WHAT IS FAUST?
FAUST (Faculty Association of the University of St. Thomas) is a certified trade union under the Industrial Relations Act of New Brunswick with two bargaining units: full-time (certified in 1976) and part-time (certified in 1985).
As a trade union, FAUST is the sole collective bargaining agent for its members. It negotiates both the full-time and part-time collective agreements with the employer. Using these agreements, FAUST attempts to ensure fair working conditions, and protects academic freedom, tenure, and other benefits that foster quality teaching and research. FAUST has "carriage rights," which means that it alone is legally able to carry a grievance on behalf of a faculty member against the university administration. FAUST also engages in education and advocacy and supports solidarity efforts with other unions and community groups.
WHAT DOES FAUST DO FOR MEMBERS?
FAUST promotes the welfare and professional interests of the
association and its members. It negotiates, obtains, and preserves
employment conditions such as salary, financial security, working
conditions, and all matters of employer-employee relations for members
of the bargaining units. FAUST actively supports its members in
attaining fair working conditions and benefits that foster quality
teaching and research.
FAUST is committed to transparency and inclusiveness, and we have negotiated provisions that will ensure employment and pay equity. Nevertheless, problems do arise from time to time, and the Executive Committee works hard to advocate on behalf of members.
One of the stipulations of the
Collective Agreements is that every new faculty member is entitled to
receive a hard copy of the contract from the Administration. For your
convenience, they can be found under the "Documents" section. On this website you will also find information about the
Association, the Executive, committees, and information about your
workplace.
WHO IS A MEMBER?
All part-time and full-time faculty belong to their respective bargaining units, automatically pay dues, and are voting members of the Association.
FAUST Executive
Mike Fleming
President (recused during 2022 collective bargaining)
Dr. Mike Fleming is the President of the FAUST Executive. He is a former STU student and earned his PhD in Sociology from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He holds an 18 credit hour Regular Appointment as an Assistant Professor in Criminology and Criminal Justice and Sociology. He has recused as President during the 2022 round of collective bargaining to allow him to join the Negotiating Team.
Jean Sauvageau
Vice President (Acting President for duration of collective bargaining)
Dr. Jean Sauvageau is an Associate Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department. He attained his BSSc and MA at Ottawa University and his PhD at Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He is Past-President of the Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations. Dr Sauvageau became Vice President of the FAUST Executive in 2022. He has since stepped up to become Acting President for the duration of collective bargaining, to allow the FAUST President to join the Negotating Team.
Moira McLaughlin
Treasurer
Professor Moira McLaughlin has served as the FAUST Treasurer for the last four years and served as treasurer for FNBFA from 2013 to 2017. Prof. McLaughlin holds a Regular Appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology department, where her specialties are forensic anthropology, evolution, and human variation.
Katherine Thorsteinson
Member-at-Large
Dr. Katherine (Katie) Thorsteinson received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto, followed by her Master of Arts in English at the University of Manitoba. In Ithaca, New York she earned her second master's degree and her doctorate at Cornell University where she focused on American Literature, Media Studies, and Cultural Theory. In 2019, Katie joined the English Department at St. Thomas University as an Assistant Professor of Media Studies.
Renee Bourgoin
Member-at-Large
Dr. Renée Bourgoin is Assistant Professor in the School of Education. She teaches Elementary Reading and Language Arts courses as well as Elementary Social Studies Methods. Over the years, Renée has developed close working relationships with other scholars, researchers, school districts, local union branches, and various provincial counterparts. She works extensively with schools and the education community in the development of research projects that support teaching and learning through praxis. Prior to joining the School of Education, Renée worked at the school district level as a Subject Coordinator and an Instructional Coach. She has also been a Faculty Associate and an Honorary Research Associate at the Second Language Research Institute of Canada.
Matthew Robinson
Member-at-Large
Dr. Matthew Robinson earned his B.A. from the University of King’s College (Halifax) and his M.A. from Dalhousie University. He earned his PhD in Philosophy from Boston College, and has been a full-time member of STU’s Philosophy department since 2012. His specialty is Medieval philosophy, and he has growing interests in environmental ethics. He is a member of the FAUST ad hoc Committee on Environmental Concerns.
Shannonbrooke Murphy
Member-at-Large
Dr. Shannonbrooke Murphy is Endowed Chair in Human Rights and a full-time Assistant Professor in the Human Rights Department (LTA), having come to STU in 2019. Her research specialization is the human right to resist in international and constitutional law, and her teaching specialties include human rights advocacy outside the courtroom. This is her first service with a trade union, but she brings several decades of activist leadership in community and parliamentary contexts – including as part of the Irish Peace Process. Given a lifelong commitment to advancing the human right to self-determination of peoples and processes of decolonization, she has also joined FAUST’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Indigenization of the Academy
Jean-Philippe Ranger
Senior Grievance Officer
Dr. Jean-Philippe Ranger earned his PhD in Ancient Philosophy through a joint program between the University of Ottawa & Paris IV (Sorbonne). He has been a member of the Philosophy Department since 2009, where he teaches Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, & Hellenistic Philosophy. During his time at St. Thomas University, he has served two terms as Secretary of FAUST.FAUST Office staff
Brad Votour
FAUST Assistant
Prof. Brad Votour attained his BA at McMaster University, his MEd from Mount Saint Vincent, and is a PhD candidate at Western. His areas of Interest include Urban Studies, Educational Anthropology, Applied Anthropology, Human Rights and Environmental Issues.
Bonnie Huskins
Professional Officer
Dr. Bonnie Huskins is FAUST's Professional Officer and chairs the United Campus Labour Council. She is also Assistant Professor (part-time faculty) in the History Department at St. Thomas University and Adjunct Professor at the University of New Brunswick. Her research and publications focus on using diaries as historical sources; loyalist freemasonry in the Maritimes; celebrations and commemorations; the evolution of loyalist and Acadian collective identities; and the life and times of 18th-century British military engineer William Booth. Dr. Huskins offers courses in British Atlantic World, the American Revolution, colonial North America, Indigenous and settler Canada, immigration history in Canada, women's history, and the history of Atlantic Canada. She received the Part-Time Excellence in Teaching Award at STU in 2018-19.
