Member-Only Bulletins

As was presented at our January General Meeting, the FSA Board of Directors is creating an Equity Policy. You can view a draft of that policy here:

• Draft Equity Policy – January 2017

For reference, you can also view CAUT’s Equity Policy.

Change to the Constitution

Resolution

Full text of change

Full text of addition:

3. This society is a member funded society. It is funded primarily by its members to carry on activities for the benefit of its members. On its liquidation or dissolution, this society may distribute its money and other property to its members.

Full Annotated Changes – FSA Constitution (PDF)

Changes to the Bylaws

Resolution 1

Full text of changes

Full text of additions to 1.1:

k) “open directors’ minutes” means those portions of the minutes of a Board of Directors meeting that are open to member inspection,

l) “closed directors’ minutes” means those portions of the minutes of a Board of Directors meeting that are only open to director inspection,

Full text of subsequent renumbering changes under 1.1:

km) “registered address” means a member’s address as recorded in the register of members, and includes the member’s home address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and e-mail address,

ln) “written” means any mode of representing or reproducing words in written form, including printing, lithography, typewriting, photography, e-mail, fax, and other electronic means,

mo) “constitution”, “bylaws”, “special resolution”, and “ordinary resolution” have the meaning given to them in the Act, and

np) the singular includes the plural and vice versa.

Full text of changes under 10.3:

a) financial statements and members’ minutesdocuments of the Association except for accounting records and closed directors’ minutes may be inspected by a member, on reasonable notice,

b) other documents of the Association, including itsthe Association’s accounting records may be inspected by a member on reasonable notice, subject to any resolution of the Board, and

c) documents of the Association, including its accounting records and closed directors’ minutes, must be open to the inspection of a director, subject only to laws requiring otherwise.

Resolution 2

Full text of changes

Full text of changes under 6.2.1:

6.2 1) There must be ten directors, including:

a) the President,

b) the Vice-President,

c) the Treasurer,

dc) two Directors, Associate Member, who are Associate Members, and

ed) six five directors at large.

Full text of change to 6.2.4(b):

b) the Treasurer, seven five directors at large and the two directors elected pursuant to bylaw 6.2 (1)(c) must be elected in years not evenly divisible by two, and

Full text of change to 9.1.1:

9.1 1) The Board must at its first meeting following the start of term of office of a new Board elect a Secretary and a Treasurer. The President and Vice-President are not eligible to be Secretary or Treasurer.

Resolution 3

Full text of changes

Full text of change to 2.2.2:

2.2 2) An Associate Member is a person who is employed as an Instructor, or Laboratory Assistant, or on a PTS Administration contract, within the Auxiliary Employee category as defined under the Collective Agreement and who is not eligible to be a Regular Member.

Full text of change to 2.7-2.9:

2.7 Where the membership of a Regular Mmember who is elected to the Board would otherwise be temporarily terminated under 2.6(a) and there is a reasonable expectation that the membership will resume within 6 months, the membership shall be extended for a period of up to 6 months.

2.8 Where the membership of a Director, Associate Member would otherwise be terminated under 2.6 a), the membership shall be extended until either the end of their current term as Director, Associate Members, or until they cease to be a director under 6.3.

2.89 A member becomes a member not in good standing on not paying a debt due and owing to the Association.

Full text of change to 6.2.7:

6.2 7) At the close of nominations, a candidate for election as a director must:

a) be a Regular Member in good standing, or

b) in the case of a candidate nominated pursuant to bylaw 6.2 (1)(c), be a current Associate Member in good standing or a former Associate Member who has had an employment contract with BCIT within the previous 12 months and who has a reasonable expectation that their membership will resume within 9 months,

bc) be nominated in writing by a Regular or Associate Member,

cd) consent to the nomination, and

de) not be disqualified from being a director of a company society under sections 43 and 44 124 of the Business Corporations Act.

Full text of change to 6.3(c):

6.3 c) ceasing to be a Regular Member in good standing, or in the case of a director elected pursuant to bylaw 6.2 (1)(c), at the end of the term of office during which they cease to be an Associate Member in good standing,

Resolution 4

Full text of changes

“1.1 c) “Act” means the Societiesy Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 433, as amended from time to time,”

“2.4 A member must promptly and in writing notify the Association of any change in the member’s name, address, e-mail address, and facsimile or telephone number..”

“4.1 1) b) include any special resolution to be proposed at the meeting, and”

“6.2 2) In the event that a Director, Associate Member is not elected the position may be filled by a Regular Mmember.”

”6.2 4) c) Directors will normally be elected for a two–year term of office.”

“6.2 8) a) in the case of an election of the President and Vice-President., each Member has one vote for each of those offices,”

“8.1 2) The requirements of this bylaw are in addition to, and not in derogation of, an enactment or rule of law or equity relating to the duties or liabilities of directors of an Association.”

“9.4 c) have custody of all records and documents of the Association except those which must be kept by the Ttreasurer,”

“12.7 The Board must fill all vacancies arising in the office of auditor between AGMs.””

Full Annotated Changes – FSA Bylaws (PDF)

A major issue in the recent round of bargaining was the refusal of the provincial government to allow BCIT to negotiate around research issues.  As part of a joint labour-management effort to convince the government that research needs to be reflected in our collective agreement, the FSA prepared and provided the attached briefing note to aid the employer in discussions with Victoria this summer.

In support of the Institute’s continuing efforts in this regard, the note was revived in late October along with an explanation of how the failure to reflect research work in our collective agreement has an immediate impact on research through the existing restrictions on student employees. One of the proposals refused by the provincial government would have removed the barrier to student employees participating in research activities.

Email, June 29, 2015

From: Paul Reniers, FSA Executive Director
To: Tomi Eeckhout, (Former), VP Human Resources, BCIT
CC: Wayne Hand, Dean, School of Construction & the Environment, BCIT; Kim Dotto, Dean, Applied Research, BCIT; Teresa Place, FSA President

Further to my discussions with Tomi, we want to contribute some thoughts to the briefing note on research at BCIT for the Deputy Minister of Advanced Education.  We would also appreciate being able to comment on a draft of the note, and I’ll make myself available to do that.

In considering our situation in bargaining and what we’ve been told of the ministry’s objections to including research in our collective agreement, we felt that the briefing note needed to distinguish our research function based on choices made by the government rather than based on choices that any institution in our sector could make on its own.  Apparently, the ministry doesn’t want to agree to this for BCIT if Kwantlen or other institutions are going to turn around and attempt to make the same claim.  Accordingly, we need to distinguish ourselves on the basis of things that KPU, UFV, or other institutions could not also choose to do.

Looking at it that way, we think our distinctiveness in research is based on four key things:

1. Our unique statutory mandate to offer Applied Masters degrees, which necessitates research activity;
2. The mandate originally given to us, and not to other institutions in the sector, by the ministry to do research under the former Institute of Technologies Act which encouraged the development of an institutional research capacity;
3. The government’s decision to support the creation of the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation by giving us ownership of the former OLA building, which represents a unique provincial investment in research infrastructure in our sector;
4. The distinctive approach to applied research using multi-disciplinary teams to support a variety of research interests that grew out of this evolution, rather than the more purely academic approach that relies exclusively on individual research programs.

None of those four things can easily be replicated by any institution in our sector without the consent of the ministry.

Based on those observations, we suggest the following to be noted in the brief for the Deputy Minister:

• The Colleges and Institutes Act mandates BCIT in particular, and not other institutions in the sector, to provide Applied Masters degrees, which necessitates research by students and active research programs by the faculty who teach at the graduate level.
• Under the former Institutes of Technologies Act, BCIT became the only institution in our sector authorized by the ministry to conduct applied research.
• That authority recognized and fostered the growth of research at BCIT.
• The development of our research capacity was guided by our industry-focused approach to education, resulting in an applied research function that has been guided by industry needs rather than individual academic research priorities.
• Rather than develop increased specialization by a few academic researchers, BCIT’s model has led to the development of multidisciplinary teams of academics, program managers, and skilled technicians with the flexibility to support a variety of projects sponsored by industry and academic sources.
• The provincial and federal governments recognized and supported our distinctive ability to conduct industry-focused applied research by contributing to the creation of the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation (CARI) in the former Open Learning Agency building, a facility that is unique in our sector.
• Government support for the creation of CARI solidified our capacity to conduct applied research and to solve problems for industry that far exceeds that of other colleges and institutes.
• CARI’s dedicated research teams are unique to our sector.  By being singularly focused on conducting applied research, they provide a means to support research by Instructors and students, including sophisticated student capstone projects used to meet the scholarly activity requirements of our engineering degree programs.  Because of the CARI teams, we are uniquely able to bring applied research into education while minimizing our reliance on Instructors spending time out of the classroom doing research.
• Along with the mandate to do research and the physical infrastructure that have been provided by the provincial government, BCIT’s applied research function needs an administrative structure that will allow for its continued development to support quality polytechnic education.
• That infrastructure includes clarifying our roles in terms understood by funding agencies, providing the means for students and graduate students to work as Research Assistants, providing opportunities for employing Highly Qualified Personnel such as Post-Doctoral Fellows, and providing the means for Instructors to contribute to research activities without interfering with their teaching loads.

Data on our research funding and awards should be used in the briefing note to support these claims.  Given the amount of research funding now flowing to other colleges and institutes, these statistics really demonstrate that we are the sector leader in research rather than that we are unique.

I hope these comments help.  I look forward to seeing your draft.

Paul

NOTICE: This e-mail message (including any attachments) is confidential and is intended only for the addressee(s). Any unauthorized use or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender, delete this email communication, and destroy any copies that were inadvertently made. Thank you for your co-operation.

Email, October 26, 2015

From: Paul Reniers, FSA Executive Director
To: Kathy Kinloch, President, BCIT
CC: Bill Dow, Acting VP Academic, BCIT; Teresa Place, FSA President

Hi Kathy.

As discussed at the Quad meeting this morning, I am forwarding my note on how research at BCIT is distinct from other institutions in our sector.  Please note that I did not try to incorporate data on research activity, which shows that we are again distinct in our sector due to the size of our research revenue and probably in terms of the number of projects, number of staff, and number of student participants.

With regard to students, I should advise you of an issue emerging within the FSA membership.  Given the failure to reach an agreement on research activity, including the use of student employees, we have reverted to the strict language of the collective agreement when it comes to approving student employees.  Most research employment opportunities for students do not comply with the restrictions on student employment in the collective agreement, so those requests are no longer being approved.  At the outset of bargaining, we advised BCIT and individuals using student employees that we would apply this language strictly if an agreement is not reached.  We reiterated that at the bargaining table, and we identified it to management and to members as a consequence of the tentative settlement.

The failure to provide for student employment in research is a real blow to integrating applied research with education.  It’s particularly a blow for our masters programs, which typically feature Research Assistant opportunities for students.  Beyond that, it could be a very significant blow for our research funding.  Grants from NSERC typically include support for student employees. Creating these opportunities is one of the things that grant recipients, including Canada Research Chairs, are expected to report on when applying for grant renewals or new grants.  Being unable to use student employees for research under our collective agreement is a real threat to those sources of funding.  It’s also a direct consequence of BCIT’s inability to negotiate collective agreement improvements relating to research.

Thanks for bringing these issues forward to the government.

Paul

NOTICE: This e-mail message (including any attachments) is confidential and is intended only for the addressee(s). Any unauthorized use or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender, delete this email communication, and destroy any copies that were inadvertently made. Thank you for your co-operation.