Front Page

News

In Brief

Research

Out and About

Papers and Presentations

News and Notes

Obituary

Classified

Search this issue

The Gazette Homepage

Division of University Relations Homepage

E-Mail Us

(January 11, 2001, Gazette)

Board ratifies faculty agreement
The Board of Regents of Memorial University last month officially ratified the collective agreement between the university and MUNFA, the union representing its faculty and librarians. The three-year contract covers the period from Sept. 1, 1999, to Aug. 31, 2002.

The agreement will ensure that the university remains competitive in recruiting and retaining faculty members and includes a monetary package that results in average salary increases of more than 20 per cent over the life of the contract, said Dr. Axel Meisen, Memorial’s president. The salary changes include a base increase of seven per cent (similar to compensation arrangements for public sector workers throughout the province), step increases on the salary scales, occupational adjustments (similar to occupational reclassification) and increases to the floor and ceiling of salary scales to better reflect salary ranges offered at other Canadian comprehensive universities.

Other highlights of the new collective agreement include strengthened tenure and promotion criteria, improved provisions for handling intellectual property rights and improved procedures for dealing with sabbatical leave applications.

“The university has succeeded in its main goal in these negotiations,” said Dr. Meisen. “We have addressed the very serious issue of Memorial’s salary competitiveness in the Canadian university context and we have concluded a collective agreement that is fair to all our faculty and librarians. This new agreement will enable us to attract high quality academic staff members and to retain our outstanding current faculty.”

The official signing of the new collective agreement by representatives of the university and MUNFA is scheduled for mid-January.

Margaret Williams Trust Fund award
Applications are now being invited for the Margaret Williams Trust Fund award which has been established to promote the development of librarianship in Newfoundland and Labrador. Funds are awarded on a competitive basis to applicants seeking funding for library-related projects or assistance in pursuing graduate studies in library science. Annual awards are usually about $1,000. Deadline for applications is March 30.

For more information and an application form, contact Richard Ellis, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Margaret Williams Trust Fund, QE II Library, Memorial University, St. John’s, A1B 3Y1.

Recognition from co-op organization
The Canadian Association for Cooperative Education has recognized two Memorial University employees for outstanding volunteer service.

Paul Batstone, program manager for engineering co-operative education, and Christine Webb, manager of Memorial’s Co-operative Education Services Centre, received CAFCE Volunteer Recognition Awards to mark five years of volunteer service on the organization’s committees.

Mr. Batstone has worked on the CAFCE Accreditation Council, CAFCE news, and CAFCE Atlantic professional development sessions. Ms Webb has volunteered with the CAFCE national conference, the CAFCE accreditation team review, and has served on the CAFCE Atlantic Board of Directors.

Memorial President Axel Meisen congratulated the two on the CAFCE honour, saying “... this award also brings credit to Memorial University of Newfoundland. Career placement and preparation are in important part of Memorial’s responsibilities to its students, and (their) efforts in this area are appreciated.”

New Channing chair
David Vardy is the newest Fellow of the James G. Channing Chair at Memorial University.

A 28-year veteran of the provincial public service, Mr. Vardy is currently chairman and chief executive officer of the Public Utilities Commission. He follows Robert Olivero, the first Channing chair.

The fellowship affords a senior public servant a chance to research and work on major public policy issues affecting the province. The chair is named after the longest-serving secretary to cabinet, James Channing, who started the job under Joseph Smallwood in 1956 and left when Frank Moores held the premiership in 1978.

Mr. Vardy holds a doctorate in economics from Princeton and a masters degree from the University of Toronto.
As a Channing Fellow, he intends to study and comment on fisheries policy, economic development policy, energy regulation, and continue his work as an appointee on the Eminent Person’s Panel on the state of seal stocks. The former Queen’s University professor will also be doing some teaching at MUN.

New phone numbers for HSC
All phone numbers in the Health Sciences Centre now begin with 777. Emergency numbers will be routed automatically, with other numbers you will receive a message informing you of the new number. For numbers whose last four digits begin with a 6 or a 7, the last four digits remain the same. Otherwise, it will be an entirely new number.