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The MacEwan FA 19th Annual Welcome BBQ will be taking place:

Saturday, September 11, 2010
Doors Open – 4:00 p.m.
Dinner – 6:00 p.m.
New! Trivia Contest – 8:00 p.m.
Country Lodge, 17515 – 127 Street

As has become tradition, Heather MacEwan-Foran, daughter of Dr. J. W. Grant MacEwan, will be on hand to share a few words with the membership.

New this year is a pub-style trivia contest. Register your team of 10 with the FA Office and a table will be reserved for you. Groups of less than 10 can also register, and will be joined up with other groups to form teams. Prizes will be awarded to teams finishing first, second, and third!

As is also tradition, Jim Kniazky will be catering the BBQ. The menu includes:

BBQ Steak (vegetarian alternatives are available if requested in advance)
Homemade Baked Beans
Baked Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
Assorted Salads
Assorted Desserts

There is no charge for faculty members or retirees to attend. Guest meals may be purchased for $25.00 a person. Cash bar.

RSVPs are required by Friday, September 3, 2010. To RSVP, please contact Celine Miller in the FA Office at millerc@macewan.ca or 780-497-5068.

The members of the Faculty Association have ratified the proposed
settlement agreement, with 80 percent of the members who voted choosing
to accept the settlement package.

Thanks again to those of you who were able to make it to one of the polling
stations today, and to those who expressed an interest in voting but were
unable to make it for various reasons.

We also received confirmation earlier today that the university Board
of Governors has also ratified the settlement agreement. As a result of
today’s vote, you all will receive your 1 percent lump-sum payment on
your July paycheques (or have one deposited if you are not on payroll in
July).

Former Negotiating Committee Steps Aside
With this agreement now ratified, the work of the previous Faculty
Association Negotiating Committee (FANC) comes to an end. I want to
personally thank all of the members of that committee (Rafat Alam, Mark
Lund, Cathy Walsh, Wayne Williams) for all the work they put in both in
this re-opener and during the full negotiations in 2007-08. I especially
want to thank our outgoing VP Negotiations, Richard Godwin, for stepping
up to the position when it became vacant last year.

Expect to hear from the new FANC (Jonathan Withey, Rafat Alam, Sonya
Betz, Rob Falconer, Lynne Honey, Colleen Maykut) early in the Fall term,
as they begin preparations for the next full round of negotiations in
February 2011.

In accordance with the association’s constitution, the new executive members take office on the date of the Annual General Meeting.

Incoming New Executive Members

Elections for the executive positions were held earlier this year. Here is your new executive:

• VP Executive —Aimee Skye (Arts and Science)
• VP Professional Affairs —Cynthia Zutter (Arts and Science)
• Treasurer —Shannon Digweed (Arts and Science)
• VP Communications—Karen Zypchyn (re-elected to position after serving one year to complete term for former VP Communications, Jim Humphries, who retired)

The election for the position of VP Negotiations was held at the AGM; two candidates were in the running: incumbent VP Negotiations Richard Godwin and Jonathan Withey of Arts and Science. Withey won the vote.

• VP Negotiations—Jonathan Withey (Arts and Science)

Outgoing Executive Members

Grant MacEwan University Faculty Association President Jerry Zdril thanked the past executive for its work. They are:

• VP Executive—Travis Huckell (Business)
• VP Professional Affairs —Roy Jensen (Arts and Science)
• Treasurer—Bob Graves (Business)
• VP Negotiations—Richard Godwin (Business)
• Past President—Don Fisher (Arts and Science)

Richard Godwin will continue working on the wage re-opener negotiating committee as Chair to conclude the work he began on this matter.

Newly elected VP Negotiations, Jonathan Withey, will begin work for the new round of negotiations commencing 2011, which may include such issues as academic titling, depending on the progress made on the issue.

Academic Titling Update

President Zdril informed members at the AGM that a subcommittee created by the Academic Governance Council continues to work on developing an interim measure for granting academic titling.  In early 2010, the University requested the Academic Governance Council take responsibility for coming up with the interim measure.

President Zdril serves as an external resource to this AGC subcommittee. VP Executive Aimee Skye is sitting on the subcommittee to keep the Faculty Association informed of developments on the academic titling issue.

Zdril told members at the AGM that an interim measure may be in place for the fall.

The Annual General Meeting of the MacEwan Faculty Association will take place:

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
9:00 a.m. – Meeting starts
12:00 noon – Lunch provided
St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Hall
12918 – 121 Street, Edmonton

Why You Should Attend
We have some pressing issues to deal with at this annual general meeting that concern all members. Here are some of the highlights:

• discussing upcoming negotiations pertaining to salary increases
• discussing current status of academic titling
• changing our constitution, which provides guidelines on how the association operates and makes decisions
• examining a proposal to change the FA governance structure of the association to increase representation of the membership (follow-up item from last year’s annual general meeting)
• passing the upcoming fiscal year budget
• electing members to 1 association executive position and several other FA & MacEwan committees

Confirm Your Attendance
To confirm your attendance at the AGM, please contact Celine Miller in the FA Office at millerc@macewan.ca.

The agenda for the AGM will be circulated via e-mail one week prior to the meeting.

***On 03 March, MacEwan Administration announced the pool closure.
This decision was made without consulting MacEwan faculty, staff,
students, and the community, yet this decision directly and negatively
affects all these stakeholders.

***The Dance program was cancelled in a similar manner (negligible
consultation; presented as a fait accompli) several years ago.
Apparently, the Dance program was struggling with low enrollments,
among other things. Faculty and staff complaints resulted in
Administration agreeing to more consultation in future decision
making. Sadly, this never occurred with the decision to close the
pool.

The Physical Education program is *thriving*. Closing the pool will
affect numerous physical education courses and intermural teams and
make the Physical Education program less marketable. Courses are being
cancelled that, historically, had strong enrollments. Is the
‘writing-on-the-wall’ for the Physical Education program?

***MacEwan’s Academic Governance Council (AGC) is responsible for
academic programming. The decision to close the pool will directly and
negatively affect academics at MacEwan, yet AGC was not consulted in
the decision to close the MacEwan pool. In fact, AGC should be more
than consulted: AGC should be an equal partner (along with the Board)
in making the decision to close the pool. Additionally, the Board was
not consulted on the decision to close the pool.

***The established literature states that a healthy workforce is
happier, more productive at work, takes less sick-days, and is less of
a burden on the health-care system. MacEwan is behind other major
employers in actively promoting healthy living for their employees,
despite having on-site recreational facilities. Not everyone likes a
‘weight room’. I *was* going to suggest the FA Negotiating Team and/or
Benefits Committee negotiate free gym memberships for faculty. Not
anymore.

The latest in a plethora of publications (from a science digest I
subscribe to):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100302185522.htm

***Not everyone likes a ‘weight room’. The MacEwan Student’s
Association should review how much is collected in MCSW fees given
that about 25 % of the diversity is recreational activities has been
removed. (pool, weight-room, gymnasium, courts)

***A proposal to close the pool was put forward in 2006. At the time,
a public outcry forced administration to rescind the proposal.
Administration further agreed to spend 2 million dollars to renovate
the pool area (maintenance of the pool area had been lacking). That
renovation never occurred (and maintenance hasn’t improved).

***500 000 $ is about 0.4 % of MacEwan’s total annual budget. MacEwan
is not running a deficit this year, or any in the past ten years.
MacEwan actually has reserves of over 20 million dollars and is using
some of those funds to build their new administrative complex.

***Student’s have rightly complained that there exists black-out times
in the use of the MCSW. MacEwan sells premium access that is commonly
purchased by local business professionals (maybe even purchased by
their employer, who value employee health). These people come at lunch
(12-1) and after work (4:30-7), thus the black-out times for students.
(Also an insight into Administration’s priorities.) Increasing the
size of the MCSW will allow more external memberships to be sold. Once
again, profits trump academics.

Why not increase the weight room capacity during the ’single-campus’
expansions, which are scheduled to occur within the next ten years.

***In a bicameral model, AGC and the Board are peers and can
communicate directly. I strongly encourage AGC to directly ask the
Board why this decision — a decision that directly and negatively
affects academic programs — was made without AGC knowledge,
consultation, involvement, and approval.

The Physical Education program and many MacEwan faculty, staff,
students, plus numerous community members are actively working to
reverse Administration’s decision. Please show your support for
keeping the MacEwan pool for the benefit of MacEwan academics,
faculty, staff, and student health, and MacEwan community relations.
The Physical Education department encourages you to write to the

- President (Paul Byrne)
- VP Academic (Janet PatersonWeir)
- VP Student Services (Cathryn Heslep)
- faculty Board of Governors Representative (Chaldeans Mensah)
- MSA Board of Governors Representative (Shawn McAuley)
- student Board of Governors Representative (Jamie Fraleigh)
- Board of Governors President (Eric Young)
- the Edmonton Journal
- Edmonton City Councilors (Ben Henderson and Jane Batty)
- Edmonton Centre MLA (Laurie Blakeman)

MacEwan students have established a Facebook group, ‘Save the Grant
MacEwan Pool’: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=339855957630
As of noon on 09 March, there are over 1900 members in this group!

_______________________________________________

Speak out on this issue by going to the topic called pool closure in the Discussion Forum. Remember, you’ll have to log on to the site first to participate in the forum. This is to ensure that your comments in the discussion forum are kept amongst the FA membership only and not made public for everyone else to see.

On March 3, Cathryn Heslep, Vice President Student Services, announced, through a University-wide email, that the pool at MacEwan will be permanently closed on July 1, 2010, to accommodate an enhanced fitness centre. What the memo did not explain is that:

1. the closure will greatly affect the Physical Education program at MacEwan (25% of Physical Education courses at MacEwan have at least one class in the pool with some courses being taught entirely in the pool)

2. the U of A is able to operate its two pools for considerably less than the $500,000 that MacEwan currently spends to operate its facility

3. 88% of students surveyed in 2006 were opposed to closing the pool (no survey was conducted this time around)

4. 53% of students surveyed in 2006 indicated that maintaining the aquatic facility was important to them and their wellness (again no survey was conducted this time around)

5. 88% of faculty members surveyed in 2006 indicated that the wanted the pool to be retained and upgraded (again no survey was conducted this time around)

6. the pool is one of the best ways that MacEwan connects with the community through swim lessons, swim clubs, school visits, triathlon clubs, birthday parties, masters swim groups and adult fitness classes

7. inner city schools use the MacEwan pool on a weekly basis

8. the MCSW has recently begun to offer rehabilitation programs for special populations part of which include using the pool

9. the administration has NOT demonstrated how closing the pool will save Grant MacEwan $500,000 per year in operating costs (they have not accounted for the fact that a new fitness facility will need to be heated, cooled, cleaned, staffed and equipped).

The most important point that was omitted from Cathryn’s memo was that the Faculty Association, the Students Association, the Physical Education program and the community were not consulted in the decision to close the pool.

The Physical Education program is fighting hard to stop what administration has presented as a “fait accompli.” Please join us in our opposition to administration’s plan to bulldoze this through.

Write to our President, Paul Byrne, VP Academic, Janet PatersonWeir, VP Student Services, Cathryn Heslep, our Board of Governors Representative, Chaldeans Mensah, Board of Governors President, Eric Young, The Edmonton Journal, City Councillors, Ben Henderson and Jane Batty, and our Edmonton Centre MLA, Laurie Blakeman.

_______________________________________________

Want to Comment on the Pool Closure?

Speak out on this issue by going to the topic called pool closure in the Discussion Forum. Remember, you’ll have to log on to the site first to participate in the forum. This is to ensure that your comments in the discussion forum are kept amongst the FA membership only and not made public for everyone else to see.

The Faculty Association is in the process of revising the ‘Service
Workload Guidelines’ document, which provided faculty with a list of
common service activities and proposes a method for
calculating the percent service of a member’s workload. This is
provided to faculty to promote consistency across MacEwan.

Service Workload Guidelines

The 2009 service guidelines, which provides a table of service hours, were developed from your
input. We would appreciate you reviewing the table and advising
us if the listed times are still consistent with what you actually do.

If there are additional activities you believe should be on the list,
please advise us of this as well.

Please provide your suggestions by visiting the discussion forum called workload or
email to JensenRH@MacEwan.ca.

Scholarly Activity Workload

Faculty have also inquired about a ‘Scholarly Activity Workload Guidelines’
document for quantifying scholarly activity.

We realize that the diverse nature of scholarly activity at MacEwan will make a
university-wide system difficult to prepare. However, a starting point
is to collect information on how departments quantifies scholarly
activity.

We would greatly appreciate details on how your department
quantifies scholarly activity and we will begin developing guidelines.

You can provide your suggestions in the discussion forum called workload or
email to JensenRH@MacEwan.ca.

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.

We hope you find this site useful. It contains source documents such as the collective agreement and the Association’s constitution. It also contains selected documents on important issues such as academic rank and titling.

Discussion Forum on Academic Titling

On the issue of academic rank and titling, we have established a forum on this site where members who have registered on the site can express their views and exchange ideas.

We hope that this will advance the discussion and allow the Association to aid in the development of MacEwan and the interests of its members.

Association’s Work in 2010

The work of the Association is currently concerned with wages in the 3^rd year of the collective agreement, academic rank and titling as mentioned and the representation of members’ employment interests, amongst numerous issues. I urge you to review the sections of the website entitled ‘Who we are’ and ‘How we help’ to understand what the FA does for you.

Get Involved: Executive & Committee work

Finally, please consider helping the Association by standing for one of the Executive positions or assisting in one of our committees such as Negotiating, Grievance, Faculty Welfare, Finance, Ethics or Governance.

Travis Huckell

Interim President

MacEwan Faculty Association