cee Sale MES ee fk

The Panther Prints Februa

LL RI POP OFS DO WA MIs eee — tee

ry 6, 1996

News

Memorial Asis Government For Help

By David Cochrane

St. John’s (ARCUP)--The fate of the labour problems between the Memorial University Faculty Asso- ciation and university administra- tion now rests in the hands of the provincial government.

Memorial University (MUN) president, Dr. Art May, met with senior cabinet ministers on Wednesday January 17 to discuss a tentative plan that will allow the university to operate at a deficit for three years while attempting to down-size by 25% during that period. This down-sizing would be done primarily through an early retirement package and a hiring freeze which was implemented late last year.

The proposal also suggested that there would be a no lay-off guarantee during the transition period to a more streamlined uni- versity.

May said that any official action by the government will have to wait until a new premier is appointed and possibly until after the next provincial election. May did say, however, that his proposal was received well.

“Nobody said it was impossi- ble,” said May.

Until the new government is elected, however, May said that the university will continue to work with senior civil servants to try and hammer out the specifics of the bargain. _

Faculty spokesperson Dr. John Bear said that there was some promise in the administration’s latest proposal.

“If they can guarantee the no lay-off clause then this would be an acceptable proposal,” said Bear.

But even if the government accepts the deal than there is still more work to be done. According to May the faculty and administra-

tion would have to agree on three specific issues: Increased workload for professors, sufficient numbers of professors accepting the univer- sities early retirement package, and the all-important lay-off protection clause.

Bear said that at the end of the last negotiating session there had been some agreement in principle on several of these issues, but that for now they must be content to see what happens with the provincial government.

This movement comes on the heels of a faculty press conference that sparked a strong reaction from the administration.

On Friday, January 12 the

faculty association announced that

it had filed Freedom of Information requests in an effort to obtain details of the administration’s salaries, travel, and entertainment expenses as well as real estate transaction expenditures, renova- tions and the cost of legal actions against the faculty.

In response to this the senior executive of the administration withdrew its negotiating mandate from Dr. Jack Strawbridge of Faculty Relations, but decided to go back to the tables by Monday, January 15.

The faculty has also subpoe- naed for financial information for 1994-95 and 1995-96 in connection with an unfair labour practice complaint filed against the admin- istration alleging that they had negotiated in bad faith when it attempted to unilaterally impose a handbook of terms and conditions of employment on the faculty in July.

-Hearings by the Labour Rela- tions Board to deal with this com- plaint are expected to begin in February.

Kiss a Pig?

What is a professor’s worst nightmare? Is it losing their teacher’s edition textbook, having their students point out that their zipper is down, or watching students actually die of boredom? No! The real nightmare that haunts professors is the thought of kissing a pig. Yet, many brave professors and administrative personnel want to face this fear snout on. For only 50 cents per vote, you can make this happen. Only the professor who receives the most votes actually has to pucker up so get out there and support your **favorite’’ prof.

Ballots will be on sale in the breezeway at the following times:

Thursday, February 8, 11:15-1:30 Friday, February 9, 10:30-1:30

Monday, February 12, 10:30-1:30 Tuesday, February 13, 11:15-1:30

Vote as often as you wish and help make a professor’s worst nightmare come true.

100% of the proceeds will help send a UPEI student to Guyana for ten weeks of volunteer work with Youth Challenge International.

Nominations for Teaching Awards

Students, faculty and alumni are invited to submit nomina- tions for the UPEI Faculty Association Awards for Excellence in Teaching. The awards are open to full-time faculty members at UPEI.

The University of Prince Edward Island Merit Awards for Excellence in Teaching honours faculty members who are recog- nized as possessing outstanding competence in teaching. These awards publicly acknowledge individuals whose work has contrib- uted to instructional excellence at UPEI. Additionally, broader public recognition of these individuals may be sought for external teaching awards.

Information about the awards and nomination forms are avail- able at the Faculty Association Office (Main building, room 214) and the Department of Music Office. The deadline for nomina- tions is noon, Friday, February 16.