Today many staff and faculty heaved a sigh of relief as St. Lawrence College announced (via email) that all students, faculty, employees, and visitors attending our campuses or workspaces must be fully vaccinated (barring legitimate exemption). No doubt many students and families share in our relief. As other colleges and universities began announcing [...]
A message from the Bargaining Team: Please note that we have not yet tabled our monetary proposals although we have been working on them. On July 2nd, we gave Notice to Bargain and asked the Employer for the information we need to complete our monetary proposals. That disclosure has yet to be provided. [...]
By now, most of you have received word of the Ministry's sudden announcement that Ontario colleges and universities can go back to classroom teaching this fall semester without physical restrictions or limits on class sizes. While some colleges are taking an aggressive stance on returning to the classroom, not all are [...]
The teams met on July 7 and 8 this week to discuss ground rules, set the tone for bargaining, and exchange initial proposals. Attached, please find the opening statement and summary of initial proposals that your bargaining team tabled in the course of negotiations with the College Employer team earlier today, [...]
Over the past several years there has been a wide-spread attack on academic freedom across Ontario Colleges. So wide-spread that the protection of this freedom was a key addition to our most recent collective agreement. Recently the Union put forward a grievance related to the protection of academic freedom and the [...]
Microcredentials - the new buzz word in post-secondary education. You’ve likely already heard of them. In fact, you or someone on your team might already be involved in the development of microcredentials at SLC. The Province of Ontario has announced significant financial support for the development and implementation of such credentials. [...]
Love them or hate them, Program Advisory Committees (PAC) are part of operating any college program in Ontario. The role of a PAC is to assist the Board of Governors in monitoring program quality and supporting student success. The college describes these volunteer members as providing a “critical link between the [...]
Several union grievances have been filed by OPSEU Local 417 over the past two weeks, arguing that the programs are overstaffed by Part-time and Partial Load Faculty. In some cases, the grievance states that a position vacated by retirement or resignation has not been filled. If successful, the grievances would result [...]
A few notes from the Board of Governors meeting today for members who may be interested. Much of the work at today's meeting was reports only and review of and voting on the 2021-22 budget. Look for a new branding of Continuous Learning. For those of you are interested in marketing, [...]
A message from Grant Currie, President, SLC Faculty Local 417: Our Collective Agreement (CA) lays out the terms of employment for Faculty (Full-Time and Partial Load), Librarians (we used to have one), and Counsellors. It is a document that is agreed to by College Employer Council, on behalf of Ontario Colleges [...]