Background

The Federation was founded in the early 1970's by an informal group of faculty members from l'Université de Moncton, Mount Allison University, the University of New Brunswick, le Centre Universitaire St. Louis-Maillet (now UdeM-Edmundston) and St. Thomas University, who met intermittently to discuss matters of common interest. In March, 1981 Letters Patent incorporating the "Fédération des Associations de professeurs d'Université du Nouveau-Brunswick Inc. — Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations Inc." as a provincial corporation were issued, an office was opened in Fredericton, and a professional officer was hired. In 1984, l'APPUMAS (then l'APCUS), the faculty association of the Shippagan Campus of l'Université de Moncton joined the organization. Since that time, the Federation has been the porte-parole for all six of the faculty associations which comprise the approximately 1200 teachers, researchers and librarians who work in this province's universities.

The overall mandate of the Federation is, perhaps, best summed up in the "Objects" of the Federation, as stated in its official By-laws:

"The objects of the Federation are to promote the interests of teachers, librarians and researchers in the universities and colleges of New Brunswick, to advance the standards of their professions, and to seek to improve the quality of higher education in the province".

In attempting to achieve the foregoing goals, the Federation maintains close contact, and exchanges relevant information, with the appropriate Departments of the provincial and federal governments and with the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. (MPHEC)

The primary focus of the Federation is on lobbying government to maintain public funding for the universities in this province at levels adequate to allow them to remain accessible to all who wish to attend them, as well as competitive both with those of the other provinces and internationally. (Consequently, a large part of the Federation's efforts is directed towards the recovery and analysis of demographic and other statistical information from reliable sources). We like to think that it is not a coincidence that according to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) only British Columbia and New Brunswick have maintained or increased their per-capita expenditures on post-secondary education over the last decade, in marked contrast to the experience of Alberta or Ontario.

However, the Federation also addresses with government other issues which generally concern university faculty. In April 1991 the FNBFA was successful, for example, in persuading the provincial government to repeal the provisions affecting university faculty, before they took effect, of the Expenditure Management Act enacted earlier that year. On the pretext that the universities receive most of their funding from the province, this Act had originally included university faculty in the one-year "pay-freeze" – and in the prohibition from even engaging in contract negotiations during that period – which it imposed on provincial public employees.

Similarly, the Federation is presently examining pension legislation which adversely affects those associations which hold "money purchase" pension plans.

In May of 1999 the federation adopted a mission statement:

The Federation defends the interests of professors and librarians of the universities of New Brunswick. It encompasses the associations of professors and librarians of the province and speaks for the associations, notably in areas of financing, development and quality of post secondary teaching and research, before governmental and para-governmental bodies, both federal and provincial. The federation has the responsibility to disseminate among its members all information pertinent to these questions as well as others likely to be useful to its members.

that slightly expanded and clarified its mandate.