Langara Faculty Association

Langara Faculty Association Newsletter Office: A212 December, 2004 Website: www.lfaweb.ca/ Phone: (604) 323-5343 Submissions or suggestions? Contact the LFA office or [email protected]

President’s Report See you there! Dear Colleagues, Alan Cooper

Well, as predicted, it certainly has been an interesting term! Division Meetings As you know, starting in the summer, we had to Friday December 3, 1230 – 1325. address a move by the College to reduce the number of Division Chairs and to move some of Please note the date, time and location of your our work to excluded positions. We believe that Division’s meeting to discuss the selection of issue is now resolved, but we all need to your Division Chair. maintain interest in and support for our collegial management system. Please do take an active  Science, Math, Computer Studies interest in the conclusion of the Division Chair B148 Ted Brown selection process and come to the meetings on  Humanities Friday (even if the outcome seems assured in B149 Gordon McFarlane your Division).  Social Science B152 Tim Higgs We also have an ongoing issue with regard to  Creative Arts & Human Services Continuing Studies courses and programs that B153 Julia Denholm overlap with what should properly be taught by  Business, Applied Science, and Faculty. This is discussed more fully in the Community Programs Contract Maintenance report. B154 Maureen Maloney  Nursing The Open House was of course a major effort B155 Larry Warren for many of us, and we and the College should all be proud of the impressive show that we put For more information, including the new on – all on an entirely volunteer basis. I certainly assignment of departments to divisions, please learned some great things about departments see the notice circulated on Monday, and/or other than my own, and we welcomed many check out the LFA website. colleagues and their children to our own display in the MathStats area. Perhaps next time we should invite the public. Bargaining Update All of these issues are addressed in more detail elsewhere in this newsletter and also on the LFA by Lynn Carter website at http://www.lfaweb.ca (see the “What’s Up?” link for latest news). We are continuing to refine our issues in preparation for bargaining with our employer. It Now we come up to the crunch of exams and appears that bargaining at the Common Table at marking, but at least the end is in sight, and of which 8 employers are meeting with a number course we hope that the Presidents’ Bar and of FPSE and BCGEU locals is progressing quite Dinner on Dec 17 will be an occasion for us all slowly and will very likely continue in the new to shed some of our troubles and get into a more year. appropriate mood for the holidays.

LFA Board of Directors: Ted Brown, Lynn Carter (Vice-President), Alan Cooper (President), Julia Denholm (Secretary), Tim Higgs, Maureen Maloney, Gordon McFarlane, Cheryl McKeeman (Chief Steward), Lawrence Warren (Treasurer) Originally the Common Table had hoped to FPSE Committee Meetings conclude before the holidays and it was expected that local bargaining would continue in the Since the last newsletter, Alan Cooper spring but at least the first part of that timetable represented the LFA at the Pension Advisory now seems quite unrealistic. Committee, and Dan Nykon represented us at the Education Policy Committee. We were not We will try to keep you updated on represented at the Status of Women Committee bargaining developments in our sector but at or the Status of Non-Regular Faculty present there is nothing to report. Committee, but earlier in the term Rick Gordon attended the Committee on Human Rights and International Solidarity, and Cheryl McKeeman Contract Maintenance and Lynn Carter have reported on Contract by Cheryl McKeeman Administration and Bargaining, respectively. More detailed reports and information about Both of our workshop sessions for LFA reps on future meetings will be available on our website. selection and evaluation committees were well attended and well received. You can expect to FPSE spends approximately $5000.00 to hold see more of the same next term, and we will be each of these meetings. A second series of inviting Coordinators and Department Chairs to meetings will be held at the Committee meetings come as well as current and potential LFA reps. and Joint Conference scheduled for Feb. 11/12, 2005. FPSE has budgeted $32,500.00 for this As noted in the President’s report, we have event. identified a number of CS offerings that should actually have been taught by or offered to Faculty. We are working with CS to provide more timely advice to all appropriate BC Federation of Labour Department Chairs about proposed offerings, and encourage Chairs to examine all such This week, Maureen Maloney and Alan Cooper proposals for the potential of conflict with are participating in the FPSE delegation to the Article 24 of our Collective Agreement. We BCFed convention downtown, so please excuse also encourage all Faculty to monitor the CS our lack of prompt response to messages (and calendar and bring any apparent oversight to the watch for Maureen’s forthcoming report on the attention of the relevant Department Chair and website). the LFA.

We do believe that Continuing Studies is making a sincere effort to address the problem of faculty not being notified about teaching opportunities Presidents’ Bar Dec. 17 in CS, but are having less success in getting 4:30 Bar; 6:30 Dinner appropriate compensation for past mistakes. This has forced us to take the Grievance to Tickets: $5.00 faculty/staff; $25.00 guest Stage 2. Tickets available from reception 11:30–1:30 pm