Archive for the ‘Academic Titling’ Category

Mark your calendar now for the FA’s fall General Assembly taking place:

Thursday, November 24, 2011
4:30 p.m. – Dinner available
5:00 p.m. – Meeting starts
Room 6-212, City Centre Campus

Those in attendance will be eligible to enter a draw for a pair of tickets, courtesy of David Atkinson’s Office, for the November 28th Oilers game against the Predators.

RSVP for the meeting to Celine at millerc@macewan.ca or 780-497-5068.

by Jerry Zdril, FA President, October 6, 2010

Following recent forums held at MacEwan on academic titling, the Faculty Association is making it clear to its members that it believes that titling is an issue that can’t be divorced from the FA’s mandate to oversee issues related to the employment and professional development of our members.

Forums to update our members on titling were held on September 23 and 24th with participation from representatives from the Academic Governance  Council (AGC), the Faculty Association, the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President Academic, and Associate Vice President Academic. There were presentations on the interim assistant professor titling process as well as the next steps for academic titling followed by discussion.

The FA will continue working actively along with the AGC in the development of a permanent academic titling solution for MacEwan.  The FA will ensure that the proper negotiation process is followed for those titling issues that affect terms and conditions of employment.

Role of Academic Governance Council (AGC)

Academic Governance Council will be forming an AGC Faculty Standards Committee with an overall role to advise AGC on faculty standards.  The initial responsibility of this committee is to develop and recommend a model for academic designation for faculty.  They will advise on policy matters related to faculty standards, recommend and review university-wide standards and recommend department and area standards for approval.

The proposed AGC Faculty Standards Committee composition consists of:
•    faculty members with representation from the 4 Faculties/Schools and from Professional Resource Faculty will comprise the majority
•    4 Deans or Associate Deans
•    The chair will be the Provost and Executive Vice President Academic or designate (Associate Vice President Academic and Research)
•    2 liaison members from the MacEwan Faculty Association
•    Director, Human Resources as resource

The proposed timetable for the AGC to deal with the matter is:
October 12 AGC Meeting – Approve Terms of Reference
November 16 AGC Meeting – Approve Committee Membership
December – First meeting of Committee

by Karen Zypchyn, VP Communication | September 16, 2010

FA President Jerry Zdril is encouraging all association members to attend upcoming forums regarding the next steps in academic titling.

The forums provide a good opportunity for members to get information about the interim title of assistant professor and to provide their input on the next stage of development on the permanent titling process, Zdril says.

The upcoming forums are an information-sharing and information-gathering initiative of the Academic Governance Council in response to numerous faculty inquiries about the AGC’s recent development of the interim title.

The FA executive continues to work with MacEwan administration and the AGC on matters regarding titling. FA executive members will be present at and participating in these forums alongside AGC representatives.

Forum Dates

Association members have a choice of attending a forum on one of the following dates:

Thursday, September 23, 2010
4:00 to 5:30 p.m.  Room 5-142 Conference Theatre, City Centre Campus

Friday, September 24, 2010
3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Room 5-142 Conference Theatre, City Centre Campus

Videoconferencing of the forums will also be available at South Campus in Room 115 and Centre for the Arts and Communications in Room 223.

Karen Zypchyn, VP Communications

With the launch of the Grant MacEwan University Faculty Association’s new site, members can now exchange and discuss ideas online.

It’s important that faculty association members feel they have a safe online community where they can express their views on mattters affecting them at Grant MacEwan University. The faculty associations’ online Discussion Forum is that place.

Following the announcement of Grant MacEwan’s university status in the Fall 2009, the issue of academic titling has gained more attention. The faculty association is welcoming members to participate in a discussion forum on academic titling on the association’s new website.

Discussion Forum For Members Only
The Discussion Forum section of the site is only open to members. That means only members can see each others’ comments. Facuty association members must first register as users on GMUFA website to use the forum.  Once registered and logged in to the GMUFA website, members can share and discuss ideas by creating topics for discussion and posting comments. Members have been sent an email explaining how they register and log in to the site.

Controlling Your Identity in Forums
Once your request for registration is approved, members will have an opportunity to create an online profile that will be used in the Discussion Forum.  Members can choose to make their identity known or they can remain anonymous when posting to the Discussion Forum. This is explained in the email you receive after your registration has been approved.

Posting Content to Forum
The Discussion Forum contains a guideline on posting comments that is to be respected by all members. The GMUFA encourages open debate that is free of discrimination and harassment and is relying on members to report instances of abuse should any occur.

When you post comments, you will find that you can easily post video links and images in your comments, and insert links to websites as well as writing text. You can also edit your post even after you’ve posted it. The post editor page looks similar to the editor page in Blackboard, for those who are familiar with using Blackboard.

Start Posting
So let the discussion begin. Get registered on the Grant MacEwan University Faculty Association site as soon as possible. You’ll find a Discussion Forum called Academic Titling.

We’ll be posting other forum topics in the near future. If you have any suggestions, be sure to email them to me, your online editor, at zypchynk@macewan.ca.