President’s Message

August is coming to a close, and this presents an occasion to reflect on the not-quite-yet-done summer, and to anticipate the upcoming academic year.

I would like to welcome back all of our colleagues who had the opportunity to take some restful vacation over the summer months.  As the seasons change, a new academic year is about to begin, and soon our campus will see new and returning students, and there will be an increased excitement and busyness in the air.

To kick off the new academic year, ASPA together with other unions on campus is hosting the second annual free pancake breakfast in the Bowl, on September 7, 7:30 – 10:00am.  There will be lots of information about the employee unions, many giveaways, and a “door” prize. Please visit the ASPA Advocate (website) for more information.

Looking ahead, your ASPA Executive team will resume its monthly meeting schedule. We will continue to diligently guard and defend the interests of our membership throughout these somewhat uncertain times. Thank you to our staff and to our Executive and to the many ASPA  committee members for their commitment and dedication.

The past months were unusually busy months for ASPA, in no small part brought about by the voluntary exit program that the University had proposed.  As many of you have probably already heard, nearly 80 of our colleagues applied, and most of the applications were approved.  This program was a new, and mostly welcomed, initiative, from which we take away many useful learnings, good and bad.  We hope that we will soon receive information about the projected operating budget impact of the voluntary departures.  We have high expectations that the impact is indeed substantial, and that this provides the employment stability we all require.

If you are among those who decided to leave the University, on the terms offered by the employer, I wish you all the best for the future. I am certain that you will be missed by your colleagues.

In closing, on behalf of the ASPA Executive, I wish you all the best for the coming year.  Come out to the Pancake Breakfast and meet other ASPA members and members from the other unions on campus.

Peter Krebs, ASPA President