Since July, members have been contacting YUFA with reports of delays in tenure and/or promotion (T&P) files across units and faculties. While there have been delays in expediting T&P files over the years, the lengthy and distressing delays members are currently experiencing are unprecedented. Upon investigation, YUFA discovered that the delay is largely due to significant administrative backlog affecting tenure and promotion file adjudications, and in some cases, the backlog has been accumulating for over a year.

YUFA already contacted the senior administration urging it to address the backlog and to immediately notify members whose T&P files are affected. It is disappointing that the senior administration failed to properly notify YUFA members about the delay in their career advancement. A short notice as a matter of courtesy and consideration would have assured members that the delay is not a result of the content of their file, thereby alleviating the unnecessary anxiety members have experienced.

This administrative backlog in the T&P files is reflective of a larger problem of inadequate services for YUFA members that must promptly be addressed by the employer, per its Collective Agreement obligations under Article 18.39 “Facilities and Services.” In the meantime, YUFA is encouraging those who believe their file is caught in the T&P backlog to:

1) Email the Assistant Secretary of the University, Amanda Wassermuhl ([email protected]) who works with the Senate Review Committee to check on your file’s status.

2) Forward any response you received from the Assistant Secretary of the University to YUFA ([email protected]) and cc Chief Steward Sheila Embleton ([email protected]).