THE
AUFA PRESIDENT COMMUNICATES
This is the first opportunity I have had to address all AUFA members and I would like to express my appreciation for your electing me president. We are in the middle of the 10th collective agreement and, although many of the "rough edges" were ironed out last year by then president Dianne Looker, there are several important issues that need to be addressed. For example, the newly signed Part-timers need an agreement, we are trying to be proactive regarding course evaluations, and an important issue is attracting and retaining faculty. So, never a dull moment!
AUFA is becoming an association representing a broad membership. Not only does it represent faculty from diverse Departments and Schools but also Librarians, Instructors (formerly Demonstrators) and now also the Part-timers. This presents a challenge to the Executive to adequately and fairly represent all but it also means that there is a greater onus on the members to take the time and show up at meetings to voice their concerns. It is important to remember that only by having the members raise concerns can the Executive take action.
My term started out by holding an information session for members seeking renewal, tenure and promotions (Article 12). From the attendance I feel it was a worthwhile endeavour. I also held an information session on the impact of the 10th Collective Agreement on our lives. I had hoped to see all new and recently appointed members, but turnout was low with only the Librarians and my fellow Biologists attending.
I met with the members of the Computer Science School in late August where they expressed concern about attracting and retaining faculty. The Computer School fears for their existence not because of low enrollment but rather due to the high wages offered in the business world and other Universities. The issues of attracting and retaining faculty were put on the Agenda of the September General AUFA meeting. Many members attended the meeting and it was clear that this is an issue of importance across campus. I am in the process of writing up the concerns from all Departments and Schools and hope to have a session in October where we explore solutions.
The issue of course evaluations will never go away. Presently we have two mandatory questions that students are asked: 1) Overall, how do you rate this course? and 2) Overall, how do you rate this instructor? There are good reasons for not having more or even other questions spelled out in the Collective Agreement BUT they are hardly adequate for gaining feed-back from students, or for evaluating performance. The Executive has struck a committee to see if they, in cooperation with the students, can come up with a process that will result in a good approach to course evaluations.
The largest challenge to the new Executive is coming up with contract language for the Part-timers that can be negotiated with the Board. To that end, two Part-timers (Heather Pyrcz and Sheila Bower-Jacquard) and I have met twice to formulate a process. We have drafted a letter to all Part-timers calling them to a meeting on October 3 to discuss openly the issues important to them. Out of this meeting we hope to form committees to address the various issues. These committees will eventually consist of both Part-time and Full-time faculty. Once language has been drafted, a meeting of AUFA members will take place to ensure that all are in agreement with the wishes of the Part-timers. Once this has been achieved, negotiations can start. In the meantime a negotiating team has to be elected.
We are just into the term but as you can see there is much activity.
Soren Bondrup-Nielsen
President