General Information and FAQ's
|
SAIT
Academic Faculty Association
General Information and FAQ's |
 |
"The SAIT faculty members are ultimately responsible for offering instruction that has made SAIT the institution of choice for learners in fields as diverse as the apprenticeship training, technologies, business, health sciences, communication and hospitality fields and industries. Through the SAIT Academic Faculty Association (SAFA), the faculty attempts to ensure that the working relationships at SAIT are conducive to the continuing quality of SAIT instruction. SAFA Dues All instructors, including independent Contractors, have dues deducted. This is legislated by the Post Secondary Learning Act and it is outlined in Section 9 of the SAIT/SAFA Collective Agreement. The dues levy is .8% of gross pay. Professional Development The current SAFA Collective Agreement allows $600 per full time staff member to be taken anytime within a two-year timeframe. The unused portion of the SAFA PD provision will be cancelled after June 30th of the second year. This refers to any balance remaining after submission of both claims and carryover requests. All claims for reimbursement for SAFA PD taken before June 30th of the second year must be submitted to Accounts Payable no later than June 30th of the same year. The SAFA PD fund is intended for the benefit of individual SAFA members and therefore trading of unexpended balances between members is not allowed. Please refer to the procedure HR.2.2.2 "Professional Development - SAFA" on the SAIT Intranet - HR Procedures, to determine which expenditures are allowable. This document is available from Human Resources. The Faculty Association encourages professional development through the SAFA Professional Development fund, which is funded by SAIT, for full-time and part-time permanent faculty members. The guidelines as stated in the new collective agreement, Section 14, 14.04 state that the Employer shall contribute an amount such that $600.00 is available over a twenty-four (24) month period for each salaried academic staff member for individual short-term professional development. SAFA financially supports the Faculty PD series held in May and June each year and many faculty members facilitate workshops at this series. Any SAFA members who are interested in attending the annual ACIFA Conference are funded by the Faculty Association. The Association sponsors members of the SAFA Executive for relevant professional development activities while they are members of the Executive. Please refer to Section 14 of the Collective Agreement. NOTE: On December 10, 2004, a Letter of Understanding was agreed to between SAIT and SAFA to resolve the issue on the failure of the Employer to provide $600 professional development funding to probationary academic staff members. Below is a copy of the Letter of Understanding. Hours of Work It is important that instructors have an understanding of how much they are required to perform in order to fulfill their obligation to the Employer. There is a limit to how much work can be demanded of an academic staff member. How many hours is an instructor required to work? The answer can be found in Sub-section 35.01 of the Collective Agreement which states that "The normal hours of work for academic staff members in the instructor category shall not exceed 40 hours per week or the equivalent on a monthly or annual basis. Simply put, an instructor's normal hours of work are not to exceed 40 hours a week. Sub-section 35.01 allows an instructor who has worked more than 40 hours in one week to work less than 40 hours in the following week, or if an instructor normally works more than 40 hours a week during the two semesters, they would then work less than 40 hours a week in May and June. It is advisable for instructors to keep a record of all of the hours they have worked in order to verify that they have worked approximately 40 hours a week over the academic year. When can classes be scheduled? Classes can be scheduled at any time between 8:00am and 6:00pm in a given day. The maximum number of class contact hours that can be assigned to an instructor on any given day is 6 hours. What is a regular workday? There is no reference to a regular workday in the Collective Agreement. An instructor's workday will vary depending on when their classes are scheduled, as well as the time required for preparation, evaluation, and all of the other duties that go into a smoothly run class environment. Can an instructor work from home? The Collective Agreement is silent on this issue. Most instructors do a great deal of work at home (class preparation, marking exams). Remember these hours count towards your 40 hours a week under Sub-section 35.01. At this time, the employer is insisting that instructors be at SAIT during the work week.
Seniority The SAIT/SAFA Collective Agreement does not contain any seniority clause. Instructors working on a casual employment basis are hired by the academic department Dean and/or Coordinator. It is the decision of the Dean and/or Coordinator whether they give preference to hiring an instructor who has a longer service history at SAIT. Four-for Five Leave SAIT/SAFA Collective Agreement Section 52 Policy HR.3.7.1 Applications are submitted to the Dean by March 30th each year, and SAIT may grant up to a total of 34 leaves each year. One of the criteria for consideration for granting leave is the length of time elapsed since the last leave of three months or longer. Departmental operational requirements are also a factor and the decision ultimately rests with the department Dean.
Paid Holidays New Year's Day Labour Day Family Day Thanksgiving Day Good Friday Remembrance Day Easter Monday Christmas Day Victoria Day Boxing Day Canada Day Christmas Floater Civic Holiday (1 Day) For more info see Collective Agreement Section 37 |