How Are You Doing? An APSA Survey
April 7, 2026
One of the difficulties in any large organization is how information flows. Does it mostly flow one way? Does it flow back up the leadership hierarchy, and if it does, in what form does it arrive at the top? Information flow can be especially one-way when the dominant management style is rooted in a command-and-control leadership model*. If you’re unfamiliar with command and control management styles — think traditional top-down decision-making hierarchies, where leaders give orders and employees execute those directions with little or no input. Efficiency and compliance are prized over enduring relationships with employees.
What tends to happen in command and control hierarchies is that information flows down the power gradient, but has difficulty making it back up in a way that could help influence an organization’s decision-making – presumably for the better.
If you’re in an SFU department that’s ever had an external review, you may be familiar with one-way information flow. When I worked for SFU many years ago, I remember when external reviewers came to a large department I used to work in. The reviewers seemed to speak to everyone in the senior ranks, and none of the employees, like myself, who did the operational work, who understood it at the ground level. As you might imagine, the review’s recommendations advised adding another layer of management and no additional staff at the lower ranks.
Both my colleagues and I on the APSA executive have been letting the University know about the heavier workload issues that too many of you are facing. In the last two years, between position eliminations and voluntary retirements, approximately 150 APSA members no longer have jobs at SFU. My team and many of our volunteers have heard about numerous cases of APSA members taking on, sometimes an entire additional role, managing two academic units instead of one, and even being directed to do significant amounts of CUPE work, all with little or no extra pay.
The University has noted to us that it is undertaking workforce planning. By “workforce planning” I understand SFU to mean looking at workload issues and not planning for further workforce reductions. At the moment, SFU’s workforce planning seems to be focused at the top of the hierarchy, and it’s unclear how or if information at the bottom of the hierarchy can make its way to the top and in what form.
We’d Like to Hear from You!
To ensure that you’re heard, we’ve prepared a survey in this newsletter. Our goal is to capture information from you about how workload issues may be affecting you. Are you doing more or about the same amount? Are your morale and stress levels being affected by workload issues? Are you being directed to work overtime, but not claim it? These kinds of issues, and more, are ones we’d like to explore with you through our survey. Our goal is to provide SFU with the anonymized data we’ve gathered to ensure the information flow is two-way.
Take care, and we hope to hear from you in our survey, which will collect anonymous responses only to protect your privacy.
*There's also a version called "enlightened command and control". 'This is a "kinder, gentler" version of traditional leadership, blending strict, hierarchical, industrial-age structure with modern elements like empathy, emotional intelligence, and mission-driven purpose. While more refined, it remains focused on leading people through oversight rather than empowering them, often making it a superior form of control rather than a complete shift in mindset.'