ASPA News

Written by Karen E. Mosier

Lisa Krol did her Bachelor of Arts at King’s College, Western University in 1992 and her Bachelor of Education through Queens University in 1993. She went on to do her Masters of Education in Special Education at the University of Saskatchewan in 2004. In 2002, Lisa joined the Language Centre and now works as the Bridging Class Coordinator.      Continue reading

Written by Karen E. Mosier

Having a job and pursuing a career are pretty much the same thing except for the difference in mindset. How passionate are you about what you do? Do you take into account the whole spectrum of experiences and life education that comes along with your job?   

Here are some key differences between the mindset of having a job vs a career: Continue reading

If you are an ASPA member in a term or permanent position of one (1) year or greater and at least 0.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE), did you know that you are eligible for the Salary Continuance Plan? 

ASPA's Salary Continuance Plan, or sick leave, is broken down into three distinct groupings or phases. Continue reading

Written by Karen E. Mosier

Lindsay Dahl obtained a BScN through the University of Saskatchewan in 2007. She graduated from SIAST in 2007. In 2013 Lindsay joined the College of Nursing, worked full-time in a non-union position.  In June 2019 her role was restructured, changing from overseeing the south to overseeing the whole province. Her position is provincial lab manager for the College of Nursing, Regina campus, University of Saskatchewan.     

Lindsay oversees all the distributive nursing labs across the province i.e., Regina, Yorkton, PA, La Ronge, and Ile a la Crosse. She organizes all the equipment, orders supplies for all the sites, and connects with faculty ahead of the start of their course. She has 3 support staff who are the hands on the ground on a day to day basis in the labs located in PA, Regina and Yorkton. The northern labs have people working in the labs who are not from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Nursing, rather they are hired by the Northlands Community College.   Continue reading

Summer greetings to all my fellow ASPA members! My name is LaVina Watts and at the May 2021 ASPA executive meeting I was selected to be president for 2021-22. I am so honoured to be able to serve you in the role of President. Being your Vice-President over the past 3 years, I made some meaningful connections with the University leadership and I hope to bring that experience and knowledge to the role of president and to serve you and your interests. I am also very happy to share that your current Vice-Presidents are Chris O’Grady and Erin Walling.  I am thrilled to be working with both of them and I know they will work hard for each of you.

I wish to thank Curt Larson for his leadership over the past 2 years, as well as his previous time as president. He made some incredible strides during his term of office and I hope to keep that momentum going. Continue reading

Did you know that ASPA members or their supervisor could request a review of their position once every twelve (12) month period if they felt that the position might not be in the correct Family or Phase? (Article 9.1.2 of the ASPA Collective Agreement) 

The duties of a position may alter over time or particularly in the first year of a new position.  To ensure that the duties of the position are being correctly classified, the member or their supervisor may seek to have the position reviewed by U of S Compensation (compensation_inquiries@usask.ca ).  Continue reading

Written by Karen E. Mosier

Have you made a mistake at work and were worried to admit it or concerned that it might affect your relationships with colleagues or your career trajectory?  We’ve all been there.  What’s important is to recognize that mistakes can be a learning opportunity and, most often, you can recover from them. 

Consider these three ways you can turn a mistake into a stepping stone for your career: Continue reading

Introduction

ASPA Research Committee conducted an online survey from March 10 – 19, 2021 to gather ASPA members’ feedback on lunch and learn sessions presented by the ASPA executive. The brief survey gathered insights on topics of interest and how best to offer the sessions. A total of 204 surveys were completed, representing a 15% response rate.  The ASPA Research Committee would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the survey – your feedback will assist with planning future brown bag sessions. This article provides an overview of the survey results. Continue reading

The ASPA AGM was held on Wednesday April 21, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom. Last year when I wrote my annual report to the membership the COVID-19 pandemic was still in the early stages and we certainly didn’t know what we know today and I think many of us, myself included, felt we would be back at work in the fall of 2020. Little did
we know that more than a year later most of us would continue to work remotely and many restrictions would still be in place. But we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, with vaccines being approved (4 so far) and an increasing number of vaccine
shots available in the province. I know this has challenged all of us as we have had to deal with stress, anxiety, depression, and grief when we lost loved ones to the pandemic and were not able to grieve together. I encourage everyone to seek out help when you need it and encourage everyone to reach out to friends and family to keep
those connections strong and support each other and when it is your turn to get the vaccine to sign up. Continue reading

Written by Karen E. Mosier

Megan Fillatre joined the University of Saskatchewan in 2015 as an international student recruitment and liaison officer and moved to the International Office in 2016.

“This is where I truly found a passion,” says Megan. “Knowing that I am a small piece of the puzzle in an organization that advances and supports global academic and research opportunities and that what I do has purpose, drives me forward.” Continue reading