Postal Labour Dispute

June 27, 2011

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says its members will will obey the back-to-work legislation that passed on Sunday, June 26, forcing postal workers back to work. Starting Monday, June 27, postal workers will begin sorting through the accumulated mail and delivery could begin as early as Tuesday afternoon.

June 15

Athabasca University (AU) has contingency procedures in place as a response to the CUPW strike and the subsequent disruption of postal services in Canada. These procedures will remain in effect until the strike ends or until June 24 whichever is sooner. If the postal service disruption continues beyond that date, we will notify you of any changes at that time.

Please Note

Overnight courier is not available from Athabasca and increased volumes experienced by courier companies may impact normal courier service time lines.

Requests for Service

Related fees must be received by the published deadlines.

Most services can be requested through the myAU student portal and paid for with Visa, Mastercard or American Express. For services that are not available via the myAU student portal, students may fill out the appropriate form and fax their requests using the fax number listed below. Students who are paying by cash, cheque or money order can pay for their services at the AU Calgary or AU Edmonton locations or send by courier to:

Athabasca University
Office of the Registrar
1 University Drive
Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3

Essential Communication Not Available Via the E-Letter Delivery Method

Any essential communication that is not available via the E-letter delivery method will be sent electronically by email. When an email address is not available, essential communication will be sent via courier.
Essential Communication Available Via the E-letter Delivery Method
Most essential communications are available via the E-letter delivery method. Students are encouraged to select the E-letter delivery method as any print based letters that are available in the E-Letter format will be held and posted when postal services resume. AU will be defaulting to the E-Letter delivery method on September 1, 2011. Click here for more information on this initiative.

Student Loan Certificates

Student Loan Certificates from a funding agency outside of Alberta will be sent via courier. Student Loan Certificates for students within Alberta are confirmed electronically.

Except for communication that is deemed essential, any other communication from the Student Financial Aid Unit that is normally sent via Canada Post will be held and posted when postal services resume.

Students are advised to check with their funding agency and the National Student Loans Service Centre for any other communication related to postal service disruption and what contingency plans these organizations have in place.

Student Awards, Scholarships and Bursaries

All cheques related to student awards, scholarships for bursaries will be held for a period of two weeks and will be sent via courier in the event postal services remain disrupted.

Transfer Credit Services

For the purposes of assessing transfer credit, the Office of the Registrar will accept a faxed copy of a transcript sent directly from the sending institution. Faxed copies will be deemed unofficial and students will need to arrange for an official transcript to be sent once postal service resumes.

Students may opt to have the sending institution send their transcript via courier if the sending institution has that service available. Any expense to courier a transcript to AU is the responsibility of the student.

Any transfer credit awarded will be considered unofficial until the official transcript is received from the sending institution once postal service resumes.

Students will be notified via email when their transfer credit evaluation has been completed and provided with a login link to the myAU student portal to view their transfer credit evaluation.

AU Transcripts

AU will accept transcript requests from students for an AU transcript but the official copy will be held and posted when postal services resume. Students may opt to have their transcript faxed if the request is urgent or have the official copy sent via courier at their own expense. Transcripts can be requested via the myAU student portal.

Exams

AU will accept and process student requests for exams but the exams will be held and posted to the Exam Invigilator when postal services resume. Students may make alternate arrangements to write an exam with their invigilator in the event the exam is not received by their scheduled write date.

Students may opt and are strongly encouraged to have their exams couriered by AU to their invigilator at their own expense to avoid any delays. Students who wish to have their exam returned to AU by courier will need to provide their invigilator with a prepaid courier envelope.

The postal strike does not affect those exams that are delivered on-line.

Non-Essential Communication

All non-essential communication will be held and posted when postal services resume.

Learning Resource Package Delivery

AU will send out learning resource packages by courier. To facilitate the process a telephone number is required for all shipments so that the courier service can contact the recipient to ensure timely delivery.

Those students that utilize a postal box as a mailing address must include their telephone number so that they can be notified once the shipment has reached the closest courier depot.
All students must be prepared to go to their local courier depot if the delivery cannot be made to the identified mailing address. When contacted by the courier service please confirm the location of the nearest depot.

Learning Resource Package Returns

For Students who wish to return learning resource materials to AU, please forward them via courier. If such materials are being returned please contact AU course materials via telephone (800-788-9041 ext 6366) or cmat@athabascau.ca.

Library Materials

Due to the range of material requests received by the Library, materials may be delivered in a number of ways.
1) Patrons who live in the Edmonton or Calgary area may have items delivered to AU Edmonton or AU Calgary for pick up.
2) Patrons who live in close proximity to a university participating in the Canadian University Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement (CURBA) may use their COPPUL cards to borrow materials from these universities. Patrons who do not have a COPPUL card, but who wish to receive one may contact the Library to request that a card be emailed to them. The physical COPPUL card will be sent to the patron once the strike is over.
3) Patrons may request that physical items be couriered to them, at their expense.
4) Some items may be available through Interlibrary Loan. To discuss this option, please contact the Library.
5) Library staff will also be available during the strike to assist patrons in finding relevant materials, and are happy to help in this way.
6) Students may also find it beneficial to talk with their tutors about resources for assignments.

Lab Kits

Students requesting Chemistry and Biology lab kits will be unaffected. Please use your course link to make your request for a lab kit.

Students requesting Physics lab kits should refer to the Library Materials section of this document.

Returned Exams for Marking

AU has implemented procedures within each Faculty to minimize any disruptions to the exam marking process. Tutors and markers are advised to check with their course assistant for any special procedures that may have been established.

Assignment Submission

Students should not mail any assignments. Most courses allow students to submit assignments electronically for marking through the assignment drop-box for their course which can be accessed through their course link in the myAU student portal. If the course does not have an assignment drop-box, then students should submit their assignments via email to their tutor.

It is the student's responsibility to ensure their assignments are received prior to their contract end date for undergraduate courses and within the established deadlines for the submission of an assignment for graduate courses.

Assignment Return to Student

Wherever possible, tutors and markers should return marked assignments or assignment feedback to students electronically and should continue to enter student grades electronically into the Newton system as per normal established process.

Assignment Return to Athabasca University

Tutors and Markers are advised to check with their course assistant for any special procedures that may have been established.

 

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Updated August 21, 2012