Negotiating COVID-19 LOUs

This article, published in the Fall 2020 edition of The Beacon, was written by StFXAUT President Martin van Bommel. The COVID-19 pandemic reached Nova Scotia and impacted all provincial university campuses, resulting in a sweeping mid-March shutdown. Our Members were left scrambling to move their courses, tests, and exams online. During the instructional chaos, the […]

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Joint Committee Report on LOU # 2 re: COVID-19 Continuing Measures

After signing the first Letter of Understanding [PDF] (LOU) on COVID-19 Emergency measures in June, the LOU Advisory Committee of the StFXAUT began drafting a second LOU regarding ongoing issues for Members arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since July, we have been in negotiations on this new language. After many meetings and a strong push […]

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“Strategic” Introduction of Merit Pay?

Written by Mary Oxner, this article originally appeared in the Summer 2016 edition of The Beacon. The University’s strategic planning process has produced a strategic plan for the next five years (2017-2022). The release of a strategic plan for the University is a momentous occasion, as it is the first such plan issued in the […]

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The Value of Service Work

Written by Mathias Nilges, this article first appeared in the Winter 2016 edition of The Beacon One of the unwritten rules of fine dining is that good service be prompt, attentive, and competent and at the same time practically invisible. The less one notices the service, in other words, while feeling expertly taken care of, […]

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