In 1936 the President created a Faculty Relations Council to act as a liaison between the University administration and the academic staff. Its members were appointed. In 1945 the Association of Teaching Staff of the University of Alberta was established, with the Faculty Relations Council remaining as its executive. In 1950 the ATSUA approved a new constitution, by which it initiated the election of the executive and discontinued the Faculty Relations Council. The ATSUA revised its constitution in 1959 and changed its name to the AASUA. The organization underwent another name change in 1961 to AASUAE (Edmonton) to distinguish it from the Calgary campus branch, the AASUAC (Calgary). When the University of Calgary became autonomous in 1966, the Edmonton association re-assumed the name AASUA. The AASUA's aim is to represent academic staff at the University of Alberta through collective bargaining, grievance representation, and expression of opinion.