GM)
2026-03-03 13:00 - 15:00
The Adjourned General Meeting (continuation of the Fall General Meeting) is scheduled for March 3, 2026 at 1pm via Zoom. Please RVSP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca for the Zoom link. The official notice will be sent 2 weeks in advance, and the agenda 1 week in advance.

Surveillance @ Work: Forms, Dimensions, and Resistance (Panel Discussion)
2026-03-25 14:00 - 15:30
We are pleased to announce the next installment of the QUFA Political Action and Communications Committee (PACC) panel series entitled: Surveillance @ Work: Forms, Dimensions, and Resistance. The event will be held on March 25 at 2:00pm. This is a hybrid event, but we invite QUFA members especially to attend in person at the University Club on campus. Food and refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by March 23rd to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca if you will be attending in person or to receive the Zoom link.
In a moment marked by the authoritarian appropriation of technology, expanding austerity, and intensifying political repression, surveillance practices and extractive logics are converging in unprecedented ways. This panel examines how Big Data, AI, and digital monitoring systems are undermining privacy and academic freedom as well as transforming labour relations — extracting value from workers while deepening precarity within and across sectors.
From algorithmic oversight in universities to performance scoring, the integration of AI in teaching and administrative tasks, and data-driven management on global platforms, digital systems increasingly structure how work is measured, evaluated, and controlled. These processes not only intensify labour and, in some cases, replace human work, but also erode privacy, academic freedom, and professional autonomy. At the same time, the extractive practices of global tech corporations deepen vulnerabilities for workers across geographical and institutional contexts.
In this panel, we will examine how these dynamics operate and function. We will further explore possible forms of resistance. The discussion will consider legal dimensions, the integration of digital labour rights and anti-surveillance demands into collective agreements, and strategies for organizing within and beyond academic institutions. We will also explore forms of transnational worker solidarity against data extraction and algorithmic control, and for equity-informed governance of workplace technologies within and across sectors.
The panel is structured around the following questions:

How does digital monitoring and algorithmic management in universities connect to broader platform-based and global labour regimes?
In what ways do extractive data practices bind together precarity, surveillance, and the erosion of privacy and academic freedom?
What legal, collective, and technological strategies can workers mobilize to resist surveillance, protect privacy, and defend academic autonomy and labour integrity within as well as beyond academia?

Discussants:

Rebeca Chen, PSAC 901, Co-Lead Steward.
Hannah Johnston (TBC), Assistant Professor, School of Human Resources Management, York University, Toronto.
Carolyn Lamb, Continuing Adjunct Professor, School of Computing, Queen’s University.
Adam Molnar, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo.
Vera Khovanskaya, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto.

Special General Meeting (Bargaining Mandate)
2026-04-08 10:00 - 12:00
A Special General Meeting on the Bargaining Mandate will be held on April 8 at 10:00am via Zoom.
Note: This meeting was originally set as in-person, but it has changed to virtual only. Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca to receive the Zoom link.

The agenda package will be sent 1 week prior to the meeting per the QUFA Constitution.
All members of the Bargaining Unit will be able to participate in an online vote on the Bargaining Mandate through Simply Voting. Details on voting will be included with the agenda package.

Adjunct Rights Workshop (virtual)
2026-04-21 13:30 - 15:00
Adjunct Rights Workshop (virtual): April 21 from 1:30-3:00pm. Please email QUFA Member Services Officer Doug Nesbitt at d.nesbitt@queensu.ca for Zoom details.

Spring General Meeting
2026-04-24 13:00 - 15:00
2026 SGM Meeting Details

The QUFA Spring General Meeting will be held on Friday April 24, 2026 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm via Zoom.
Please RSVP to Elizabeth Polnicky at ep43@queensu.ca to receive the Zoom link. The deadline to RSVP to attend the SGM is April 23 at 3pm.
The agenda package was sent to the membership via email on April 17, 2026.

2026 Executive Committee Elections

QUFA is holding elections for some Executive Committee positions at the SGM. Please see QUFA’s Election Policy (Section 1.7), Article 9 (p.8) and Bylaw No. 1 (A) (p. 17) of the Constitution for more information on process.
Candidate statements are available here.
To vote in elections, you must be an Association Member who has sent an email RSVP to Elizabeth. Everyone paying dues to QUFA is part of the Bargaining Unit (covered by the Collective Agreement), but you must fill out a Membership Form to be an Association Member which allows you to vote in Executive Committee elections. If you have already filled out a Membership Form in the past, you don’t need to do it again. An online Membership Form is available here: https://qufa.ca/membership-form/
Association Members must RSVP before April 23 at 3pm to receive Simply Voting ballots via email the day of the meeting, and the election will open and close during the meeting.
