Mount Allison Faculty Association’s Guide
for New Faculty and Librarians
2009-2010
The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) would
like to extend a warm welcome to all new faculty and librarians. To help you make the transition to the
If you have any questions about any of the information
in this booklet or any other issues, please contact Geoff Martin, MAFA
Professional Officer at 364-2289 or mafa@mta.ca.
What is MAFA?
MAFA was founded in the 1950s by a group of faculty
who recognized the need for an organization where matters which affect faculty
and librarians in their work and relationships with the university could be
freely and openly discussed. More
specifically our constitution lists the objectives of the association as:
(a) To stimulate and improve teaching,
research and creative activity, and to encourage cooperative relations among
members of the University.
(b) To promote the professional interests
and welfare of the University and its academic staff.
(c) To protect freedom of expression,
thought, teaching and research within the University.
(d) To cooperate with other associations
with similar interests, in particular with provincial, regional, national and
international associations of university academic staff.
(e) To act as a bargaining agent within the
meaning of the Industrial Relations Act and in that connection to regulate
employment relations through collective bargaining between the Employer and all
employees.
(f) To seek the fullest representation of
all employees in the academic operation of the University.
(g) To deal with other matters considered to
be congruent with the interests of the Association or its members.
Under the collective agreement between MAFA and the
Board of Regents of the University, all faculty and librarians automatically pay
MAFA dues which are deducted from their pay.
Membership in the association is voluntary and you will be asked to sign
a form indicating your desire to become a member. Only members of MAFA are eligible to vote in
MAFA elections and to participate in MAFA events.
MAFA and the Collective Agreements
An important function of MAFA has been to act as
bargaining agent for faculty and librarians. In 1982 the association became a
union through certification under the New Brunswick Industrial Relations
Act. Since then we have negotiated for
full-time faculty and librarians (Unit 1) a series of collective agreements
that outline terms and conditions of employment. In 2003 MAFA also became the official
bargaining agent for all part-time faculty and librarians (Unit 2) at
Future Collective Bargaining
As you may know, MAFA concluded two three-year
agreements in January 2008, and they will run until June 30, 2010. MAFA will be preparing for collective
bargaining this year and we expect to negotiate next summer and into the
2010-11 academic year. Please look out
for notices of meetings regarding collective bargaining and don’t hesitate to
make your voice heard on the terms and conditions of your work.
MAFA Meetings
Full meetings of the membership are held in the fall
and in the spring, with additional meetings called to deal with any special
issues, such as negotiations.
MAFA Executive
The executive of the association is normally made up
of eight officers who are elected to serve a one year term. Currently the executive members are:
Richard Hudson, 2331, President,
rhudson@mta.ca
Peter Brown, Peter, 2545, Past President, pbrown@mta.ca
Rob Cupido, Rob, 2316, Unit 2 Officer, rcupido@mta.ca
Maritza Fariña, 2485, Membership Officer, mfarina@mta.ca
Zoe Finkel, 2615, Collective Bargaining Officer, zfinkel@mta.ca
Gina Grandy, 2292, Treasurer, ggrandy@mta.ca
Jeff Lilburn, 2237, Vice President, jlilburn@mta.ca
Loralea Michaelis, 2206, Grievance
Officer, lmichael@mta.ca
Geoff Martin, 2289, Professional Officer, mafa@mta.ca
The executive meets regularly to discuss all issues
that have arisen or have been brought to its attention. You should always feel
free to ask any member of the executive to look into any of your questions or
concerns.
What should I do if I believe that I am being treated
unfairly or that the collective agreement is not being followed?
It is the role of any member of the MAFA executive to review
and discuss any concerns brought forward by academic staff. In many cases the executive member may be
able to answer your questions or solve the problem immediately. At other times it will be necessary for the
whole executive to consider the issues.
Sometimes the executive will take it forward for discussion with the
employer at the Joint Liaison committee that is established under the
collective agreement. All of these steps
are informal ways to handle such situations.
If however a member or the executive believes that
there is a violation of the collective agreement, another mechanism for seeking
a resolution is to file a grievance.
This process is outlined in Article 36 (Unit 1) or Article 37 (Unit 2) of
the collective agreement. Do not hesitate
to contact the union even if you are not sure whether your concerns merit a
grievance. We will discuss potential
grievances with you and if a grievance is filed, will ensure that the proper
process is followed.
How does MAFA use my dues?
Your union dues enable MAFA to support the role of
faculty and librarians in a number of ways. At the local level we maintain an
office where the executive and MAFA committees meet and where files of
correspondence and documents as well as other resources allow research on a
wide variety of issues. To assist with
grievances, negotiations, or any other issues with legal implications, MAFA
consults a lawyer who specializes in
Some of MAFA’s resources are used to cover the cost of
our membership in the Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations
(FNBFA). This organization allows the
faculty associations at seven
Since 1958 MAFA has also maintained membership in the
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). This national organization supports local
faculty associations like MAFA through workshops, legal and collective
bargaining advice, research, and other resources. It also takes up issues of national
importance and lobbies the federal government concerning postsecondary
education. Arising from our membership
in CAUT we are also members of the Defence Fund. This fund of close to twenty million dollars
gives financial support to faculty associations that are on strike or are
locked out. MAFA members receive the
CAUT Bulletin regularly and it is also available in the MAFA office or
you can check their web site at www.caut.ca.
We are also a member of the National Union of the Canadian Association
of University Teachers (NUCAUT), which provides MAFA members with membership in
a union affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress.
Helpful hints
This will be a busy time for you, as there are a lot
of tasks to attend to in addition to preparing for the routine of the academic
year. The following are some of the
things that you should expect and that you will need to do.
All members should:
Arrange to open your e-mail account by contacting
Computing Services at 2473.
Determine what classrooms or labs you are scheduled to
teach in and decide whether they suit your needs. If you think that a different room would be
more appropriate, or if you need different equipment in the room that you have
been allocated, ask your departmental secretary about how best to address this.
Unit 1 Members should:
Make sure your office is reasonably
well-equipped. You should have all the
necessary furniture (desk, chairs, filing cabinets, bookshelves) and equipment
(telephone and, if previously agreed, a computer). If any of these things are missing, you
should speak to your department head to find out when you can expect delivery.
Make sure your workload is what you expected. There are departmental variations in teaching
duties, but you should ensure that your teaching workload is comparable to the
other members of your department.
Ensure that you are properly reimbursed for your
moving expenses. Your expenses need to
be submitted to Financial Services.
Get the account number for your own Professional
Development Reimbursement account. You
can charge various research related expenses as outlined in clause 29.06 of the
collective agreement. If you intend to
purchase equipment, you will need to fill out a purchase order, available
online. If you intend to hire a
research assistant with the money you will need to fill out a pay sheet,
available from your Department’s Administrative Assistant or Human Resources.
If you intend to finance travel to conferences you will need to provide
Financial Services with the receipts upon your return.
Unit 2 Members should:
Remember to consider whether you are eligible to apply
for reimbursement of employment-related expenses as outlined in Article 29.01
of the collective agreement. Consider
applying for the research stipend outlined in Article 29.02 of the collective
agreement.
Check with your Department Head or Programme
Coordinator with regard to arrangements for use of office and telephone.
If you can think of any other helpful hints or
enhancements to this guide, please send them to mafa@mta.ca or call 2289.
FACULTY ASSOCIATION
GUIDE FOR
NEW MEMBERS
2009-2010