KFA Annual General Meeting Update
Dear Kwantlen Faculty Association Members,
Welcome to the Summer 2017 semester! The following is an overview of key issues that involved the KFA over the last semester and an update from our Annual General Meeting.
SPRING 2017 REVIEW
In the Spring 2017 semester, the Kwantlen Faculty Association was busy on a number of issues, including search committees for appointments and reappointments for senior administrative positions, ongoing discussions with the Employer regarding Continuing and Professional Studies, and numerous discussions with the Employer to defend the rights and working conditions of our members, sometimes through informal resolution and sometimes through the formal grievance process.
Highlights from the Spring 2017 semester include running a Governance Workshop for Faculty Council members and faculty Senators, developing a Chair/Coordinator Survey for the purposes of identifying areas of concern with the increasing workload demands for faculty chair and coordinator positions, and holding our Multimedia Art and Storytelling Contest which resulted in about 100 entries from faculty, staff and students who shared in $32,000 of prizes. We were delighted by the quality of the entries and the amazing stories on the transformative power of postsecondary education.
Several other key issues dealt with by the KFA during the Spring 2017 semester include letters sent to Alan Davis and KPU’s Board regarding the Maple Leaf Schools partnership, working with the employer on a response to the USA travel ban, and working with the employer to improve the education leave process.
Also of note, the KFA website is undergoing a redesign and redevelopment, including the development of secure, in-house election platform that can be used for KFA Executive and departmental chair elections.
KFA President Bob Davis was Involved in several provincial initiatives to promote postsecondary education as a key election issue, including province wide FPSE Open the Doors campaign telephone town halls, a Red FM radio call in, and a CBC radio cameo promoting value of post-secondary education.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING UPDATE
The Kwantlen Faculty Association Annual General Meeting was held on April 25, 2017, from 3:30-5:30 pm.
Glen Hansman, President of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation opened the meeting with a compelling and lively account of the BCTF’s successful Supreme Court of Canada win in November 2016, and the experience leading up to the decision. This decision restored clauses deleted from the BCTF contract by the Liberal government of Gordon Campbell in 2002 dealing with class size, the number of special needs students who can be in a class and the number of specialist teachers required in schools.
George Davison brought greetings from the Federation of Postsecondary Educators, highlighted provincial issues, the provincial election, and the FPSE Open the Doors campaign in support of postsecondary education.
Constitutional Amendments
Motions to amend the wording for By-laws #7 and #8 recommended by the KFA executive were approved.
Budget
The 2016-17 Draft Financial Report was presented for information and the 2017-18 Budget recommended by the KFA Executive was approved.
Recognition
The following members were recognized for their contributions to the KFA for their work on the executive or committees: Gillian Dearle; Panteli Tritchew; Douglas Torrance; Bob Fuhr; Heather Cyr; Irina Ceric; Mary Androsiuk; Al Sumal; and Jan Penhorwood.
Lifetime Honorary Memberships were presented to Alice Macpherson and Tally Wade.
Welcome to Our New KFA Executive!
The following Executive positions were filled at the AGM, positions to take effect June 1, 2017.
Elections and Acclamations
The following positions were acclaimed:
Vice President, Grievances – Diane Walsh
Vice President, Negotiations – Raphael Lagoutin
Member-at-Large – Romy Kozak
Secretary-Treasurer – Suzanne Pearce
Science/Applied Science/Horticulture Representative – Mike Bomford
Qualifying Studies and Access Representative – Mark Diotte
Social Sciences Representative – Jeff Shantz
Trades and Technology Representative – Roger Cannon
Learner Support/Co-op Representative – Angela Ryan
School of Design Representative – Michael Pope
LGBTQ2S+ Representative – Tanya Boboricken
Education Policy Representative – Michael Ma
Call for nominations:
A call for nominations was made for:
Humanities Representative – Vacant
Non-Regular Faculty Representative – Alina Rapa (acclaimed)
Human Rights and International Solidarity Representative – Vacant
Union Counselling Representative – Yale Shap (acclaimed)
Ombudsperson Representative – Heather Cyr (acclaimed)
As per our Constitution, the KFA Executive will appoint reps for the vacant positions. Should anyone be interested, please contact Bob Davis, KFA President.
A full list of the current KFA Executive can be found here. This roster will be updated on June 1, 2017 to reflect the elections and acclamations noted above.
Final Thanks
We extend our sincere appreciation to the numerous faculty who have served on our Executive committee and numerous other standing and ad hoc committees throughout the year. We could not fight for and protect our rights, benefits and working conditions without your participation and support.
Don’t hesitate to contact the Faculty Association office at 599-2200 if you have any questions or concerns regarding our Collective Agreement or any aspect of your terms of employment.
Wishing you a great Summer 2017 semester!
Bob, Gillian, Diane, Suzanne, Panteli, Kyla and Maureen.
