Department Policy Number
015 001
Effective Date
Revised December 10, 2003
February 28, 1983
Purpose
To establish the parameters under which the university will designate, except from designation, or change the designation of individual employees or categories of employees as academic staff members at Athabasca University.
Definitions
Policy
Section 60(2) of the Post-Secondary Learning Act empowers Athabasca University Governing Council (the "Council") to do one or more of the following:
| (a) | designate categories
of employees as academic staff members at the university; |
| (b) | designate individual employees
as academic staff members at the university; |
| (c) | change designations made under subclause (a or (b) or under Section 5(2) or 42(2). |
By these Sections of the Act, the university is authorized both to designate and to change the designation of individual employees and categories of employees.
While the use of the word "academic" might be interpreted to include only professional staff directly involved in the teaching and research activities of universities, it can be and is extended, by the application of the legislation at this and other Alberta universities, to professional staff whose functions are only indirectly supportive of academic functions. Staff so designated are thereby automatically members of the Athabasca University Faculty Association (the "Association") and subject to the Professional Terms and Conditions Agreement ("the Agreement").
Except as categorized or specified below, all full or part-time, probationary, continuing, term, or contingent salaried employees of the university holding professional rank will be designated "academic" under the Post-Secondary Learning Act. In accordance with its hiring policies, the Council determines the status of its salaried staff positions as being either professional or support at the time of budgetary establishment of those positions.
| 1.0 | Exceptions |
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| 1.1 | Executive
and Management Staff |
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| The Council excepts
from designation as "academic" under the Post-Secondary Learning
Act, the following categories of staff: |
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| (a) | All executive officers
of the Council, specifically the president, vice-presidents, associate vice-presidents,
and executive directors. |
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| (b) | All managers of major service
departments who hold the title of director or the equivalent (including
the University Librarian and the Registrar but excluding the deans and the
directors of academic centres), who report directly to an executive officer
and who are employed at the maximum salary range. |
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| (c) | Staff participating in the development
of or having regular access to information supporting the university management
in its negotiation of collective agreements with the Association and in
the application and administration of the Agreement, specified as follows: |
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| 2.0 | Rationale |
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| 2.1 | While respecting
as far as possible the wishes of the Association that all professional staff
remain within the Association, it is the intent of this policy to exclude
from designation as "academic" and therefore from membership in
the Association those staff whose major functions include representing the
interests of the university in its capacity as an employer both in collective
bargaining and in the administration of the resulting Agreement. It is the
position of the Council that there is an inherent conflict of interest between
the exercise of those functions and membership in the Association. |
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| 2.2 | In accordance with
the 1983 representations of the Faculty Association, these categories of
exception do not include deans of faculties nor, by extension, do they include
directors of academic centres. While performing management functions management
staff in this category are recognized by the Council as having a unique
collegial role, and as having management appointments for a term only, with
the expectation that they will normally return to the ranks of staff exercising
direct academic functions (such as the determination of academic instructional
content and the performance of disciplinary research). |
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| 2.3 | Furthermore, in
response to the position of the Association, the Council has, by this policy,
only excepted from designation the most senior of its management staff together
with those staff who provide confidential support to their functions in
the staff relation’s area. |
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| 3.0 | Powers under the
Post-Secondary Learning Act |
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| 3.1 | Within the powers granted under the Post-Secondary Learning Act and in accordance with the intent of this policy, the Council reserves the right to modify this list as the university's organization evolves. | ||
Regulation
Procedure
Recruitment procedures require that AUFA be notified prior to recruitment to any new excluded position under this policy.
Approved By
Athabasca University Governing Council
Amended Date/Motion No.
Reformatted July 2006
Motion No. 144-7; December 10, 2003
Motion No. 45.15
Related References, Policies and Procedures
Applicable Legislation/Regulation
Post-Secondary Learning Act
AUFA/AUGC Terms and Conditions
Agreement
Responsible Position/Department
This policy is maintained and administered by Human Resources. For further information, please contact the Director, Human Resources. Contact information is available on the Human Resources web site.
Keywords
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K.
Zimmermann, Office of the University Secretariat, July 2006
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