KPU Response to KFA Request re: January 2022

KFA Action Re: January Return

Season’s Greetings from Your KFA

Fall 2021 Bargaining Update

Last Call for Nominations for 2021 KFA Elections

Second Call for Nominations for 2021 KFA Elections

General Meeting Notice & Notice of Amendments to the KFA Constitution and By-Laws

KFA Update #2 on the Privacy Breach

KFA Update Regarding IT Privacy Breach

First Call for Nominations for 2021 KFA Elections

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

In the last message we committed to informing you of the Employer’s response to the KFA request that KPU take action similar to that of UBC for the January return.

Vice-President Academic Diane Purvey has responded that KPU is “continuing to follow the recommendations of the PHO and Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training to offer on-campus instruction in January” and that “We will not be moving our courses online.”

We continue to encourage you to consider sharing your concerns with the Employer.

Sincerely,

Gillian

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

We have heard from faculty members expressing concern about the safety of the January return.

As you may know, UBC has implemented online course delivery in January. Today, we requested that KPU take similar action.

If you are concerned about your health and safety in returning to face-to-face delivery in January, please consider expressing your concerns to your Dean, Vice-President Academic Diane Purvey, and President Alan Davis.

We will let you know the Employer’s response as soon as we receive it.

In solidarity,

Gillian

Season’s Greetings!

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

Season’s Greetings! We hope this message finds you and yours safe and well.

At the close of 2021, we would like to share an update on the work of your Union. But first, we would like to thank you for your exemplary dedication to our students and the KPU community throughout this difficult year. In the midst of remote work, uncertain pandemic conditions, heat domes, fires, and flooding, you have taken on the increased emotional and other labour that results from working in such extreme conditions.

We also wish to thank all of our colleagues, especially those on the Executive and other KFA committees, who volunteer on behalf of the association and our membership all year long.

We especially wish to recognize our support staff, Kyla Rand and Gill Jones, who do extraordinary work to support the KFA Executive and membership. Thank you both. We also welcome Amy Nagi back to the office at the start of 2022.

Some Updates: Fall 2021 General Meeting

Policy Changes

At our Fall 2021 General Meeting, members passed important bargaining-related motions to support bargaining in 2022 and beyond; these motions included a motion to raise the cap of the KFA Defense fund and a motion to transfer a modest amount of money into the KFA Defense fund.

Executive Elections

The results of the Fall 2021 KFA Elections were announced at the Fall General meeting, and we are pleased to again announce and thank the following members for stepping forward in their new roles:

Dan Lett, Social Sciences
Ann-Marie McLellan, Humanities
Cameron Lait, Professional Development and Scholarly Activity

At the December 9th, 2021 KFA Executive meeting, the following representatives were appointed until the Spring Annual General Meeting. Thank you to these members as well for stepping forward to serve our colleagues!

Lisa Hubic, Learner Support and Co-op
Kathy Fitzpatrick, Non-Regular
Rebecca Yoshizawa, Ombudsperson

Only one Executive position remains to be filled: Qualifying Studies and Access. Please be in touch if you are interested.

Other Updates from 2021

Your KFA continues to advocate that Micro-credentials at KPU be developed by faculty members, and, once developed, that they are taught by faculty members for fair wages and fair working conditions as per the Collective Agreement. These and other matters such as duplication and credentialing are being addressed in the grievance process to ensure work is not taken out of the bargaining unit.
Time Releases: A number of time releases have recently been searched for the development of Micro-credentials and other initiatives. We want you to be aware that should you accept a release from the Employer to develop curriculum or initiatives, what you develop on such a leave will not be your intellectual property. Informed consent is important, so please contact a Table Officer if you have any questions.
The LOU#13 discussions and arbitration came to a close with the LOU #13 Settlement Agreement reached in mediation. Rather than an imposed arbitration settlement, the agreement maintains class size and allows Departments to overenroll courses on a voluntary basis in exchange for modest compensation.
Kristie Dukewich, KFA Occupational Health & Safety Committee Chair, created a wonderful interactive document to help explain what your union, the KFA, is and does.
We have continued to meet with the Employer regularly to advocate for COVID-19 related concerns about working conditions. We have worked with the Employer to address issues ranging from ventilation concerns to the reimbursement of expenses when faculty are required to teach from home, to the ability to carry forward Vacation and Professional Development Days in recognition of the many “pivots” faculty have had to do between online and face-to-face work.
For those who wish more information about the Public Health framework for post-secondary institutions, please see the Public Health Office Town Hall with Post-Secondary Unions and Administration from Wednesday, December 8th.

Coming in 2022

In 2022, please look forward to several KFA Presents workshops including the pension/retirement workshops of There is More to it than Money, Financing your Future, as well as a Parliamentary Procedure Workshop on how to make your meeting a successful one.

Stay tuned for KFA Open Office Hours, when you can ask your union questions about working conditions & the Collective Agreement.

As always, if you are interested in volunteering for a position or in becoming involved with the KFA, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Please Note:

The KFA virtual office is closed as of Wednesday, December 22, and will reopen on Monday, January 4th. If you require urgent assistance during this closure, please email any of the Table Officers. We will be checking email intermittently over the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a restorative break,

Your KFA Table Officers

Gillian Dearle, KFA President

Diane Walsh, VP Grievances

Mark Diotte, VP Negotiations

Rachelle Hollaway, Member-at-Large

Betty Cunnin, Member-at-Large

Emma Baggott, Secretary Treasurer

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Please find the attached Fall 2021 Bargaining Update: 2021 Fall Bargaining Update

Fall 2021 KFA Bargaining Highlights

At the November 25th, 2021, KFA General Meeting, membership approved the Bargaining Priorities for the 2022 round. Thank you to all who were able to attend. The Priorities are available in the Members Area of the KFA Website should you wish to view them.

Members also passed several bargaining-related motions including a motion to raise the cap of the KFA Defense fund and a motion to transfer a modest amount of money into the KFA Defense fund. These motions will help prepare us for this next round of negotiations and beyond.

I am pleased to announce our Negotiating Committee

Mark Diotte, Chair
Gillian Dearle, Ex-officio
Raphael Lagoutin, Trades & Technology Representative
Diane Walsh, Qualifying Studies & Access Representative
Seema Ahluwalia, Status of Women Representative
Kristie Dukewich, Social Sciences Representative

Thank you to all who have stepped forward to serve on the Negotiating Committee for the next round of bargaining.

Further Bargaining Information

Hosted two open consultation meetings with faculty on March 4th and 9th Approximately 20-25 people attended to discuss priorities ranging from benefits to equity to research to retirement/post-65 benefits
April 29, 2021: Working Conditions Committee is established at the KFA AGM. The Working Conditions Committee members are:
- Mark Diotte Chair
- Gillian Dearle Ex-officio
- Betty Cunnin Science & Horticulture Representative
- Rachelle Hollaway School of Business Representative
- Raphael Lagoutin Trades & Technology Representative
- Diane Walsh Qualifying Studies & Access Representative
- Kathy Fitzpatrick Non-Regular Faculty Representative
- Lucie Gagne Wilson School of Design Representative
- Seema Ahluwalia Status of Women Representative
- Kristie Dukewich Social Sciences Representative
- Robert Dearle Humanities Representative
- Angela Ryan Learner Support/Co-op WCC Representative
May-November 2021:
- WCC Representatives begin gathering, brainstorming, and collecting information from members; KFA Table Officers beginning gathering information from past rounds, grievance processes, ongoing concerns, and the FPSE Bargaining Coordination Committee (BCC).
- WCC Representatives develop the 2021 KFA Bargaining Survey.
October 20-29th, 2021: 2021 KFA Bargaining Survey is live. 266 members responded to the survey.
November 1-10th: WCC Representatives review the collected information from membership, review the survey results, and draft the 2021 KFA Bargaining Priorities for recommendation to the KFA Executive and general membership.
November 10th: Draft Bargaining Priorities motion to recommended is presented to the KFA Executive. Motion carries.
November 25th, 2021, Bargaining Priorities are brought to KFA membership for approval. Motion carries and the Bargaining Priorities are approved.
Negotiating Committee is established (see above).

FPSE Bargaining Coordination Committee (BCC) (Provincial)

This committee meets every month and is composed of representatives from all FPSE locals as well as reps from FPSE. We last met on November 4th, 2021. Our next meeting is December 2nd.
BCC continues to discuss coordinated strategy, timing, and leverage in relation to the next round of bargaining
Some of the items BCC is working on include:
- Identifying common priorities in order to coordinate our strategy at the bargaining table
- Reviewing public sector bargaining to identify where and how the most significant gains have been made in the past
- Creating a “Bargaining Network” of bargainers, presidents, and bargaining coordinators to build sector solidarity, coordination, and strategy
- Working on language analysis and model language for bargaining

In Solidarity,

Mark Diotte

VP, Negotiations,

Kwantlen Faculty Association

Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

In accordance with Article 7 of our Constitution and By-Laws, this is the last call for nominations for the following positions on the KFA Executive Committee:

Humanities Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Ombudsperson (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Social Sciences Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Qualifying Studies & Access Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Learner Support/Co-op Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Non-Regular Faculty Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)
Professional Scholarly & Development Committee Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)

Please see the attached document titled “Responsibilities of an Executive Representative” and By-law 4.2 for information about these roles.

Nomination Period – November 4-24, 2021
The nomination period runs from November 4-24, 2021, at noon. Nomination forms are to be sent to the Chief Returning Officer (C.R.O.), Diane Walsh. Three calls for nominations will be made during this time period. In the event that the call for nominations results in only one nomination being received by the close of the nomination period, the nominee shall be acclaimed at the General Meeting on November 25, 2021. If there is more than one nominee, an online election will be held.

The nominations received to date are as follows:

Nominee	Nominator	Position
Ann-Marie McLellan	Dianne Simmons	Humanities Representative
Dan Lett Rebecca Yoshizawa	Tara Lyons Mariana Gatzea	Social Sciences Representative
Cameron Lait	Michael Bomford	Professional & Scholarly Development Committee Representative

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can find more information about the election process on our website.

Diane Walsh, Vice-President, Grievances

Officer Responsible for the Election

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

In accordance with Article 7 of our Constitution and By-Laws, this is the second call for nominations for the following positions on the KFA Executive Committee:

Humanities Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Ombudsperson (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Social Sciences Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Qualifying Studies & Access Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Learner Support/Co-op Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Non-Regular Faculty Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)
Professional Scholarly & Development Committee Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)

Please see the attached document titled “Responsibilities of an Executive Representative” and By-law 4.2 for information about these roles.

The nominations received to date are as follows:

Nominee	Nominator	Position
Ann-Marie McLellan	Dianne Simmons	Humanities Representative

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can find more information about the election process on our website.

Diane Walsh, Vice-President, Grievances

Officer Responsible for the Election

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

Please join us:

KFA General Membership Meeting

Thursday, November 25, 2021
3:00 – 5:30 pm
Via Zoom

On the Agenda:

Bargaining Priorities

Policy Revision Proposal to Increase Defense Fund Cap

Proposal to Transfer Surplus to Defense Fund

Change to By-Law 4.5

Elections Update

Notice of By-Law Change:

As per By-Law 3.4.1, the KFA is providing members with the following notice of a proposed amendment to By-Law 4.5 as follows:

4.5. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall be fifty percent plus one of elected or appointed ~~twelve (12)~~ voting members.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Diane Walsh, Vice President Grievances

Officer Responsible for the Election

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

The Employer has deferred today’s meeting about the privacy breach to next week, so I am unable to provide any information regarding the matter until then.

I understand the message about the privacy breach is worrying, and I want to reassure you that your Union will be following up on this matter. In the meantime, as the Employer did not contact the Union in advance of sending out the email, I have no information to share with you beyond what is in the email itself. I do not know how many faculty have been impacted by the privacy breach, or any facts other than that the email is genuine.

If you have any questions regarding how this happened or how it may impact you, or if you wish to express your concerns, please send them directly to the Employer at itprivacyalerts@kpu.ca. It is important that your questions are answered directly by the Employer, who is responsible for addressing issues related to the privacy breach and has the resources, information, and obligation to provide the explanations or information you require.

In solidarity,

Gillian

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

I have received queries from several faculty members regarding an email from IT Privacy Alerts entitled “Important Information Regarding Your Privacy.” I have confirmed with HR that the email is genuine.

The email contains information about a security breach in IT that appears to be low risk. The email also contains information about what faculty can do if they are concerned about their privacy, including being in touch with itprivacyalerts@kpu.ca if they have questions.

For those who have been subject to the privacy breach, please note that the email indicates they have until January 31, 2022 to enroll for “Equifax Complete” credit card and identity monitoring services. If you have not received the email from IT Privacy Alerts, then you were not subject to the privacy breach.

We have requested that the KFA receive notice of such events before an email like this goes out in the future. We have also requested that such communications be formatted with a consistent, official appearance, as many were unsure of the authenticity of the email.

I will be meeting with the Employer later today about this matter and will communicate with you if I have additional information to share.

Once again, if you have any questions about the details of the privacy breach or its possible impact on you, please contact itprivacyalerts@kpu.ca.

In solidarity,

Gillian

« December 2024 »

Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,

In accordance with Article 7 of our Constitution and By-Laws, this is the first call for nominations for the following positions on the KFA Executive Committee:

Humanities Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Ombudsperson (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Social Sciences Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Qualifying Studies & Access Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Learner Support/Co-op Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2023)
Non-Regular Faculty Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)
Professional Scholarly & Development Committee Representative (until end of term, May 31, 2022)

Please see the attached document titled “Responsibilities of an Executive Representative” and By-law 4.2 for information about these roles.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can find more information about the election process on our website.

Diane Walsh, Vice-President, Grievances

Officer Responsible for the Election