Message from the President
President's Report, April 2011
It is hard to believe that, as I write this, here we are at the end of March, 2011! It has been a challenging year for ASPA, with many activities and initiatives underway. In many cases, these activities follow from recommendations that you, the ASPA membership, provided us in a series of focus groups held in February, 2010.
You told us to do more to improve engagement with the membership. To this end, we have formed ASPA’s first-ever Engagement Committee, which has met numerous times this year to develop new engagement initiatives. The first such initiative has been for members of the committee to contact each new ASPA member shortly after they’ve started their new position, and invite them to coffee. So far, these new member coffees have been a great success, and you can read more about that in the Engagement Committee report. We look forward to the development of further engagement initiatives that will target existing ASPA members.
You also told us that we should hire a professional to redesign ASPA’s website. The Communications Committee has worked to select an external company and to engage with them in developing a new site. At this time, the launch is expected in late April. More information is available in the Communications Committee report.
You made several recommendations concerning the pending round of Collective Agreement negotiations with the University. These included the recommendation that ASPA re-engage professional assistance for negotiations, which we have done. Other recommendations concerned specific items that could be negotiated, and the Negotiating Committee has been provided with these. Preparations have been underway for the commencement of negotiations, and formal bargaining is anticipated to begin in April. Further detail on negotiations is available in the Negotiating Committee report.
You also recommended that ASPA should engage in scope discussions with the University and other unions, and indeed ASPA had already committed to doing this. As a result, a great deal of effort and resources were expended in attempting to fulfill our commitment to undertake a review of jurisdiction (otherwise known as the Scope Review) with the University and CUPE 1975. For further detail on this, please see the Scope Review Committee report.
Most importantly, however, we have been thoroughly engaged in supporting and working with hundreds of ASPA members on a great variety of personal and workplace issues. Though I regret that it is often under unfortunate or difficult circumstances, it has been my absolute honour and privilege to get to know so many of you.
On a more positive note, I have also come to know and develop great respect for the dozens of ASPA members who have volunteered their time and efforts in service of the greater membership. I have always felt that ASPA’s volunteerism is the source of its unique strength and solidarity, and my experiences this year have reinforced that conviction.
With greatest respect and admiration for the incredible contributions that ASPA members provide to this University, I humbly submit this President’s Report.
Tyler Salloum