September 20, 2010

Rather than write a President’s Report only in the Monthly Bulletin, I will prepare one for the Weekly Bulletin whenever there is something to report.

Collective Agreement

The Collective Agreement that was ratified by the MRFA and the Board of Governors last June was finally signed on Tuesday, September 14. The principle reasons for the delay were: 1) editing required by new articles on Cross-Appointments and Laboratory Instructor, introduction of a fixed-term part-time appointment (Article 4.11), and a reorganization of existing articles; and 2) dealing with anomalies related to the transfer of faculty to the new ranked grids (see the MOU on pages 104-105).

This is a two year agreement with an extensive re-opener on non-monetary items (MOU on page 109). The Collective Agreement and a summary of the changes are posted under Documents on our website at mrfa.net.

Extension of Deadlines

The Performance Review Article requires that the Dean respond in writing to the Annual Reports of tenured faculty by 1 September. Because some of the Deans were having difficulty in meeting this date, the Provost and Vice-President, Academic requested an extension of two months for this year and I agreed.

A new provision in the Collective Agreement permits a member returning from maternity leave to apply to the Faculty Leave Committee for an annual grid step increment for the leave year, based on scholarship and/or service contributed to the University during the leave. The dates for application and decision have been extended because the Faculty Leave Committee must first develop guidelines for making a decision on whether or not to grant an increment. More information about this will be forthcoming within a week.

Tenure and Promotion Committee Training

By Articles 9.3.10 and 9.4.5, members and alternates in their first year on an academic unit Tenure and Promotion Committee or the University Tenure and Promotion Committee must attend one of the tenure and promotion workshops conducted jointly by the MRFA and Human Resources during September and October. This will apply to faculty returning from leave, newly elected members, and anybody else who did not attend a workshop last year. The workshops are being organized now. If you need to attend a workshop, please contact me.

The September General Meeting

The major items of business will be to present and discuss drafts of the MRFA profile for the next MRU President and the MRFA Executive goals for 2010-2011. We will also consider motions on special rules of order to allow the Executive to place new business requiring a decision at the beginning of the meeting and for a member of the Executive other than the President to chair the meetings.

Gerry

Dr. Gerry Cross

President,

Mount Royal Faculty Association

Ph.  (403) 440-6191