LCFA President's Newsletter
Message from your LCFA President
It has been quite a year has it not?
The faculty Association started the year with unfinished business in settling a contract, we barely concluded that contract and we are back at the table.
As a college we dealt with a mid-year budget cut that caused a lot of uncertainty. I was pleased that the Administration called the Faculty association, AUPE and the students association in to share the news with us.
ACIFA executive and Presidents council took Cheryl and I to Edmonton to meet with Minister Nicholaides. Our first visit expressed the displeasure of the post-secondary sector in the concept of a performance based budget. In later visits, once performance based funding was a reality we pressed to maintain educational standards. Later visits were cancelled by the minister’s office, largely because it was very close to the budget release, and later by Covid restrictions. Early in the process a group representing LCFA, Students association and AUPE met jointly with MLA Neudorf to express our concerns. That meeting primarily dealt with the impact on the students. We participated in a conference call, then invited MLA Phillips to meet with the same group, she provided us with some advice from her perspective which was helpful. ACIFA continues to be a strong supporter of all the institutions in the province, presidents council has been meeting weekly to share what is happening at individual institutions. Based on what we have heard at those meetings I am very pleased with the communication and support of our administration through these times. I wish I could report we had more success at the political level.
As a college we then dealt with the budget cut for the upcoming year and the extra challenge of performance based funding. Once again the Executive Leadership team invited us in the share what news they have received. The news has not been easy to understand and many things are still somewhat confusing for the post-secondary sector.
As we all dealt with major budget challenges we are faced with a historical pandemic. Once again we were told early how the college planned to deal with conditions, however conditions are steadily evolving. I want to thank the faculty for making such dramatic adjustments in order to help our students complete the term.
The executive council has discussed another item we as an association need to deal with, our annual general meeting. There are other institutions facing the issue and many have pushed the AGM later in order to explore their options. Our issue is our contract in which our end date is coming up quickly while many faculty are facing the new challenge of a hasty switch to on-line delivery. Given the uncertainty and turmoil in all our lives right now we would like to delay the AGM until September. We understand that this does not match our By-laws but these are exceptional times. If anyone has concerns please raise them with myself of Mike, it is easiest to contact us by e-mail.
Please stay healthy through your time away, here’s hoping we can return refreshed and find a new year with more answers and fewer challenges.
Kevin Wiber
President, Lethbridge College Faculty Association
Chair Crooks school of Transportation, Center for Trades
Automotive Service Technician / Heavy Equipment Technician
403-320-3202 ext. 3264 or 3219
3000 College Drive S., Lethbridge, AB T1K 1L6
