Happy New Year!
Your VCTA Executive – Eric, Estelle, Jacques and Hugo – welcomes you back. We wish you a pleasant and fruitful semester.
Be sure to check our updated office hours on the website as we need to adapt our availabilities to our teaching schedules.
Soup Day: January 29th
This semester’s soup day will take place on Wednesday, 29 January. Soup will be served between 11h00 and 13h30.
Please bring your own cup and spoon.
Come join us in C-101 at lunch for a chat and fresh soup. You may want to take the opportunity to sign your membership card at the same time.
UIA Flight 752
Each of us on the VCTA Executive would like to express our sympathies to teachers affected, directly or indirectly, by the tragedy of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. Many of the victims were academics and students.
First 2020 GA Next Week
Our first General Assembly of the Winter 2020 semester will take place next Friday, January 31st, at 16h15 in F-216, with dinner served at 18h15.
We will be presenting and discussing the second wave of negotiation demands. We will also review the employer’s demands.
Negotiations News
You will find attached to this message the most recent Info-Négo bulletins from both CSN (public employees) and FNEEQ (college teachers). Both propose an overview and analysis of the employer’s offers and demands which we will discuss at next week’s GA.
Special GA on IPESA Consultation
As you may know, there will be rounds of consultation on the IPESA draft. This follows consultations on certain elements of the policy. The policy draft has now been completed, and the community will be consulted on the full document.
We may arrange a special general assembly on the topic of IPESA during the consultation period. We will let you know.
Membership Cards
We would like to remind you that in order to vote at assemblies and union meetings, you need to sign a VCTA membership card. This needs to be done only once, and it requires a $2 fee to sign up as a member. Besides granting you the right to vote, this membership card also serves as the official accounting of VCTA members. Even though all teachers pay their dues, deducted from their salaries, and are therefore represented by the VCTA, our official membership number remains the people who have signed their card.
Considering that negotiations for our collective agreement have begun, if you have not done so yet, we encourage you to come to the office, C-101, and sign your card. This empowers you and makes us stronger.
Teachers’ obligation to supervise students
According to the Collective Agreement (8-4.00) all day teachers need to support and supervise their own students. Teachers can volunteer to supervise other students within their program, but they are not obliged to.
A situation recently came up in Science whereby departments were asked to set up study sessions for students of multi-section courses to be organized by the program Science Engagement Officers. If departments decide that this is a good idea, teachers can certainly volunteer, but, as a general principle, individual teachers are not obliged to supervise students who are not enrolled in their own classes.
OST and Business Administration Programs
Here’s a quick update concerning the government’s plan to eliminate Office Systems Technology and two programs in Business Administration.
An external consultant has been hired to review the situation in the Business Management (Gestion de commerce) program. No changes have been announced, therefore removal of the programs remains the government’s plan, as well as the creation of a generic replacement program in 410. The stated objective is to produce more “polyvalent” technicians. A meeting of the CNPEPT is scheduled for 12 February, this may be on the agenda. We will probably have more information following this meeting.
Message from our Respectful Learning and Workplace Environment Advisor
Hello everyone! I want to wish you a wonderful year, and a smooth start to this new semester. As the RespectWorks Advisor, I am excited to continue to offer to facilitate workshops within departments on a range of topics to nurture healthier working and learning spaces and support our collective well-being. If ever this would be of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. For more information on the role of this office, resources, and tools, you can always visit the RespectWorks Website:
https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/respect-works/
Thank you and have a wonderful week!
Anuska Martins
Respectful Learning and Workplace Environment Advisor
Ext. 7499
Room D-530
Alanna Stalker (Horner) 1944–2019
Alanna was at peace when she passed away Friday, December 13, 2019 at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Feisty to the end, she brought great courage and an abiding stubbornness to her battle with cancer. She is survived by her daughter Maradora, her granddaughter Makylan and her son Kyle (Sylvie).
One of Vanier College’s pioneers, Alanna made lasting contributions to the College community. She helped to develop the Creative Arts Department (now called Communications, Media and Studio Arts). A co-founder of the Vanier Day Care, a key architect of the Communications Dept. Gallery (first named in memory of her esteemed colleague Henry Lehmann), she was also a committed union member and an editor of the VCTA Newsletter. She taught us a lot about art and art education. As a member of the Women’s Studies Program, Alanna made presentations in Alternatives for Women and engineered magnificent displays around the College during International Women’s Week. She saw to it that student works were displayed, and that some of these were purchased to become part of the College’s permanent collection. Alanna was a fiercely loyal colleague and friend. May she rest in peace.
Submitted by Shirley L. Pettifer, friend and colleague.
Upcoming events
Jan 29 – Soup Day, 11h00–13h30, C-101
Jan 31 – Academic Council, 13h30, F-216
Jan 31 – General Assembly, 16h15, F-216
Feb 7 – Academic Council: Space Plan, 13h30, F-216
Feb 13 – CRT, 14h00, F-216