Moving from Non-Regular to Regular Status: Routes to Regularization
By Diane Walsh, VP Grievances
The one question KFA non-regular members ask most often is: “How do I become a regular faculty member?” It’s easy to understand why a member would ask this question; less straightforward is the answer to this question.
The meanings of the various statuses
What is a regular position? In Article 1.05 of the Collective Agreement, the different kinds of status are defined. In 1.05(a), a regular position is defined as “one that exists or is established to meet the ongoing needs of the Employer on a half-time basis or greater basis.” The Collective Agreement, in 1.05(f) Employment, says, “A regular faculty member, after successful completion of the probationary period, will be offered continuous employment subject only to those terms and conditions as may be contained in the Collective Agreement.”
So, a regular faculty position is an ongoing position that provides continuous employment to the faculty member. The securing of regular faculty status thus provides some measure of stability and job security, as well as the enjoyment of all of the rights and benefits described in the Collective Agreement.
A regular position may be full time, 100% workload, or part-time, at least 50% of a workload up to anything less than 100%. The status is the same for part-time regular positions, but of course the commitment to provide ongoing and continuous employment is limited to the percentage at which the faculty member is regularized.
What is a non-regular position? “Non-regular faculty members are those that do not hold a regular position or who have not satisfied the requirements for regularization in Article 1.05(e),” according to article 1.05(d). The section “Regularization processes” below includes a discussion of the requirements for regularization.
Article 1.05(d) defines these non-regular positions further as Non-Regular Type 1 and Non-Regular Type 2. These are generally referred to as NR1 and NR2 positions. An NR2 faculty member is one “who is assigned or reasonably anticipated to be assigned an annualized workload of 50% or greater for a future 12-month period.” An NR1 faculty member’s work falls outside the annual workload provisions described for NR2 and “may only be hired for specialized requirements, experimental offerings, timetabling anomalies, substitution, vacation replacement, short-term emergency circumstances, [or] work that is not expected to be ongoing.” For both NR1 and NR2 positions, there is no expectation of continuing employment past the end of the specified contract end date. For more details about the differences between NR1 and NR2 contacts, please click here.
Regularization processes
Changes from non-regular to regular status generally occur in two main ways. A non-regular faculty member can make application for a posted regular position, and as the successful candidate for the position, they become a regular faculty member. This is the simplest route to regularization.
Meeting the requirements described in Article 1.05(e), Entitlement to Conversion to Regular Status, is the other main way a non-regular faculty member can achieve regular status. The basic requirement is that the faculty member has worked at least 50% of an annualized workload over two consecutive years, that there be a reasonable expectation of ongoing work at a minimum of 50% in the third year, that the faculty member is qualified for the work in question, and that the faculty member’s most recent evaluation is satisfactory. Article 1.05(e) says the regularization “will occur” when these conditions are met.
In addition to achievement of regular status by either being the successful candidate for a posted regular position or being entitled to conversion, 1.05(e) also points out that, “Nothing in the section above prohibits the employer’s rights to regularize any position as it deems necessary,” meaning that the employer can regularize faculty at its discretion outside of the above criteria.
Furthermore, the employer has the discretion to post job vacancies. According to Article 4.02 (j):
In the event a regular position is advertised and the position has been filled by a non-regular type 2 faculty member for two or more years, the non-regular type 2 faculty member who has been filling the position will be given preference over other applicants providing the qualifications, abilities, and experience of the non-regular type 2 faculty member are equal to the other applicant(s).
The takeaway from 4.02 (j) is that all faculty who wish to be regularized or who wish to increase their regularization percentage (for example, from 50% to 100%) should apply for all relevant job vacancies. Click here to access Taleo for postings for current faculty members.
All of these routes are subject to a two-year probationary period, and the details of probation can be found in Article 4.06.
If you have any comments or questions about regularization or faculty status, please contact the KFA.
Updated in October 2021