The Dalhousie Faculty Association was notified in early January 2002 that a provincial conciliator has been appointed to assist with resolving negotiations between the association and the university.

The faculty association applied for conciliation in December, after the employer's team declared an impasse and announced it would seek conciliation. DFA president Andy Wainwright said negotiations between the two sides "have been going nowhere."

Dalhousie's collective agreement expired June 30, 2001. In November, 71 per cent of bargaining unit members voted in favour of a strike. DFA members went on strike during the last set of negotiations in March 1998.