The Vanier College Teachers’ Association
Holiday Message
This will be our last News Bulletin for Fall 2021 and we would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge all the hard work that teachers put in this semester!
While it was certainly great to see each other back in person, returning to campus has not been without its challenges. Our students required more support, stress levels were at an all-time high, and social distancing requirements further complicated the delivery of our courses.
As we head into the Holidays, we hope that you will be able to take some time off to focus on yourself and to disconnect from the College.
Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday – buzzing with good vibes and plenty of time to recuperate and re-energize!
Academic Dean Renewal
The VCTA would like to thank all teachers who took the time to offer feedback and participate in the Academic Dean’s mandate renewal process. Your concerns about the Academic Dean’s autocratic management style, lack of availability to teachers, and lack of consideration for faculty as valued members of the Vanier community was heard, loud, and clear.
Both the Academic Council and the VCTA recommended to the Board of Directors that the Academic Dean’s mandate not be renewed. Yet, despite receiving a resounding “no” from these two bodies, the Board still voted in favor of renewing the Academic Dean’s mandate.
While this may be disappointing news, it is worth noting that the Board’s decision was unusual in two ways. First, they decided to only renew for three years (she had asked for five). Second, the Board also made public a list of priorities that the Academic Dean must work on over the next three years to address the issues and concerns brought up by the faculty. At the top of the list are:
- Balancing engagements to focus on the needs of Vanier faculty and staff, and
- Modifying styles of communication and consultation while increasing access to the Academic Dean
As a first step to ensuring that the Academic Dean demonstrates improvements within these areas, we will ask the College to include teachers in yearly evaluations.
Focus on Mental Health and Well Being
On January 10th, the College will be organizing a virtual town hall to consult the community on issues related to mental health and wellbeing. At this consultation, faculty and staff will be given the opportunity to tell Senior Administrators how the pandemic has affected them personally and to recommend initiatives that the College could implement to combat the adverse effects of the pandemic.
The VCTA will also be sending out a survey and organizing a General Assembly in January to gather more feedback and suggestions, which can be taken to the Administration.
In the meantime, the VCTA has requested that the College use all the remaining funds received from the Ministry for COVID resources be put towards reducing class sizes in H’22.
Employee Assistance Program
This is a friendly reminder that the EAP program is available to teachers. This is a service offered at the discretion of the College. This is offered through the Physimed Health Group for 5 visits per year for Social Support, Addiction Control or Psychological Assistance and Referral Services for Financial or Legal Issues. Regular day teachers are automatically added to the roster. Cont.Ed teachers need to request this from HR.
Respect Works Office has a new officer: Karina Leonard
The Respect Works office has produced several videos which you may find useful:
Tips and Tools for Effective emails / Cyberviolence Prevention & Response / Engaging in Shared Work / Mindful Movements / Grounding Exercises -for when we feel overwhelmed. https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/respect-works/video-blog-series/
The CSN is One Hundred
To celebrate the one hundredth birthday of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, a movie about the development of union rights in Quebec was produced and screened at the Grande Bibliothèque. This special event was organized by the Conseil Central du Montréal Métropolitain and took place in November.
If you missed the event, the movie can be viewed online at the link below.
Les unions, qu’ossa donne ?
https://savoir.tv/emission/les_unions_quossa_donneMobilization achieved?
In the coming winter semester, a subcommittee of Association Council will be working on a postmortem of the negotiations. It has been a time of mobilization like no other in the past, with social distancing, remote learning, general assemblies held remotely, and all meetings requiring a reinvention of our collective interactions. This was felt at every level but perhaps nowhere else as importantly as in our rapport de force during our conflict with our employer. In spite of this and the resilient threat of Covid, we mobilized in support of our demands and took to the street. We would not have achieved our gains without the collective mobilization of our members.
The VCTA Executive would like to give special thanks to picket captains:
Mike Besner, Sheila Das, Stacey de Wolfe, Judy Ingerman, Alison Jones, Hakim Loudyi, Ingrid Mittmannsgruber, Nick Park, Liam Peukert, Katie Rose.
We would also like to thank all those who showed up on the picket lines, who participated in the general assemblies and participated actively in our decisions.
Agreement in principle: FNEEQ Cegep results and the next step (clause à clause)
Attached you will find the results of the votes in all FNEEQ Cegep locals. The double majority was achieved: a majority of locals and a majority of union members for both the salary and working conditions. The actual writing of the new collective agreement is in the works. Once that process is completed, the new collective agreement will come into effect.
Service Contracts
The VCTA is the only legal representative of teachers at Vanier. In this capacity, we are responsible for reviewing any agreement negotiated between individual teachers and the administration. Inform the VCTA if ever the College offers you a deal or a contract of any kind – to resolve a conflict, to address a temporary situation, to replace a colleague, to perform an unusual task, etc. We can then make sure any arrangement between teachers and the College respects the Collective Agreement,and applies to and benefits all of us. Together, we can negotiate the best possible solution for all.
Your Classroom is Out-of-Bounds to Anyone But Your Students
We would like to remind all teachers that unless you explicitly invite a colleague to your class, you do not have to admit anyone other than your students in your classroom. Should an administrator or other professional want to attend your class, for observation or other motive, please get in touch with the VCTA right away. This is also and particularly true for courses in Continuing Education.
VCTA Facebook Account
The VCTA Facebook account is coming alive at the beginning of the New Year. Look for it then.
Upcoming Events
Association Council – January 13, 2022 at 1:30pm , TBA
General Assembly – January 26, 2022 at 12:00pm, TBA