| Thanks Eugene, yes, SFUFA is definitely aware of the issues with this policy.
There’s also another point that I forgot to make—there are no due process procedures defined in this policy, nor is there any suggestion of a right of appeal or review. Again, arbitrary and excessive.
Dan
Thanks so much, Dan, for taking time to outline these concerns. I admit that I’d not read the original call for consultation (asking for this in August is telling, as you say.)
I’ll read, write a response, and also pass this email on to my dept faculty list, since that may garner a little more attention.
I wonder if SFUFA could be involved in an official capacity, if for no other reason than to advocate for a change in the deadline for responses from August 20th to late Sept or early October?
Eugene
Hi all, You may have seen the recent e-mail asking for consultation on a new SFU travel policy. Please take a few minutes to look at the policy ( http://www.sfu.ca/policies/draft/international_travel_policy.html) and offer your feedback to SFU (via Laura Vajanto, Senior Director, Enterprise Risk and Resilience at laura_vajanto@sfu.ca). Note that feedback is due by Friday, August 20, 2021. This is an atrocious policy that demonstrates substantial overreach by SFU and should be resisted strongly.
Below I highlight just a few problems with the policy, most easily summed up as: SFU can do whatever it wants to you and sanction you as it sees fit, in any way it sees fit.
Dan
Problems: the policy is full of absolute statements allowing no flexibility and that gives the University complete authority to constrain your travel.
1. "All Students, Faculty Members, and Staff Members are required to complete the pre-departure safety requirements as set out in the University-Related International Travel Procedure prior to engaging in University-Related International Travel.” That is, you can’t undertake any travel outside of Canada without first obtaining university approval.
2. "The University will not require or normally regard any University-Related International Travel to any Government of Canada Global Travel Advisory Level 3 or Level 4 destination to be Essential Travel and will not authorize travel to such destinations for Students or Staff Members.” Currently every country in the world falls under the level three designation due to the pandemic. Other researchers have noted this also covers much of the Global South (even without the pandemic restrictions in place), greatly hampering research activities in those countries.
3. Within 72 hours of any trip a faculty member takes we must: "Confirm that the Government of Canada Global Travel Advisories ranking is Level 1 or Level 2 for the destination country ( the Faculty Member must reconfirm the ranking within 72 hours of intended departure). If the destination is ranked Level 3, the Faculty Member may elect to travel to such a destination for University-Related International Travel only when: (remember, you now have less than 72 hours now to do all of the following) • i the Faculty Member has determined for themselves their desire to travel, as the University does not consider any university-related travel to be Essential Travel if it is to a Level 3 or Level 4 destination. In making their decision to travel, the Faculty Member should consider their interests, familiarity with a country or region, and any other applicable factors;
• ii the Faculty Member has completed educational programming provided by the University about safe travel prior to their departure;
• iii the Faculty Member has spoken to their department Chair, Dean or designate, or Vice-President (as appropriate) about their understanding of the risk associated with the travel; and,
• iv the Faculty Member provides to the University in the approved form their acknowledgment of the risk of such travel (contact risk_srs@sfu.ca to complete the acknowledgement of risk form).
I cannot imagine being able to do all of these things within 72 hours of your scheduled flight (particularly if your flight leaves on a Sunday or Monday).
4. The policy is silent on level 4 advisories—I assume that means travel is completely prohibited. As I read it, that would mean no travel for any reason to Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Chad, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Burundi, Central African Republic, Myanmar, South Sudan, or Venezuela. Again, speaking in absolutes, that would seem overly restrictive.
5. Most egregiously, if you don’t register to go to your conference in the U.S. (as an example), this is what the university is allowed to do to you. Note that there are other unspecified sanctions / punishments the University may decide to level if it feels like it: • 3.1.9 A traveller’s failure to register or to otherwise comply with the University’s mandatory safety requirements prior to departing for the University-related international trip may result in consequences to the traveller which may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following. The University may: • Warn the traveller about the consequences of any further failure to comply with the University’s requirements, which may include the following and may include discipline;
• Refuse the traveller’s request for a travel-related cash advance;
• Refuse to reimburse the traveller’s travel-expense claim;
• Inform the traveller that financial support or reimbursement for some or all future University-Related International Travel is denied;
• Impose discipline for failure to comply the University’s requirements;
• Take such other actions as the University considers appropriate in the circumstances.
By way of understatement, this seems to me both arbitrary and excessive, in particular the last bullet that allows any sanction the university wants to level.
6. For any travel, risky or not, the policy now requires us to confirm we have valid health insurance, where as before the university provided us with travel insurance.
Summary thoughts: My quick feelings are that this is a garbage policy intended to place liability squarely on the faculty member when we are engaging in any international travel.
Given recent changes in policy, I feel like someone in the university is shifting the view of policy from supporting academic work to controlling it. The overarching goal now seems to be limiting university liability in all cases, rather than supporting the academic and research mission of the university (note the policy is overseen by the Senior Director, Enterprise Risk and Resilience). I might also question engaging in this consultation at the end of summer semester, when most faculty are likely to be away from campus and e-mail.
Please take the time to share your thoughts with SFU.
Dan
Begin forwarded message:
From: Office of the General Counsel & University Secretary <gc_asst@sfu.ca>
Subject: [Corrected link] SFU Community Consultation: University-Related International Travel Policy
Date: July 26, 2021 at 11:35:47 AM PDT
Dear Faculty and Staff members, Regards, Bethany Chang Office of the General Counsel & University Secretary <image002.png> The following message is sent on behalf of Martin Pochurko, Vice-President, Finance & Administration. Dear Faculty and Staff members, SFU is committed to the security, safety, and well-being of its employees and students engaged in University-related international travel. In alignment with that commitment, a new policy on University-Related International Travel is proposed using the framework from the University’s Interim Policy that was adopted in September 2020. Under this policy, students, faculty and staff are expected to assess, mitigate, and respond to risks associated with travel to international destinations and to fulfill the mandatory pre-departure safety requirements. The pre-departure safety requirements include registration with the SFU Travel Registry, which will enable the University to quickly and comprehensively identify students, faculty and staff who are on University-related international trip in cases of emergency including natural disasters, civil/political unrest, war, rebellion, kidnappings/disappearances, health emergencies and other such events. Your feedback to this new policy is welcome. The SFU community is asked to review the draft policy and related documents and to submit feedback to Laura Vajanto, Senior Director, Enterprise Risk and Resilience at laura_vajanto@sfu.ca by Friday, August 20, 2021. Sincerely, Martin Pochurko Vice-President, Finance and Administration <image003.png>
_______________________________________________________ Eugene McCann (he/him/his) Professor, Geography Associate Faculty, Sociology & Anthropology Simon Fraser University Managing Editor, EPC: Politics & Space https://journals.sagepub.com/home/epcMinor Revisions podcast https://journals.sagepub.com/page/epc/collections/podcastsPersonal website: https://emccanngeog.wordpress.com Contact information: Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada Unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Email: emccann@sfu.ca; Phone: 778-782-3321
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