april 30, 2015 2 - ufv faculty & staff association · 2015-04-27 · fsa annual general meeting...

FSA Annual General Meeting – April 30, 2015 2

Table of Contents

Page

Agenda .................................................................................................................. 4

Advance Nominations .......................................................................................... 5

Minutes of the last AGM - Thursday, May 1, 2014 .............................................. 6

Proposed Changes to the Constitution .............................................................. 15 Annual Reports:

President – Vicki Grieve .............................................................................. 18 Faculty Vice President – John Carroll.......................................................... 20 Staff Vice President – Connie Cyrull............................................................ 20 Faculty Contract Administrator – Randy Kelley .......................................... 20 Staff Contract Administrator – Laura Chomiak .......................................... 21 Communications Chair – Lisa Morry .......................................................... 22 Agreement Chair and Past President – Virginia Cooke .............................. 22 Joint Professional Development Co-Chair – Vicki Bolan ............................ 24 FPSE Human Rights & International

Solidarity Representative – Rajneesh Dhawan ....................................... 25 FPSE Non-Regular Employees Rep – Clare Dale ......................................... 26

Financial Statements .......................................................................................... 28 Nomination Form ............................................................................................... 34


University of the Fraser Valley FACULTY & STAFF ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Thursday, April 30, 2015 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Chilliwack CEP Campus, Gathering Place

AGENDA

1. Call to order 1:30 pm

2. Approval of the Agenda 1:35 pm

3. Approval of Minutes: AGM, May 1, 2014 1:40 pm

4. Proposed Constitutional Changes 1:45 pm

5. Annual Reports 2:00 pm

6. Proposed Budget 2015-2016 2:10 pm

7. Report on bargaining progress 2:25 pm

8. Nominations for FSA Executive 2015-2016 2:45 pm

9. Presentations by those nominated for election 2:55 pm

10. Honourary Lifetime Membership Status 3:25 pm

Adjournment

NOTE: The election for the Executive positions (if necessary)

will take place on May 5, 6, and 7, 2015.

Social to follow.

Management, excluded employees, and retired members are cordially invited to join members of the FSA.


ADVANCE NOMINATIONS

FOR FSA EXECUTIVE POSITIONS 2015/2016

President - Vicki Grieve / Sean Parkinson

Staff Vice-President - Connie Cyrull

Faculty Contract Administrator - Randy Kelley / Wayne Podrouzek

Secretary Treasurer -

Communications Chair - Lisa Morry

JPDC Co-Chair -

OH&S Co-Chair -

Social Committee Chair -

FPSE Committee Representatives:

Status of Women -

Human Rights & International Solidarity -

Non-Regular Employees -

Additional nominations received before the AGM will be posted on the FSA website at: http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/about-us/annual-general-meeting/.

http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/about-us/annual-general-meeting/


UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY FACULTY & STAFF ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday, May 1, 2014

Abbotsford campus theatre 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

(Followed by a social held at the Phoenix Lounge)

Draft MINUTES

Present: Sidrah Ahmad-Rasheed, Avril Alfred, Rilla Apostolakis, Beverly Arcand, Nancy Armitage, Glen Baier, Colleen Bell, Lorraine Bingert, Janelle Blackman, Vicki Bolan, Gloria Borrows, Peggy Bray, Susan Brown, Heidi Cain, Eddie Campbell, Jorge Candia, Leah Carr, John Carroll, Sandra Cavan, Liz Chisholm, Jeff Chizma, Laura Chomiak, Karina Chow, Kim Christianson, Shelley Chute, Marlee Clingan, Daphne Cockerill, Natasha Collins, Margaret Coombes, Tim Cooper, Karen Cooper, Laurie Coreau, Connie Cyrull, Linda Dhal, Clare Dale, Christine Dalton, Karen Davies, Cindy Devauld, Rajnish Dhawan, David Dobson, Renata Donohue, Elizabeth Dow, Denise Duarte, Christie-Lee Duncan, Debbie Dyck, Abimbola Eke, Shelley Engen, Trevor Flegal, Whitney Fordham, Danielle Fournier, Lisa Gibson, Karen Giebelhaus, Kulwant Gill, Darlene Glum, Michele Gosselin, Kathy Gowdridge, Shannon Gravelle, Sukhjit Grewal, Kathleen Griffin, Amanda Grimson, Larry Gritzmaker, Pallavi Anderson, Jerry Haak, Robert Harding, Jill Harrison, Robert Harrison, Ceilidh Hart, Isabel Hay, Carmen Herman, Colleen Heron, James Hill, Ashely Hoogendoorn, Judi Hope, Jonathan Hughes, Nipuni Jayetileke, So Jeon, Michelle Johnson, Sunita Kaushal, Randy Kelley, Soowook Kim, Trena King, Lynn Kirkland Harvey, Moira Kloster, Holly Kooyman, Lisa Kouwenhoven, Darlene Labbe, Zina Lee, Rachael Letkeman, Joan-Michael Levesque, Margaret Lima, Ding Lu, David MacDonald, Leona MacDonald, Mary-Anne MacDougall, Seonaigh MacPherson, Curtis Magnuson, Emily Major, Elaine Malloway, Tracey Mason-Innes, Nicole Mast, Heather McAlpine, Robert McAuliffe, Robert McGregor, Sheila McKay, Sarah McLean, Karli Menagh, Linda Miller, Don Miskiman, Lisa Morry, Lisa Moy, Christine Nehring, Christina Neigel, Rowena Nichols, Amandeep Nijjar, Pauleen Nuite, Marcel Offroy, Colleen Olund, Ruby Ord, Glen Paddock, Sean Parkinson, Samantha Pattridge, Shawn Peters, Brenda Philip, Robin Pittman, Wayne Podrouzek, Sandra Presingular, Gayle Ramsden, Angela Reid, Sheila Reimer, Darlene Rosner, Tara Rozenek, Valerie Ruddick, Barbara Salingre, Melinda Saretzky, Greg Schlitt, Korina Scott, Bosu Seo, Hardip Shah, David Shayler, Rupinderjit Sidhu, Awneet Sivia, Malgorzata Slabicki, Sandra Smith, Geoffrey Spurling, Sheila St. Laurent, Anthony Stea, Deanna Stelting, Balraj Sumra, Kristen Switzer, Norman Taylor, Shelaugh Thomson, Deborah Tielmann, Rachelle Trudeau, Hilary Turner, Tammy Upton, William Van de Ligt, Cheryl Van Nes, Edward Visser, Melissa Walter, Danielle Warren, Jane Webb, Neil Webb, Debbie Wheeler, Tami White, Catherine Wilson, Simon Xi, Linda Yamaguchi, Shelley Young, and Tanja Rourke (Minute Taker).

_________________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER at 1:30 pm

Vicki Grieve, President of the FSA, chaired the meeting and started off by expressing concern about the recent layoffs. 8.7 staff positions were laid off which translates to 11 actual people from the following areas: student services, office of registrar, UUP, faculty of arts and health sciences, teaching and learning. There will be levels of bumping. Hopefully, no one will lose their job as there are new vacancies. There has been advance notification of faculty in ESL. Vicki welcomed everyone to the meeting. Vicki confirmed that the minimum number for quorum was in attendance and the 14-day notice requirement for the AGM was complied with. She introduced the FSA Executive.


2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

It was moved to add the following item to the agenda: 10 - Recommendation for honorary membership.

Motion: to approve the agenda as amended. S. Chute/G. Ramsden – Carried 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Motion: to approve the May 2, 2013 AGM minutes as presented. C. Wilson/L. Chomiak – Carried

4. PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES

The Constitution Review Committee met several times over the course of the year to discuss changes and additions. The proposed changes to the FSA Constitution were distributed in the AGM Package (page 17) and the 14-day notice requirement was met.

The following changes were presented for discussion:

MAY 2014: PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

The following table sets out some proposed changes to the Constitution by the FSA executive for consideration and ratification by the membership. Please have a look at the proposed changes and give them your careful consideration.

ARTICLE PROPOSED CHANGES RATIONALE

4.3 Any candidate for office as an officer of the Association must be a member in good standing at the time of nomination, and his/her nomination must be made by a member in good standing at such time of nomination. A member cannot accept a nomination for more than one position on the executive within the same election.

Allowing nominations for more than one position is confusing for voters, potentially creating a domino effect in terms of needing a succession of by-elections in order to fill positions. It undermines the credibility of our electoral processes, in that a voter could find that the candidate they supported for a particular position resigns because they were elected to a second position. Motion: to approve the proposed change to article 4.3 as presented. V. Bolan/C. Bell (Opposed – 4)

5.9 Duties of the Faculty Contract Administrator: The Faculty Contract Administrator will be responsible for handling individual faculty matters related to contract and workplace administration. He/she must be familiar with the terms of the Collective Agreement, and with the decisions of the Agreements Committee, and will provide relevant information and advice to any Association faculty member who has concerns about workplace issues. In consultation with other members of the Executive and/or Faculty Stewards, he/she will initiate grievances when appropriate according to the Collective Agreement and the internal FSA grievance process (See Appendix D for Internal Grievance Procedure). The Faculty Contract Administrator may engage the participation and assistance of the Vice Presidents in any contract administration work. The Faculty Contract Administrator will

See rationale for Appendix D: Internal Grievance Procedure Policy.

Motion: to accept the internal grievance policy. R. Dhawan/R. Ord (Opposed – 1)


represent the FSA on SACs and perform the observer role in SACs. He/she will also supervise and provide training for Faculty Stewards.

5.10 Duties of the Staff Contract Administrator: The Staff Contract Administrator will be responsible for handling individual staff matters related to contract and workplace administration. He/she must be familiar with the terms of the Collective Agreement, and with the decisions of the Agreements Committee, and will provide relevant information and advice to any Association staff member who has concerns about workplace issues. In consultation with other members of the Executive and/or Staff Stewards, he/she will initiate grievances when appropriate according to the Collective Agreement and the internal FSA grievance process (See Appendix D for Internal Grievance Procedure). The Staff Contract Administrator may engage the participation and assistance of the Vice Presidents in any contract administration work. The Staff Contract Administrator will represent the FSA on SACs and perform the observer role in SACs. He/she will also supervise and provide training for Staff Stewards.

See rationale for Appendix D: Internal Grievance Procedure Policy.

Motion: to accept the internal grievance policy. R. Dhawan/R. Ord (Opposed – 1)

Appendix D Internal Grievance Procedure Policy Grievances are among the most important means of protecting and asserting the rights of our members. The steps in a grievance are delineated in the Collective Agreement, Article 7. However, these steps are described in terms of the interaction between the FSA and the UFV Administration. The FSA must also take internal steps to decide when it will begin a grievance and how it will respond to Administration’s offers during the grievance process. This document outlines the grievance process as it occurs within the FSA in order:

To ensure consistent and professional handling of grievances

So that our members can understand how their union handles complaints/grievances.

Principles and/or Assumptions:

1. Grievances will be handled according to the Collective Agreement, following

the process as outlined in Article 7. 2. Confidentiality is crucial in handling grievances. Stewards and Contract

Administrators will protect the identity of individuals whose cases they are handling. However, members involved in grievances should be informed at the beginning of a consultation that other members of the FSA Executive may be involved in the discussion and resolution of grievances. The member can then make an informed decision on what information to share. The whole Executive must be aware of the need for confidentiality, and all discussion of grievances will be conducted in camera.

3. The decision to pursue a grievance belongs to the FSA, not to individual

members. Although always protecting the rights of individual members, the FSA is responsible for choosing to pursue a grievance, based on evidence of violation of the collective agreement, and of the ramifications for the membership at large. It is usually beneficial to work problems out before initiating a formal grievance, so the FSA needs to remain both reasonable and flexible. However, the FSA will not shy away from grievances either of an individual or a policy concern if a grievance is needed to protect our members’ rights or to propel a long-standing dispute to resolution.

4. Grievances should not be handled in isolation; this would leave the contract

administrators too vulnerable, and would bypass the opportunity to garner suggestions that might resolve the issues. Opportunities for consultation should be available throughout the process.

Rationale: Although our C.A. outlines the steps of the grievance process, much is left up to the discretion of the contract administrator handling a case. This is isolating for the contract administrator and leads to a lack of transparency regarding how grievances are (or are not) carried forward. The proposed policy protects both the confidentiality of the member involved in a grievance, and the reputation and credibility of the contract administrator, protecting him or her against charges of non-representation. Furthermore, it allows for a member to appeal the decision not to carry a grievance beyond stage 3. This is something a considerable number of members have asked for. Motion: to accept the internal grievance policy. R. Dhawan/R. Ord (Opposed – 1)


5. The contract administrators will make regular reports to the FSA executive,

including grievances, at what stage they are, and what general principles and/or contract violations are guiding the grievance(s). This will be done in a way which protects the identity of the members involved.

6. Contract administrators or the President should feel free to consult with the

FPSE representative (or other outside legal counsel if necessary) at any point in the process, if assistance is needed.

7. Faculty and staff contract administrators should consult with each other

before proceeding to the formal stage of any grievance and during the various stages of a grievance.

8. Before deciding to recommend that a grievance should proceed to

arbitration, the contract administrators should have the support of an FSA Grievance Review Committee (GRC) to make the decision.

FSA Process for Handling Grievances or Potential Grievances:

An individual query may be handled by either an area steward or the faculty or staff contract administrator. As stipulated in the FSA Constitution, the Contract Administration Chairs “are responsible for handling individual membership matters related to contract and workplace administration . . . and will provide relevant information and advice to any Association member who has concerns about workplace issues.”

o If other members of the executive or of the FSA office staff are

approached with an issue, they should refer the individual (or the question) to the appropriate contract administrator.

o In cases where a potential conflict of interest might exist with a particular contract administrator, the other contract administrator will deal with the case, or else an area steward or another executive member may handle the case through Step 1.

o Stewards or other designate who are handling Step 1 of a formal grievance must always do so in consultation with one of the Contract Administrators.

o Consultation between the Contract Administrators will normally take place at this stage.

When an issue is considered for a grievance, either by an individual member or by the Executive itself, the Grievance Review Committee will meet. This committee will decide whether a grievance is the best option for dealing with the concern. The decision of this committee will be conveyed to the FSA Executive as a whole in the Contract Administrator’s regular report. The members of the Grievance Review Committee will be:

the two contract administrators (or designates, if there is a conflict of interest)

the two FSA Vice Presidents

the FSA President, as chair

Where the issue has been raised by a member with a steward, or raised directly by a steward, the steward can attend the GRC meeting with voice but no vote.

When the decision is to proceed with a grievance, written notice of the grievance should be sent to the FSA president as well as the other parties identified in the Collective Agreement.

Before proceeding to Step 2 of the grievance process as outlined in Article 7, the two contract administrators, or in the case of a conflict of interest, one contract administrator and the area steward, should consult with the FSA


president to discuss the grievance and the difficulties with resolution.

If there is no agreement within this group on proceeding with a grievance, the contract administrator will consult with the FPSE representative, and will make the decision about whether to proceed. It is understood that if the grievance proceeds to Step 2, the steward will turn the case over to one of the contract administrators.*

Before proceeding to Step 3, the two contract administrators, or in the case of a conflict of interest, one contract administrator and the area steward should consult with the FSA president to discuss the grievance and the difficulties with resolution. The contract administrator will also consult with the FPSE representative before making the decision about whether to proceed. If the contract administrator recommends that the grievance not be pursued to Step 3, the member has the right to appeal this decision. The member may make a written request for the Grievance Review Committee to convene and review the decision. See below for appeal process.

As required by FPSE protocol, prior to any decision to pursue a grievance to Step 4, or arbitration, the FSA executive must approve this action.

o Such approval is required when FPSE takes a grievance to the GARC

(grievance arbitration review committee) for their assessment. o The FSA Grievance Review Committee will meet to consider the case

and prepare a formal recommendation for the FSA Executive. To preserve the anonymity of any individuals involved, the recommendation will be limited to which general principles and/or contract violations are guiding the grievance(s) and whether the case appears strong enough to have a chance of success at arbitration.

o The FSA executive will meet in camera and will review the recommendation of the Grievance Review Committee before voting on approval.

o If the FSA votes to approve the recommendation, the grievance will be forwarded to the FPSE GARC (Grievance Assessment Review Committee). The decision of GARC is binding on the FSA and cannot be appealed by the FSA or the member

* The Collective Agreement lays out timelines for each step of a grievance. It is understood that any stage of this process may be streamlined by the FSA if necessary to complete the grievance steps on time. Appeal Process:

If a contract administrator decides not to pursue a grievance to stage three, the member may appeal the decision in the following manner:

1. The member should contact the FSA president in writing within five days of receiving notice that the grievance will not be pursued, and ask that this decision be reviewed by the FSA Grievance Review Committee (GRC).

2. The president will schedule a meeting of the GRC, normally within five days of receipt of the member’s written request. All materials related to the grievance will be available for the committee to review. Materials will be supplied by the member and/or relevant contract administrator or designate.

3. The GRC will review and discuss the case, and a decision will be made by majority vote to uphold or overrule the contract administrator’s recommendation. This decision will be binding on the member and the FSA.

4. Within two days of the GRC appeal meeting, the FSA president will communicate the GRC’s decision in writing to the member, with copies to the GRC members


Members will be made aware of further possibilities of appeal through the BC Labour Code. Approved by the Executive committee – January 30, 2014

The following motion has been brought forward by FSA members for consideration and ratification by the membership. Please have a look at the proposed changes and give them your careful consideration.


5.20

New Clause

“It is the expectation that members of the Executive Committee shall neither apply for nor accept an excluded managerial position during their term of office, nor for at least two (2) years after the end of their term of office.”

Moved by: Norm Taylor

Seconded by: Hilary Turner

Submitted: April 3, 2014

1. Members of the Executive Committee have a duty to represent the interests of members, confidentially, and sometimes in opposition to the Employer, whether in informal disputes and grievances, or issues related to bargaining, employment equity, discipline, severance, bumping, potential layoffs, and the like.

2. Despite mutual good will and collegiality, the interests of the Employer and the Association are different and sometimes incompatible.

3. The Employer has recently appointed members of the Executive Committee to excluded managerial positions, either when the member was still in office or very shortly after he or she has left office.

4. The possibility, real or imagined, of being appointed to or rejected for an excluded managerial position has the potential to place a member of the Executive Committee in a conflict of interest (5.19).

5. Members of the Association have a right to expect that their elected representatives will act in good faith, exclusively in the interests of members, in accordance with their responsibility to the Association, and without regard for the expectations, interests, or influence of the Employer.

6. Members have the right to expect that elected representatives to whom they may have confided private information will not suddenly become their supervisors or managers.

Motion: to accept this change to article 5.20.

C. Wilson/W. Podrouzek In favour – 58 Opposed – 78

Due to the number of members opposed, the motion was NOT CARRIED.

5. ANNUAL REPORTS

The annual reports were distributed in the AGM package. Motion: to amend the president and faculty contract administrator’s report to include the number of ESL faculty that have received advanced lay-off notices. Accept other annual reports as presented. C. Bell/E. Dow – Carried

Acknowledged Vicki’s opening comments regarding the lay-offs.


6. PROPOSED BUDGET FOR 2014-2015

a. Review Engagement

Ding Lu expressed thanks to his predecessor Sean Parkinson, and office staff: Harman Dhaliwal and Tanja Rourke for their work this past year. He then provided an overview of financial statements for 2012-2013 which were reviewed by Hanna Barton & Company Ltd in June 2013. Motion: to receive as presented the 2012-2013 Review Engagement Report, which has been independently reviewed by Hanna Barton & Company Ltd. W. Podrouzek/S. Parkinson – Carried

b. Secretary Treasurer’s Report

Ding Lu presented his report to the membership and spoke to variances noted in the 2013-2014 Year End Budget to Actual Table.

Motion: to receive the Secretary Treasurer’s Report for 2013-2014 as presented. M. Walter/J. Hughes – Carried (Opposed - 1)

c. 2013-2014 Year-End Review Engagement Motion: to appoint the firm of Hanna Barton & Company Ltd for the 2013-2014 Review Engagement. W. Podrouzek/R. Dhawan – Carried

d. 2014-2015 Proposed Budget

Ding Lu presented the proposed budget for 2014-2015 and spoke to some of the changes:

Most projected expenditure is based on last year’s amounts. Budget for executive releases has been increased due to it being a bargaining year. The budget shows a projected deficit of $52,544.

Members’ raised concerns about the big chunk of money being paid to FPSE and the value to FSA. Ding informed the membership that the FSA Executive has agreed to have an FPSE representative at the bargaining table this year in order to better utilize their services. FPSE also has a strike fund that the FSA has access to. Ding informed the membership that the FSA has two strike funds, one with FPSE and one with FSA. Motion: to accept the Proposed Budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year as presented.

I. Hay/S. Parkinson – Carried (Opposed – 1)

7. REPORT ON BARGAINING SURVEY

a. Bargaining Survey

Lynn Kirkland Harvey provided a report on the bargaining survey:

Article tracking – contract committee bringing forward all articles where problems are coming from.

Provincial trends – government is talking about longer contracts, small salary increases and


temporary market adjustments, i.e. attracting workers to areas with shortages by offering incentives.

Draft FPSE common bargaining proposals - equity for non-regular faculty, compensation & benefits, resources for local issues, contracting out/job security and policy statement regarding enhancing resources.

Presented bargaining survey results – 49% responses.

Top 6 priorities: salary, benefits, job security, working conditions, non-regular faculty conditions.

LOA committee reports are being worked on.

b. LOA committee on Members Assigned Supervisory Duties and Responsibilities

David Shayler presented and discussed the recommendation letter that came out of the LoA committee on Members Assigned Supervisory Duties and Responsibilities:

8. NOMINATIONS FOR FSA EXECUTIVE 2014-2015

Vicki Grieve thanked all the outgoing FSA Executive for their hard work. She announced that a number of people had previously indicated that they were willing to stand for election. After calling for nominations from the floor three times, Vicki presented the final list of nominations:

Faculty Vice-President John Carroll (acclaimed) * Staff Contract Administrator Laura Chomiak/Lori Wirth/David Shayler * Chief Negotiator Jonathan Hughes/Wayne Podrouzek Agreements Chair Virginia Cooke (acclaimed) Social Committee Chair Ruby Ord (acclaimed) FPSE Rep. – Status of Women Rhonda Snow (acclaimed) FPSE Rep. – Human Rights Rajnish Dhawan (acclaimed) FPSE Rep. - Non-Regular Employees Clare Dale (acclaimed)

* Elections will be held May 5, 6 & 7, 2014, for the positions having more than one nomination.

9. PRESENTATIONS BY THOSE NOMINATED FOR ELECTION

Candidates were given the opportunity to address the membership. Candidate statements were also made available on the FSA website - http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/index.php?page=fsa_agm.

10. RECOMMENDATION FOR HONORARY MEMBERSHIP There is a provision in our constitution for a lifetime honorary membership. The FSA Executive recommended Moira Kloster for this membership and she accepted.

Motion: to award Moira Kloster honorary lifetime membership status. G. Baier/K. Gowdridge – Carried

http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/index.php?page=fsa_agm


11. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40pm and the membership joined the Executive for a social event at the Phoenix Lounge.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


MAY 2015: PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

The following table sets out some proposed changes to the Constitution by the FSA executive for consideration and ratification by the membership. Please have a look at the proposed changes and give them your careful consideration.


4.2 (c) officers of the Executive shall be elected for a term of two years, except for the FPSE Status of Women Rep, FPSE Human Rights & International Solidarity Rep, and the FPSE Non-Regular Employees Rep. The President, VP Staff, Faculty Contract Administrator, Secretary-Treasurer, and the Communications Chair will be elected in years alternate to the election of the VP Faculty, Agreements Chair, Staff Contract Administrator, and Chief Negotiator. (See Appendix C - Phase-In Procedures) This is to ensure some continuity of knowledge and experience on the executive committee.

These procedures were completed with 2014's elections. The purpose of the procedures was to ensure some continuity of executive members, so that there is a mixture of new and returning officers on the executive. We have accomplished this, but we added a sentence to explain the continuity principle behind staggering the terms of office.

5 Unless otherwise noted below, all Officers listed below are voting members of the FSA executive and are expected to attend executive and relevant committee meetings and make regular reports to the executive and to the membership.

Introductory sentence added regarding expectations in terms of attendance at executive meetings and reporting duties. We have run into problems either achieving or maintaining quorum at a few executive meetings, and feel we need to make expectations clear.

5.13 Duties of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee Co-Chair shall co-chair the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee(s) to ensure that unsafe, hazardous, or dangerous conditions within the work environment are reported to the University and to respond to and investigate members' complaints about such conditions. The OH&S Co-Chair shall make regular reports to the Executive Committee. In consultation with the FSA executive, the OH&S Co-Chair may delegate responsibility to another FSA member for participation in OH&S sub-committees, as well as related FPSE committees.

We have added language which clarifies the elected Co-Chair's ability to delegate some of his or her responsibilities to other FSA members. Note that the co-chair needs executive approval in order to delegate responsibilities. This has come up as some UFV committees and some FPSE initiatives and sub-committees which are relevant to OH&S require too great a time commitment for the person in this position, which has no release time.

NEW

5.16 (g)

Constitution Review Committee: The Constitution Review committee is responsible to ensure that proposed changes to the constitution are brought forward to the membership for ratification at the Annual General Meeting each spring. Members of this committee will be appointed by the executive each year.

Currently there is no language in the Constitution about this committee, though it exists within the structure of the executive.

Appendix C Remove appendix. As noted in section 4.2 (c)

Appendix D

Internal Grievance Procedures Policy

RATIONALE: This policy is only a year old, and the following proposed changes have been made so that the policy aligns with other provisions in the Collective Agreement or constitution. The consultation with the Grievance Review Committee has been moved to later in the process, as this will help

http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/about-us/committees/#constitution


maintain confidentiality a while longer, and will help contract administrators to feel more confident in making increasingly important decisions. The importance of consulting with our FPSE Rep, meeting C.A. deadlines, and using principles of natural justice in the appeal process have also been added. The purpose of the policy has not changed; these are essentially minor adjustments to clarify intent.

Please note: Only the sections of the policy which have changes are included here. The entire policy can be viewed on page 18 of the current Constitution and Bylaws on the FSA website at http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2014-UFVFSA-CONSTITUTION-BYLAWS.pdf.

FSA Process for Handling Grievances or Potential Grievances:

In cases where a potential conflict of interest might exist with a particular contract administrator, the other contract administrator will deal with the case or else an area steward or another executive member may handle the case through Step 1. Note that in the case of a conflict of interest, contract administrators have the ability to delegate their role to the appropriate staff or faculty vice-president.

2. When an issue is considered for a grievance, either by an individual member or by the Executive itself, the Grievance Review Committee will meet. Tthe two contract administrators (or designates) and the president This committee will decide whether a grievance is the best option for dealing with the concern. Where the issue has been raised by a member with a steward, or raised directly by a steward, the steward can attend meetings with voice but no vote. The advice of the FPSE Labour representative should be sought at this or any stage of the grievance process. The decision of this committee will be conveyed to the FSA Executive as a whole in the Contract Administrator’s regular report. The members of the Grievance Review Committee will be:

• the two contract administrators (or designates, if there is a conflict of interest) • the two FSA Vice Presidents • the FSA President, as chair

Where the issue has been raised by a member with a steward, or raised directly by a steward, the steward can attend the GRC meeting with voice but no vote. 3. When the decision is to proceed with a grievance, written notice of the grievance should be sent to the FSA president as well as the other parties identified in the Collective Agreement. 4. Before proceeding to Step 2 of the grievance process as outlined in Article 7, the two contract administrators, or in the case of a conflict of interest, one contract administrator and the other’s designate and, if relevant, the area steward, should consult with the FSA president to discuss the grievance and the difficulties with resolution. If there is no agreement within this group on proceeding with a grievance, the contract administrator will consult with the FPSE representative, and will make the decision about whether to proceed. It is understood that if the grievance proceeds to Step 2, the steward will turn the case over to one of the contract administrators.* 5. Before proceeding to Step 3, the Grievance Review Committee (GRC) will meet to discuss the case and make a decision about whether to proceed to Step 3. The GRC will consist of two contract administrators, or in the case of a conflict of interest, one contract administrator and the other’s designate, area steward the two FSA Vice-Presidents and the FSA President, as chair. should consult with the FSA president to discuss the grievance and the difficulties with resolution. The contract administrator shouldwill also consult with the FPSE representative, and convey his or her opinion before the committee makes a making the decision about whether to proceed. If the contract administrator GRC recommends that the grievance not be pursued to Step 3, the member has the right to appeal this decision. The member may make a written request to the president to convene a review panel for the Grievance Review Committee to convene and review the decision. See below for appeal process. 6. (a) Such approval is required when FPSE takes a grievance to the GARC (FPSE’s grievance arbitration review committee) for their assessment.

http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2014-UFVFSA-CONSTITUTION-BYLAWS.pdf

http://www.ufv-fsa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2014-UFVFSA-CONSTITUTION-BYLAWS.pdf


Appeal Process: If the GRC a contract administrator decides not to pursue a grievance to stage threeStep 3, the member may appeal the decision according to the steps below. However, deadlines imposed by the Collective Agreement must be considered and adhered to, and the FSA President will be responsible for ensuring that Collective Agreement deadlines are met or can be extended through agreement with UFV’s management.. in the following manner: 1. The member should contact the FSA president in writing person or by email within five three days of receiving notice that the grievance will not be pursued, and ask that this decision be reviewed by an FSA Grievance Appeal Panel (GAP). the FSA Grievance Review Committee (GRC). If the President is not available to convene a panel, he or she will appoint an executive member as a designate. The panel will consist of at least three (3) executive members or stewards, and will be chaired by an executive member who has had experience in handling grievances. The importance of confidentiality will be stressed to the GAP members. 2. The president or designate will be responsible for the panel’s organization and will designate a chair and schedule a meeting of the GRC the GAP hearing. The president will also request written submissions from the appellant (the grievor) and the respondent (contract administrator or designate), and will forward these to the GAP members. The president will ensure the timelines of the Collective Agreement grievance articles are met and will provide appellant, respondent, and GAP members with suitable deadlines. The president will provide the GAP with procedural guidance to ensure the hearing is conducted according to principles of administrative law and natural justice.

normally within five days of receipt of the member’s written request. All materials related to the grievance will be available for the committee to review. Materials will be supplied by the member and/or relevant contract administrator or designate. 3. The GRC GAP will review hear and discuss the case, and a decision will be made either by consensus or by majority vote to uphold or overrule the contract administrator’s recommendation. This decision will be binding on member and the FSA. 4. Within two days of the GAP hearing, the GAP’s decision will be written by the panel chair and submitted to the FSA president who will forward it to the appellant and respondent. The decision will be binding on the member and the FSA. Within two days of the GRC appeal meeting, the FSA president will communicate the GRC’s decision in writing to the member, with copies to the GRC members. Members will be made aware of further possibilities of appeal through the BC Labour Code.


ANNUAL REPORTS

President – Vicki Grieve

This has not been an easy year. Like the majority of people who work here, I have been at times overwhelmed by the volume of work that needs to be done, and disadvantaged by the need to be constantly shifting my focus from trying to achieve big-picture, long-term goals, to simply dealing with the incoming crisis du jour. I’m mindful of the probability that most past FSA presidents have probably felt the same way; however, it seems that this year has been marked by more conflict than usual, book-ended by the staff lay-offs that occurred about this time last year, and ending with the closure of the Writing Centre. In the middle came severe provincial cuts to ESL and ABE funding, the potential closure of the Fashion Design program and a re-structuring of advising services. Not surprisingly, there also came a deterioration of morale and break-down in trust in the motivations of our management. I know this may sound a bit bleak, and if not for the incredible hard work and good humour of the executive members I work closely with, it might be. Our newly formed executive started to work together during a two day retreat at Harrison Hot Springs in late August. We had a goal setting session the first day, and we discovered that individually and collectively our top priority could be characterized as developing better communications with our membership. Specifically, we wanted to achieve more transparency in how our association conducts its business. I believe we have made some strides towards this, specifically through staff forums that were held this fall, regular updates of our activities in four editions of our re-designed Words & Vision, and an increased number of information bulletins. I am hoping that the increasing number of member inquiries and requests for assistance that we’ve experienced this year may be a result of folks feeling more comfortable in communicating their concerns to various members of the executive. (Of course, it also occurs to me that there are simply more problems out there!) “Better communications” is, I know, a large and somewhat vague goal. This needs to be an ongoing process and an objective that the next executive must continue to work on. What follows is a brief run-down of my activities during this past year.

Contract Administration: The staff lay-offs that began last spring generated so much work for our two contract administrators that I needed to work directly with them on resolving the issues that arose and supporting members involved in the bumping process. The successive rounds of bumping were ongoing until this March. In addition, due to provincial government funding cuts, two ESL faculty and one staff member were also given lay-off notices. I am pleased to be able to report that one of these faculty notices was rescinded, and that other member successfully transferred into a new position. I have also supported our contract administrators in dealing with disciplinary issues and grievances, both of which have been on the rise this year. One thing which is becoming apparent to me is that our executive may not be adequately resourced to deal with the volume of contract administration work we’ve needed to handle on a daily basis.

FSA Committees: The president is an ex-officio member of all executive sub-committees, and in addition to chairing our monthly executive meetings, I have played an active role on the Finance, Communications, Contract and Constitution committees. The Finance committee has developed some new policies and has revised old ones to bring them in-line with current practice. The Communications committee undertook a re-design of our newsletter, Words & Vision. We hope you are enjoying the change. The Constitution committee has not had to engage in developing any big constitutional revisions, but there are some small changes included in this AGM Package. I’ll comment further on the Contract committee below.

Labour and Management Group (LAM) This joint management/union committee meets monthly and is an important mechanism for dealing with both on-going and emerging issues. Budget consultation took place within this committee, and the FSA was able to provide some input and express concerns — we think we did have some (arguably not enough!) influence on the development of this year’s budget.


Board Meetings: The FSA president is invited to make an (almost) monthly report to the board. I have usually provided both a written and verbal report, and I try to keep the work of our members and the issues they deal with at the forefront of anything I say. This year reports from myself, The SUS president and the chair of the Alumni Association have been moved from the public session to the end of the board’s in-camera session; I like to think that the candidness of some of my comments might have had something to do with the change!

FPSE involvement: We had a full roster of delegates attend FPSE’s AGM and convention in Whistler in May last year. I was a member on a panel of presenters who spoke on the topic of “The New Universities, Six Years On.” Later that month, at FPSE’s expense, myself and eight other presidents were sent as delegates to the Canadian Labour Congress’s convention in Montreal. This was a fascinating glimpse into how “big labour” operates. We were there, in part, to support Ken Georgetti’s bid for another term of office as president of that organization, but he was defeated during the presidential election by Hassan Yussuff.

I have also attended all President’s Council meetings, which are very useful in making connections with other presidents and learning about issues in their institutions. FPSE has made good on its promise to bring more public awareness to the underfunding of post-secondary education in our province with the “Open the Doors” campaign which launched last month. Also, a “climate survey” was developed by a sub-committee of Presidents’ Council; I was responsible for adapting the staff portion of the survey. This was distributed system wide in the spring, and the results will be shared soon.

We have also called often upon Lesley Burke O’Flynn, our FPSE Labour representative. She has delivered workshops for us and helped with contract administration as well as bargaining.

Attendance at UFV/FSA events: It has been a pleasure representing the FSA at functions such as retirement dinners and long-service recognition events. In these tough times, it is important to remember and celebrate the contributions of our colleagues. In a joint venture with the H.R. Department we successfully re-instated the Hallowe’en costume contest and pizza party. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to top my “Cereal Killer” costume.

Contract Negotiations: Our Contract committee met regularly throughout the fall, parsing the results of last year’s bargaining survey and working to develop a large set of bargaining proposals. Jonathan Hughes and I attended a very useful workshop in November presented by Lancaster House, a Labour Education provider, called “Bargaining in the Public Sector.”

Although I did not intend to play quite so active role in actual bargaining meetings, when I saw the number of bodies on the employer’s side of the table, I felt that I was needed to at least even out those numbers. This has been a very difficult, and at times frustrating set of negotiations. We knew at the outset that we were going into a net-zero environment, but we are having to fight to hang on to what we already have, as the employer is looking to curtail and contain both costs and rights. Despite the uphill struggle, Jonathan Hughes and everyone on the bargaining team has been working hard to meet our members’ bargaining goals. It has been many things being the FSA’s president for the past year: satisfying, frustrating, maddening, saddening, crazy-making, exhausting and enlightening. The list could go on, but I better stop it here. The best part of this job has been meeting new colleagues and being able to sometimes improve their working lives for the better. Much of the work we do on the FSA executive to support members is not very visible, but it has its rewards. My parting shot — just in case anyone has missed it, (you might if you are new here) our institution is in a period of profound change, one that is cultural in nature. I’ve had a long career here, and I’ve seen lean times before. We’ve withstood restraint and cut-backs in the past, in large part because we trusted each other — administrators, staff, faculty — we were in it together, for our students and communities. That’s what made it all work. I hope this wasn’t simply a function of size, and that we’ve now outgrown the possibility of cooperation, consultation and collaboration. These are values completely congruent with the best kinds of education: we must hang on to them for dear life. Before I conclude, I need to express my gratitude to everyone on the FSA executive — it’s been wonderful to work with such a smart and dedicated group. Finally, my sincere thanks to Tanja Rourke and Harmandeep Dhaliwal, who keep this operation running with amazing efficiency and good grace. We are so lucky to have them.


Congratulations are due to Harman who has a new daughter and is now coming back from her maternity leave. Probably no one is happier than Tanja to have her back, but we are all glad to see her.

Respectfully submitted.

Faculty Vice President – John Carroll

As FSA Faculty VP during the past year I regularly attended meetings as a member of the Finance committee, the Communications committee, the Contract committee, and the Executive committee. In addition, during the past few months I have been participating with the other members of the Contract committee in bargaining. Last summer I chaired a grievance review panel and am currently serving as a respondent on another one of these panels. I have worked with the FSA president and contract administrator on specific issues related to our members, as well as taking on a leading role in working with several members. I am also a member of the Constitutional Review committee, which will be having its first meetings this spring. The work has been interesting and not always, but mostly, rewarding. I continue firm in my belief that my role is most useful to members when I work to eliminate barriers that create misunderstanding, confusion, and mistrust at UFV.

Staff Vice President – Connie Cyrull

My term is nearly up and as I sit here thinking about the past year, I am amazed at how busy I have been. The past year started with the FPSE Conference in Whistler, followed by the transition meeting and the FSA executive retreat in Harrison — which is where the new executive begins to get to know each other and strategize for the year ahead. Along with Laura Chomiak and Lisa Morry, we organized coffee meetings on both the Abbotsford and CEP campuses to meet with staff to listen to concerns that we may be able to address during bargaining. We hosted staff executive meetings, in which Vicki Bolan and Gayle Noel joined us, where discussions revolved around staff exclusively. This also assisted us in identifying possible articles for bargaining. Being part of the Bargaining committee, Communications committee, Finance committee, and attending executive meetings has kept me busy as well as giving me an excellent chance to express the interests of staff. As you know, bargaining has dominated my time since January. Three to four days per week, the team is working to try to obtain the best contract we can. The contract term is most likely going to be five years, which seems to be the standard with this government. Jonathan Hughes, our chief negotiator, has prepared a summary on some of the articles we have been dealing with, so I will not repeat that information here. I do want to say how much I have enjoyed this position over the past two years and as I mentioned in my Words & Vision article, I will be running again. If successful, I look forward to working with the new executive for the next two years, making sure that staff concerns are heard and dealt with.

Faculty Contract Administrator – Randy Kelley

This is the second annual report I've written since having the privilege of serving as the faculty contract administrator. I look back on my reasons for wanting to serve the membership in this capacity and I’m happy to report that I’ve been able to work on many of the issues I had hoped to work on.


I’ve met and worked with colleagues from many areas and disciplines that are removed from my own. It has been both interesting and challenging to represent members from all of our faculties and from most of our departments. The issues have ranged from simple misunderstandings, through extremely complex matters of interpretation and application of the Collective Agreement. I’ve represented our faculty in matters of: occupational health and safety, workload allocation and assignment, credit for workload, disciplinary matters, harassment investigations, lay-offs and severance, instructional complaints, sabbatical appeals, SAC observations, short-term disability leave/long-term disability applications and appeals, ensured Sessionals and limited term appointments are allocated work in accordance with CA provisions, and supported members in matters of interpersonal conflict. Solutions to issues have been found through informal conversations and through the formal grievance process. It’s interesting to note that not all of the matters to be dealt with are in the employee - employer dispute realm, and that significant problems arise from member to member conflict. It’s worth noting that communication failures are often contributing factors to one degree or another. Additionally, I’ve regularly attended and represented faculty at meetings of: the Labour and Management committee, the Early Intervention Support Program committee, the Contract committee, and of course, the Bargaining committee. At the provincial level, I attend and represent UFV faculty at the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators' Contract Administration Review committee. I’m also in regular contact with our FPSE staff representative to ensure that we are acting in unison with our colleagues at other FPSE locals. As you will all be aware, we have been exceptionally busy with the bargaining process this year. I am grateful to the other members of our bargaining team, and particularly our chief negotiator, for the very sincere efforts that they have made in negotiating a Collective Agreement which enables us to work in the best conditions possible. It’s important to remember that collective agreements arise out of negotiations between the parties at a point in time, and while the team needs to be informed by history, they need to operate in the current political and economic environment, while trying to provide for the best conditions going into the future. I want to be clear that all members of the bargaining team worked hard to represent the membership in its entirety and were committed to getting the very best deal possible. It has been an immensely busy and rewarding couple of years. I have very much enjoyed representing our members and appreciate the opportunity to do this work.

Staff Contract Administrator – Laura Chomiak

I want to thank our membership for allowing me to assist you in addressing issues, exploring opportunities and overcoming challenges. When you elected me as your FSA staff contract administrator, I promised to be honest and discreet and to represent your best interests. I’ve worked extremely hard to uphold those promises. This past year has been challenging for staff who have had to endure organizational restructuring, bumping, new operating procedures, and policy changes. As management looks ahead to the future of our institution in 2025, UFV staff are faced with uncertainty in their employment due to cuts and restructuring, and the resulting reduction in services that will impact students and departments. I am acutely aware that job security, workload and morale are on everyone’s minds. Throughout my term I have been successful in resolving many staff grievances and conflicts, in addition to issues concerning disciplines, harassment and bullying. I have also worked closely with staff throughout the bumping process. Many have expressed their appreciation for my assistance with their resumes. Whenever possible, I’ve gone the extra mile in assisting staff with compiling support materials and researching the best possible job options to ensure success. I have assisted several members who had encountered issues with our health care provider, mediated conflicts among staff, closed many files concerning workplace issues and risk assessments, kept members in the loop on job restructuring


and classification, and enforced Collective Agreement violations. In the fall I chaired a Staff Ad-hoc committee to review Collective Agreement articles that were impacting negatively on staff or required further clarification. With your assistance we were able to work through which of the articles should be revised during bargaining. The Staff Ad-hoc committee was also involved in organizing the staff cookie and coffee chats on both campuses. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet our members and it also provided a forum to present ideas and address concerns. I look forward to more of these chats this year, especially once the Collective Agreement is ratified. I have also been an active participant in various committees such as the FSA Contract, Grievance, Labour & Management and the Contract Administrator Review, which has allowed me to stay on top of the issues and better represent our membership. In addition, the FPSE and Labour Law Review conferences have been invaluable in keeping me up to date on current events. I would like to thank Connie Cyrull, FSA staff vice-president, and all our staff shop stewards for all their invaluable assistance during this past year.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to be your advocate and to resolve your grievances in a decisive and timely manner. I

look forward to working with you over the next year, and perhaps beyond.

Communications Chair – Lisa Morry

I've enjoyed handing out Words & Vision newsletters and treats and participating in coffee and cookie chats. Working along with Connie and Laura, these have been opportunities to meet members individually and hear your concerns. I have also attended the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators' conference on the future of post-secondary education, the FPSE annual general meeting, the BC Federation of Labour convention, a Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) leaders meeting, communications committee meetings, staff executive meetings, an FSA transitional meeting and all FSA executive meetings (with the exception of two missed meetings due to sick leave and another missed meeting when out of town). I've nagged other executive members about deadlines, edited and laid out the newsletter, and participated in a newsletter redesign, along with other members of the communications team. I've consulted on communications-related issues, helped update the FSA website, and helped send out bulletins and announcements. I took a women and leadership course at the 2014 CLC winter school and would have liked to have taken a communications course at the 2015 CLC winter school, but it wasn't possible to schedule that. The past two years have gone by quickly. The newsletter sounds like a simple thing, but it's a big job, as anyone who has ever edited a newsletter knows. There's a give and take between contributors and editor and then the organizing of pages and pictures and seemingly endless proofreading. The proofreading is shared among members of the communications committee, so it's not all on me, but it's amazing how easily small mistakes creep in. I helped organize a film screening of "Pink Saris" for International Women's Day on the Abbotsford campus, helped with running the Chilliwack Halloween event, helped staff the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women information table on the Chilliwack campus, and helped organize our upcoming AGM. I hope the AGM goes well and we all have a great time after the meeting. We're on the CEP campus this year for the first time, and if it's a nice day, we can throw open the doors of the Gathering Space and enjoy some sun and fresh air.

Agreements Chair and Past President – Virginia Cooke

The duties of the Agreement Chair (a co-chair of the Joint Agreement committee) involve dealing with questions of clarification of language in the Collective Agreement. As stated in the FSA Bylaws, “The Agreement Chair will call meetings


of the Agreement committee to clarify, interpret, and recommend Memorandums of Understanding, Letters of Agreement, or policy initiatives.” Reading Moira Gutteridge-Kloster’s impressively lengthy report from last year, I am humbled indeed, as the Agreement committee has not been convened this academic year. Primarily this is because from late fall and throughout this winter, negotiations have been underway, and when the contract is “open,” the Agreement committee usually does not convene. When there are matters of confusion or disagreement in the interpretation of the Collective Agreement, they are dealt with in negotiations, so the work of this committee is always light in bargaining years. I did expect to be dealing with one major item. According to our letter of agreement housing the language on Tenure and Promotion Procedures, this language (ratified by faculty last year) is to “become effective on the date of approval of the Standards for Tenure and Promotion by the UFV Senate.” The document anticipates the date of that Senate approval to be December of 2014. However, this approval did not take place in December, as the standards were still in development. I understand that the Standards will come to Senate for approval this spring. Immediately thereafter, both the FSA and UFV will need to put into place some processes to implement the procedures. In particular, the ratified procedures specify that 1) the Employer and the FSA will hold jointly a workshop for members who are applying for tenure and/or promotion and 2) that no one will serve on a review or appeals committee without having completed a training workshop provided by the University and the FSA. Either the Agreement Committee or Labour and Management (LAM) will need to put in place the plans for such training and workshops so that they can be provided as soon as the procedures become effective in the Collective Agreement. I will at least undertake to get the ball rolling on these processes before I head off into the sunset. Speaking of LAM, The Agreement Chair sits on the Labour and Management joint committee. Although this term the regular meetings of LAM have often been supplanted by bargaining meetings, there are several issues that have been the subject of LAM discussions over the course of this past year:

Staff morale, especially in the wake of the lay-offs and subsequent rounds of bumping

Concerns regarding re-organization

The revised Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying policy

The reorganization proposals for the Arts faculties

Copyright compliance

Protocols regarding Sessionals and study tours

Budget consultation (LAM became the venue for consultation with the FSA over this year’s budget, and both Vicki and I were involved in writing up extensive questions after the initial meeting)

Given the relatively light load of the Agreement Chair this past year, I would say that the bulk of my contribution to the FSA Executive was in the role of past president. I made myself available to help the current president as much as possible, sometimes by providing history or context for issues, sometimes as either a listening or consulting body, occasionally as an editor (though our current president is certainly as skilled a writer as I am, so only needed a second set of eyes on rare occasions). Now and then I took on an assigned task when everyone else ran out of time or steam. For example, I recently chaired a Grievance Appeal Panel. These are all tasks I was happy to undertake, as the work of the FSA president and vice-presidents has been more taxing in the past two years than any time during my own presidency. There is simply nothing as demoralizing or exhausting as lay-offs, and not since the 1980s have we seen a provincial government more bent on cutting post-secondary budgets. This was my final year on the FSA Executive, where I have been in various offices during the last three decades. And this is my final year at UFV, which is difficult even for me to grasp. I’m sure some of you will be thinking it’s about time! Let me end this report with a few parting comments. Jobs on the FSA Executive, if performed diligently, are difficult and often stressful. They require patience, tact, perspective, a kind of righteous indignation when it comes to unfairness, and an honest concern for ones fellow employees. They also need a dogged kind of optimism that problems can be dealt with (even solved); that most people in the university, both in the union and the administration, are good and fair-minded people who value both each other and students; and that if they cannot achieve the desired goals one time, they can get it right the next time. Those who serve on the executive can count on FSA members to take their work for granted, and to become disgruntled if they don’t agree with actions or decisions. One hopes that those in office will have a commitment to service, but not self-service. Executive members are elected, so they aren’t all of “one party” and they don’t always agree. But certainly in the last three or four years, the business of the FSA has been conducted with respect and good will and a


good dose of sanity-preserving humour. Personally, it has been very gratifying to work with this group of people, and Tanja Rourke and Harman Dhaliwal are absolute gems in the FSA office. It has been my honour to serve my fellow faculty and staff at different junctures and over many years during my career at UFV. I would not have been so active in the FSA if I didn’t believe it is so very important. As governments become more draconian, the importance of unions is even greater. So please value what you have, pay attention, and work to improve it. I will miss you, colleagues, and I say that sadly. On the other hand, I don’t need to write any more reports. Cheerfully submitted.

JPDC Co-Chair – Vicki Bolan

The Joint Professional Development committee is composed of representatives from the FSA and the Employer who work together to oversee the distribution of professional development funds. These cover not only faculty sabbaticals and staff educational leaves but a wide range of professional development activities for both faculty and staff. The membership structure now includes five FSA members (in addition to the FSA co-chair): three instructional faculty members (each of whom will divide evenly the responsibility to represent and liaise with each of the UFV faculties), one academic support faculty member, and two staff members. These members will be elected to three-year terms and have the option to run for subsequent terms. A complete list of the terms of reference may be found at: http://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/joint-professional-development-committee/. Changes to the approval process for in-service professional development were introduced in 2013-14 and the committee co-chairs met with supervisors throughout the past year to receive feedback on the new format. Overall, comments were positive with supervisors indicating the criteria guidelines led to increase dialogue between employees and the departments and resulted in a clearer understanding of professional development. https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/human-resources/professional-development/in-service-professional-development-application-forms/In-Service-PD-Criteria-and-Guidelines.pdf The Joint Professional Development committee (JPDC) along with the Scholarly and Sabbatical sub-committee of the JPDC has created a searchable online database of UFV granted faculty scholarly activities and faculty sabbatical leaves. This database is housed in MyUFV within the Online Services tab. (Login to MyUFV to gain access: https://portal.ufv.ca/cp/home/loginf.) Currently, information stored in the database includes UFV-granted faculty scholarly releases and faculty sabbatical leaves from 2009 to 2014. The summarized information contained in the database has been generated based on the application submitted. You will see that the data displayed from 2012/2013 onward provides users with a more detailed abstract as the application proposal process specifically addressed this. The intention of this database is to provide faculty with a link to generate connections and relationships with other UFV faculty members as it relates to scholarship and research areas. This year, the JPDC Sabbatical sub-committee met with the research office to do a review of all sabbatical applications. The Faculty Sabbatical Leave Fund (FSLF), as defined in Article 24.3(c) (Faculty Sabbatical Fund), is supplemented by faculty, lab instructors, education advisors, and directors with a contribution of 0.4% of their salaries. The committee reviewed 31 sabbatical proposals in total—29 applications from academic support and/or teaching faculty were approved and these members will be taking leave in 2015/16. One member will be deferring his leave to 2016-17, and two faculty applications were denied as, in the opinion of the sub-committee, their projects did not meet the criteria. http://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/faculty-sabbatical-leave/faculty-sabbatical-leave-procedures/faculty-sabbatical-leave-application-process/ . In addition, the research office and a JPDC sub-committee held joint meetings to review all applications for scholarly activity releases. It had been noted that some faculty were in the habit of applying for both research option and scholarly

http://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/joint-professional-development-committee/

https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/human-resources/professional-development/in-service-professional-development-application-forms/In-Service-PD-Criteria-and-Guidelines.pdf

https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/human-resources/professional-development/in-service-professional-development-application-forms/In-Service-PD-Criteria-and-Guidelines.pdf

https://portal.ufv.ca/cp/home/loginf

http://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/faculty-sabbatical-leave/faculty-sabbatical-leave-procedures/faculty-sabbatical-leave-application-process/

http://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/faculty-sabbatical-leave/faculty-sabbatical-leave-procedures/faculty-sabbatical-leave-application-process/


activity releases. In these tight fiscal times with government funding to post-secondary institutions being cut, the decision was made to have both the research office and the JPDC committee review all release applications. Scholarly activity requests were down this year with nineteen requests (including five for grants). Of these requests, seventeen were approved. On the staff side, nine staff members applied for educational leave, of which five were granted (three short-term and 2 long-term). The remaining three applications were approved in principle but unfortunately there was insufficient funds to support these requests. The Staff Educational Leave Fund (SELF) supports assisted educational leaves for Type A and Type C staff as defined in Article 24.3(b) (Staff Assisted Educational Leave) and consists of $100,000 annually plus any remainder of the previous year’s SELF budget. There is currently no funding provision under which staff contribute to the SELF fund to increase the amount available for staff educational leave. This situation is something that could be addressed in collective bargaining provided staff members are willing to contribute to the fund much as faculty members contribute to their fund. https://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/staff-educational-leave/

FPSE Human Rights & International Solidarity Rep – Rajneesh Dhawan

At the February meeting of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators Human Rights & International Solidarity committee (HRISC), the committee unanimously voted to denounce Bill C-51 through the following resolution:

Whereas Bill C-51 (Anti-terrorism Act) represents an immediate and real danger to human rights, liberties, academic and artistic freedom and the rule of law in Canada, posing a particular danger to the indigenous nations, defenders of the environment and all other people in Canada; HRISC resolutely condemns Bill C-51 and calls for its defeat; and HRISC urges PC (presidents council) to issue a statement as soon as possible to publicly condemn Bill C-51 and urge its members contact their MPs to demand this Bill be defeated because it gives powers to CSIS (Canada Security Intelligence Service) and the RCMP that according to the Globe & Mail “makes Canada a virtual police state.

Following up on the above-mentioned resolution, on March 4, 2015, the local chapter of HRISC organized an open house discussion on the notion of free speech. About forty members of UFV's community engaged in discussion for two hours on the following topics: What is my notion of freedom of speech? Do I feel free to express my opinion? If not, then what or who stops me from expressing it? Is following a twitter handle #jesuischarlie enough to express support for my most basic fundamental right? Does my freedom end where the other person’s nose begins? Does my race, ethnicity, status or accent, in any way obstruct me from voicing my views? International Women’s Day On March 5

th, The HRISC co-sponsored the screening of the documentary film “Pink Saris” to mark the International

Women’s Day. The film was followed by a discussion on the comparative understanding of the status of women in the developed and developing worlds. Postcards from the Margins During the months of March and April, HRISC, in association with Race and Anti Racism Network, (RAN) organized a campaign titled “Postcards from Margins.” This was a postcard/billboard campaign designed to raise awareness and generate anecdotal information about racism, race-related harassment, bullying and discrimination on campus. RAN-designed post cards were distributed for dissemination (for anonymous drop off/internet collection) on campus

https://www.ufv.ca/hr/professional-development/staff-educational-leave/


requesting personal experiences and perspectives of UFV students/faculty/staff/management across all campuses. International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination On March 19, The HRISC partially sponsored the Race and Anti-Racism Network, (RAN), commemorative event for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The speakers at this event included Rosetta Khalideen, Adrienne Chan, Kamaljit Lehal, Hamish Telford and Tamara O’Doherty.

FPSE Non-Regular Employees Rep – Clare Dale

I became the FPSE Non-Regular Employees representative in the late spring of 2014. The last year has been a busy one and has given me the opportunity to not only help non-regular members clarify and find solutions to their difficulties, but it has also provided me with the opportunity to try and improve the working conditions for non-regular members through the present round of contract bargaining. As I assumed the post, it was clear that the situation faced by Non-Regular employees at UFV was not going to be changing for the better in the coming year. Budget cuts and changing administrative priorities has meant that Non-Regular members were going to continue to see their opportunities for employment at UFV shrink and see their dedication and contributions to UFV go largely unacknowledged and unrewarded. In order to address and to meet these challenges head on, the summer of 2014 saw myself and members of the Non-Regular Faculty committee [NRFC] working on a number of initiatives that would support the work of Non-Regular members at UFV. We began work on drafting an orientation handbook for Non-Regulars (which we hope to have ready for September, 2015); this handbook would provide new and returning Non-Regular members with information about their contractual obligations, the teaching and learning resources that UFV can provide, and other important administrative and practical information. More importantly, however, at this time, we also set about brainstorming ways to identify the issues that would be most important to our members during this crucial bargaining year and ways in which to raise awareness of Non-Regular issues. The summer of 2014 was also a time of transition for the FSA Executive in general and, at the annual FSA executive retreat in August, I made it a priority to impress on my fellow executive members that Non-Regular Members felt that there needed to be greater recognition of their issues in both FSA policy and practice — and that upcoming contract negotiations needed to reflect this. The executive acknowledged that these were important issues and, throughout this past year, the FSA executive has been supportive of my efforts and those of the NRFC to improve the situation of Non-Regulars. September began with an attempt to raise awareness of the working conditions of Non-Regulars at UFV via a poster campaign. The large volume of enthusiastic and supportive responses I received to this campaign from Non-Regular and full-time faculty alike confirmed that concern for the situation Non-Regulars found themselves in was wide-spread at UFV. This poster campaign also sparked the interest of many students and resulted in UFV’s student newspaper, The Cascade, turning its attention to the plight of sessional lecturers in mid-November. The article, entitled “Sessional instructors on the fringes of UFV priorities, despite impact in classrooms,” was the feature article of the 12 November 2014 edition of The Cascade. It provided a no-nonsense assessment of the situation faced by Non-Regular members at UFV. A link to the article can be found here: http://ufvcascade.ca/2014/11/19/sessional-instructors-on-the-fringes-of-ufv-priorities-despite-impact-in-classrooms/ The main focus of my work in the fall term of 2014 was gathering information that would help to shape and inform the Non-Regular bargaining positions and proposals for the new contract. In early October, a discussion forum was held in which Non-Regular members were invited to come and share their concerns and ideas on just what should be the focus of my efforts when bargaining began. The forum was very successful and there was a great deal of informative discussion around issues that concern many Non-Regular members: seniority, career advancement possibilities, access to benefits (medical, professional development) and the need for more opportunities for Non-Regulars to become full-time faculty members. In addition to facilitating the discussion forum, I created and sent to members a short survey which asked them

http://ufvcascade.ca/2014/11/19/sessional-instructors-on-the-fringes-of-ufv-priorities-despite-impact-in-classrooms/

http://ufvcascade.ca/2014/11/19/sessional-instructors-on-the-fringes-of-ufv-priorities-despite-impact-in-classrooms/


to identify what they saw as problems, to contribute their ideas and solutions, and to outline what they perceived to be the best possible outcomes for bargaining. The exceptionally large number of responses to this survey helped to guide and shape the proposals that were put forward when bargaining on the new collective agreement began early in the New Year. Bargaining on the new collective agreement began in January, 2015, and a number of proposals that have an impact on the working conditions of Non-Regular members were tabled. Some of these proposals pertain exclusively to Non-Regular members, while others would see the situation of Non-Regular employees impacted along with those of other UFV employees. As, at the time of writing this annual report, bargaining has not yet come to a close, I can speak only in generalities about the nature of these proposals. But suffice to say that they reflect those very same concerns that were voiced in the surveys and at the discussion forum held in October, including the nature of assigning work to Non-Regulars, the access to available courses, wages, benefits, and career advancement and planning. The last few months have been dominated by bargaining and the preparation and consultation that such an exercise requires. Still, during that time, I have been called upon to help members with a number of different issues and I am always happy to be of service. In an era of ever-decreasing budgets and changing institutional priorities, it is important that Non-Regulars do not bear the brunt of spending cut-backs and hiring freezes. I have tried during my tenure to make it clear that Non-Regular members make a significant contribution to the life of UFV — not just in the classroom but also through their scholarship, involvement in committees and other work outside of the classroom. And it is to the idea of ensuring recognition for that contribution that I will continue to dedicate my time and efforts.


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

april 30, 2015 2 - ufv faculty & staff association · 2015-04-27 · fsa annual general meeting...

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