Message from the President – Welcome Back and Updates

Dear Colleagues,

Firstly, welcome back to the new term. I hope you are settling nicely into the new semester and had a restful summer. It will be another busy year for your union, so I wanted to let you know a few things that your Association will be focusing on this term.

We will be continuing collective agreement negotiations with UBC, with several bargaining dates scheduled starting in early October. We sent out a few blogs over the summer, including one on our general wage proposal, which we encourage you to read. You can find more information on this round of bargaining, including FA proposals, on our Bargaining Blog.

As we launch the newly created Anti-Racism and Indigenous Initiatives Committee, you will be receiving an email from our Nominations Committee seeking candidates to run for this position. We also have a number of other standing committees, which provide advocacy and support, research and policy development for the overall work of the Association. The newly expanded Equity Committee will be looking for new members as are many of our other Standing Committees’. I would encourage you to consider getting involved and be on the lookout for calls for new volunteer members. You may also email our Standing Committee Chairs to find out more about volunteer participation. Service to the Association counts as service to the University.

We will also be resuming discussions from our Annual General Meeting, held on June 16, on Thursday, September 29 from 1-3pm. More details on the meeting will be sent to the membership soon. We will also be holding our regular Fall General Meeting on October 27th, from 1-3pm (details TBD). We encourage all members to attend these meetings.

The University has sent out a call for comments on proposed changes to Policy SC8 (Investigations Policy) as well as a proposed new policy on Workplace Accommodations (HR13). Although the Faculty Association carefully reviews proposed policy changes and may meet with the university to discuss our views/concerns, we likewise encourage you to take the opportunity to review these policies and provide your feedback, which is due on October 2. More information on these proposed policy changes, and others, can be found on the website of the Office of University Counsel. Please copy the Faculty Association ([email protected]) on any feedback.

Finally, we have been working with Campus & Community Planning and will be jointly sponsoring a forum for our members on the Vancouver Campus to provide their feedback on Campus Vision 2050. This session will take place on Tuesday Sept. 27th from 4-5:30PM and will include an in-person as well as a hybrid option. We will send our information on the forum once it is finalized.

The above items are just a few of the issues, forums and initiatives the Association will be working on in the coming few months. I look forward to my inaugural year as President and wish you all peace and friendship in the coming term.

Dory Nason
President