No-confidence vote passed against nursing college executives at U of S

A no-confidence vote against the executive team of the University of Saskatchewan College of Nursing was passed on Friday.

A meeting agenda obtained by Radio-Canada outlines faculty's frustrations with decisions taken by the members of the team, with the closure of the college's Regina campus being the straw that broke the camel's back.

The vote wasn't unanimous but was supported by a majority of the faculty, with 51 votes of no-confidence, 20 votes against the motion and five abstentions. 

The no-confidence vote is symbolic, according to Sina Adl, a professor at the U of S and grievance officer for the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association (USFA), who represented the union as an observer at the vote of no-confidence.

Adl said the vote is "significant" nonetheless, as it serves as proof that a change at the leadership level is needed.

"The college has decided the education of nurses could no longer be done safely, and there was concern about patient safety," he said in an interview with Radio-Canada on Sunday.

He said the college is missing at least 31 faculty members to teach the program. 

"Just over half of the faculty are missing. They have never been replaced," he said, adding that exhaustion played a large part in some of their departures. 

He said current faculty are also feeling "exhaustion from having to handle two-and-a-half times the teaching workload and at least twice the administration workload."

The U of S announced in late January that it will wind down operations at its Regina campus. According to the college of nursing, 57 students were accepted at the campus for the 2021-22 academic year. No students will be accepted this coming fall or beyond.

In addition, nursing seats that have been dedicated to Regina students will now be redistributed to rural and northern communities, to give students there easier access to nursing education, according to the college. That includes 18 seats planned at a new campus in Lloydminster.

Faculty said the decision to close the Regina campus and the plan for seat redistribution will influence the future of the college of nursing and nursing education in Saskatchewan, according to the notice of motion for the non-confidence vote included on the meeting agenda. 

"We are and continue to be troubled by the lack of regard for the consequences of the decisions being taken not only for our colleagues, staff and students in Regina, but for all sites," the notice stated. 

Within the notice, faculty also noted a lack of consultation and that no plans have been presented to them about accommodating the increase of student numbers at other clinical sites.