TRUFA President’s Report to the Membership

Colleagues,

I have included some highlights of activities with which I’ve been involved over the last month and issues about which TRUFA members should be informed.

Lobbying

In October, along with other Faculty Association presidents from the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE), I met with the Minister of Advanced Education to lobby her on behalf of the post-secondary education system.  The Minister, Melanie Mark, told us that she had received a mandate letter from the Premier outlining the government’s goals in relation to post-secondary education and that her responsibility was to fulfil those specific goals.  Her Ministry also includes responsibility for administering Trades training and the operations of the Industry Training Authority.  Since the July 18^th ministerial mandate letter was released, FPSE has been identifying how our system’s key needs can be integrated into the Minister’s mandate goals.  Here are the top issues:

TRUSU and Parking

I met with the TRUSU president and a TRUSU staff member on November 10^th to discuss an open letter from TRUSU, which detailed the student union’s efforts to address parking issues on campus.  I agreed to distribute this letter to all TRU faculty; the letter includes valuable background information and also an apology from TRUSU for unintentionally allowing TRU administration to cherry-pick TRUSU ideas and choose only those that were already in their own financial interests.  The result: worse parking conditions for students and for faculty. If you have comments on the letter or suggestions on how TRUFA can work toward a fairer parking system that meets all faculty needs, please contact me.  Faculty have contacted me about several main categories of concern:

• Lack of viable alternatives to driving to campus—e.g. efficient transit system, appropriate bike paths, ride sharing options;
• Lack of provision for part-time faculty who may need to be on campus only 1, 2 or 3 workdays per week;
• Lack of provision for faculty who must work both on and off campus for parts of the day: practica supervision at RIH or local schools; monitoring of co-op students etc.

While TRUFA has raised these issues repeatedly at the TRU/TRUFA Consultative Committee, we have not received any positive responses.  What TRUFA and CUPE and TRUSU all want on behalf of our members is a comprehensive, consultative approach to parking decisions, not top-down decisions made by the VP Finance and Administration.

TRU – TRUFA Labour Management Consultative Committee

The last two scheduled meetings of this important committee have been postponed—October 18^th and November 15^th.  We hope to meet again either on December 6^th or 13^th to discuss the following issues:

1. Changes to EI benefits for faculty who take maternity leave
2. LOU on time limits and selection processes for the appointment of acting and interim Associate Deans and Deans
3. Revisions to Adventure Studies pay rates for those teaching in the Mountain and Ski Guide programs
4. Concerns regarding academic decision-making structures at the Williams Lake campus.

Fair Funding for TRU Campaign

After a series of very successful events at the Labour Day picnic, the TRU Welcome Back BBQ, the TRUFA faculty BBQ, and cake/cupcake outreach in Student Street and in Williams Lake, the TRUFA Communications Committee gathered over 1,000 petitions signed by faculty, staff, students and community members calling on the provincial government to recognize TRU’s new mandate as a university through a revised funding formula (which ties in to FPSE’s priority on a review of the Ministry’s funding).

On Friday, November 10^th, I presented background information and photocopies of the petitions to Peter Milobar, the MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson. Mr Milobar is well versed on the fact that TRU is underfunded compared to other institutions with our educational mandate and our regional responsibilities.  In the New Year, I will be meeting with Todd Stone, the MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson and giving him a similar message with our petitions.

FPSE Presidents’ Council has authorized the funding of campaigns initiated by FPSE locals to a maximum of $5,000 for this current year.  As a result, the TRUFA Communications Committee will be able to continue this important advocacy work with additional campus and community outreach.

Williams Lake

On November 30^th and December 1^st, Star Mahara and I will be travelling to WL to meet with individual faculty members and with the WL Faculty Council to discuss issues related to their campus and their region. In addition, Star and I will have the opportunity to meet with Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and discuss the importance of the TRU Williams Lake campus to the region.

FPSE Governance Conference

VP Star Mahara and I – along with TRU FEDSW Senator and ESL department Chair Dian Henderson—attended an FPSE conference on Saturday, November 18^th focusing on governance issues.  In my next report, I will be able to provide full details of the discussions and—most importantly—suggestions on how faculty can better exercise their authority within the governance bodies of the University.

Submitted in solidarity,

Tom Friedman, TRUFA President