I am an Associate Professor in the School of Business. I served as a sessional, term, and full-time faculty member at several post-secondary institutions before joining MacEwan University in 2007. I have participated in service at the department, School of Business, and University levels. Currently, I am a member of the School of Business Executive Committee, the Business Programs and Curriculum Committee, and General Faculties Council.
Starting 2008, I served on the Faculty Association board and executive, including serving as Treasurer, Vice-President of Dispute Resolution, and Secretary-Treasurer. At the time when the FA was a member of the Alberta College & Institutes Faculties Associations (ACIFA), I held the positions of Vice-President of Finance and Records and Executive Vice President with that organization.
The GMUFA has made great strides in the decade to become a more professional organization. Even though the University has changed dramatically in that time, the FA has more than kept pace and, I believe, is much more capable of representing the membership than it was 10 years ago. We have made substantial advances in the FA’s Constitution and in the Collective Agreement with the University. This is a good time to affirm the positive changes we have made and plot a direction for the next decade.
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Michelle Malin is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and an Associate Professor with MacEwan University’s School of Business.
Prior to joining MacEwan in 2011, Michelle worked as an auditor with Deloitte, a large, international accounting firm where she worked on audits for a variety of public and private corporations in Alberta. Later in her accounting career, Michelle specialized in income tax where she provided tax and estate planning services to individual and corporate clients.
At MacEwan, Michelle teaches taxation and financial accounting courses. Michelle also teaches post-graduate courses for the accounting profession in the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP).
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Dr. Natalia Khinkanina is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and an Assistant Professor with MacEwan University’s School of Business.
Natalia is committed to innovative research and teaching and has several years of experience as an auditor and accountant. Before joining MacEwan University in 2019, Natalia was an Assistant Professor with Concordia University of Edmonton and a Treasurer of Concordia’s Faculty Association.
Specific teaching and research interests include financial and management accounting, including managerial aspects for non-for-profit organizations. Natalia is an active CPA mentor, providing updates on the students’ progress via the CPA Practical Experience Reporting Tool (PERT).
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I am an Associate Professor of Classics in the Humanities Department and the current Discipline Coordinator for Classics which requires me to be aware of the Collective Agreement’s provisions regarding workload and faculty and sessional hiring. Prior to coming to MacEwan, I was a sessional instructor at several universities; as a result, I have experiences of being contingent faculty and a junior, tenure-track faculty member. In addition to committee work at MacEwan, I have also chaired committees for my national discipline and was a union representative during my graduate degrees.
As representative for FAS, my goal is to represent the needs of all faculty ranks (from sessional to full professor) by bringing in my experience as a sessional instructor and junior faculty member along with my knowledge of the CA when discussing workload, teaching and research support, and job security. In addition to representing all faculty ranks, as FAS representative my job is to represent the entirety of the faculty by being aware of the particular teaching, research, and service expectations and needs of the Arts and Sciences. I have contacts across the faculty and am thus able to respond to the individual needs of each area of the faculty.
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Jennifer Spencer is a long term Sessional in the Theatre Department. She is a Director, Actor, Playwright, and voice and text coach. She has served as the Music Theatre Performance Sessional Representative on the Department of Theatre Council for over three years, and served two elected terms as the Sessional Representative for FFAC Council.
Jennifer also served on the formation of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Communications' Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Committee. Her article "Performance Arts Training in the Era of #metoo" won Forum Article of the Year from VASTA, the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
Jennifer was the first woman, and artist, to chair the board of Workshop West Playwrights’ theatre, and is one of the few women and artists across Canada to do so.
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I have been a sessional instructor at MacEwan University since 1993 teaching with the Disability Studies and the Educational Assistant programs.
I am currently President of the Alberta Disability Workers Association where I have been a board member since its inception in 2010. As a MacEwan Alumni, I take great pride in the high-quality educational experience that we provide our students. This can only be achieved with stellar faculty at our foundation.
We need a strong association which advocates and supports faculty to do their best work.
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Melanie Neumeier is a Registered Nurse (RN), Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing, and co-founder of the PAWSS (Pets Assisting with Student Success) program at MacEwan.
She is dedicated to integrating technology and innovative teaching strategies to enhance the student experience and has a passion for leveraging digital tools to create interactive and engaging learning environments to help make complex concepts more accessible and relevant to students.
She is committed to enhancing campus life for students and faculty and believes that being involved is the best way to do that.
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Ashley Stasiewich is a Sessional-Extended Instructor in the Paralegal Studies program at MacEwan University, with over 17 years of legal industry experience. Ashley teaches courses such as Legal Research, Technology for Paralegals, and the Paralegal Studies capstone course. She also coordinates practicum placements for students, ensuring they gain valuable, hands-on experience in the legal field.
In 2024, Ashley was honored with the Sessional Instructor Teaching Excellence Award at MacEwan University. Currently pursuing a doctoral degree focused on paralegal education, Ashley aims to enhance the educational experiences and professional development of future legal professionals.
Michael Buhr teaches science and math in MacEwan’s University Preparation program. Michael served as Head Instructor of University Preparation from 2017 to 2020. As Head Instructor, he was a member of various hiring committees and coordinated the submission of Science 30 for approval by the Provincial Academic Upgrading Committee.
Michael has been a member of Academic Governance Council (2016 – 2018), Academic Governance Council Executive Committee (2016 – 2018) and Academic Planning and Priorities Committee (2018-2019).
Michael is currently a member of the School of Continuing Education Executive Committee and Joint Work Site Health & Safety Committee.
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I served on the Faculty Association Board for 1 term (2 years) from 2021-23 as the Professional Resource Faculty Rep. During this time, I was struck by the intersecting systemic issues impacting our membership. Also, I developed a full appreciation of the Board’s role in being responsive to our membership’s needs, advancing our interests, and advocating on behalf of the membership at various internal, provincial, and national forums. These efforts are especially important now that we are entering a period of negotiations.
I began my career at MacEwan as a sessional instructor, a position I held for 13 years. I am very familiar with the instructional experience. I have been with Wellness & Psychological Services for 23 years, during which time, I was the Chair of our area for 8 years. The various roles that I have assumed, including responsibilities associated with department and university committees, have fostered rich perspectives of the diverse and significant responsibilities that faculty carry.
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