Vancouver Community College • Volume 1, Number 26 • October 13,1993 Now that the College and VMREU are President well into the process of layoffs-and the bump¬ updates ing procedure-I want to bring you up to date layoff- on where things stand and what happens next. Since the initial lay off notices were served bumping who have bumped into existing positions, on July 30th, there have been 31 support staff process of January, 1994. I'll be keeping you up to date as the situation unfolds. —John Cruickshank Langara names Acting Bursar while eight others have decided to take their Langara has taken its second major step severance pay. Up to this point, the bumping toward administrative independence from has resulted in 18 newly-displaced employees VCC with the appointment of an Acting Bur¬ who are now within their layoff notice period. sar who will provide consulting services on Four of them have been placed in temporary accounting and financial information manage¬ assignments, but it's expected that of these 18 ment. individuals, most will soon be exercising their right to bump others under the terms of the collective agreement. On and on it goes, with a mathematical efficiency that can measure everything about the process except the fear Marie Jessup, the Bursar at Capilano, has been seconded to Langara on a part-time basis until approximately April 1, 1994. Her appointment follows the naming last summer of Linda Holmes as Langara CEO. and anguish that people are going For daily news updates phone 7099 after 2:30 pm through.. .both those who have already been Jessup's appointment is part of a proce¬ directly affected and those who, by nature of dure which the Ministry has termed "ramping their low seniority, feel vulnerable as the up", whereby people and systems are put into bumping process continues. place to facilitate a smooth transition on April The College will very soon offer addi¬ tional counselling and support services to assist those directly affected...I'll give you more details as soon as those arrangements are 1, 1994. The Ministry has said it will make extra, though limited, funds available for the ramping-up process. These funds would be in addition to the $850,000 that has been prom¬ ised for separation costs in 1994-95. finalized. At the same time, I ask you to help by giving your comfort and support to fellow workers who have been laid off, while also Cost-saving plan welcoming the new workers entering your ready to go department — please remember that while One of the larger cost-saving ideas from they no doubt feel relief at still having a job, employees last spring is about to be imple¬ this has been an ordeal for them as well. mented. Timelines are difficult to predict, but both the College and the VMREU hope that the whole process will be resolved by the end dents in City Centre's Building Service Work¬ You may recall the suggestion.that stu¬ ers' program take over at least a portion of the maintenance responsibilities at that campus. VCC is almost ready to go to tender for a private company to do the job—but this contract will be the first ever that will be for tunities for the students, faculty and the whole campus." Adds John Cruickshank: "It's this type of innovative thinking that is going to make something less than 100 per cent of the work, the College less susceptible to government with the remaining portion—whatever it turns cutbacks.. .and that's a goal which I'm sure out to be—going to the students. we can all support." The project has the full support of the Program Advisory Committee because—from a training standpoint—it's better to have stu¬ dents doing real work, rather than just going over areas that have already been cleaned. It's also likely that the new approach will improve the level of maintenance because more work can be done without adding to the cost. For example, the exterior of the win¬ dows at City Centre are now washed once a year. Presuming that the savings from this project allow the department to buy the neces¬ sary equipment, it may in the future be possible to have the windows done more often. In addition, the program will probably be able to serve more students from the long waiting list, particularly ESL students and Adult Special Ed students who are anxious for this type of vocational training. If you have any comments or Transition Council has recommended to the College Board that the College's Ad¬ ministration Coundl be disbanded once the Board agrees to the make-up of the new VCC Council. Both recommendations will go the Board's October meeting. Under the new structure, TC would continue to deal with matters relating to separation, while Langara Council and VCC Council would administer the day-to-day operations of their appropriate jurisdictions. The new VCC Coundl temporary mem¬ bership which will be recommended to the College Board is: John Cruickshank, VCC President;Fred Wylie, Vice President of Fi¬ nance and Administration; Linda Martin and If the project works according to plan, Dale Dorn, Vice Presidents of Instruction the College may see an expansion of faculty and Student Services for City Centre and instead of a reduction, while some of the sav¬ KEC respectively; Wayne Martin, Director ings that don't go back into the program might of Employee Relations; and representatives be used to restore other campus programs from CE, College Resources, International which have been cancelled. Education, VCCFA, VMREU, CCSA and KESA. questions, please send them to Said Program Co-ordinator John Den Chuck Poulsen, Manager of The Daas: "This is a pilot project and we can't say Exchange, in care of College for sure at this point what all of the advantages Administrative Services. might be. But it definitely will open up oppor¬ Page 2 Administrative Council winding down communications of Vancouver Community College. Their main objective is to accurately inform employees about issues affecting the College. The Exchange Line also is meant to facilitate an exchange of comment between employees and the President. The Exchanges belong to you. We'll be better able to serve your needs if you'll take a minute to answer the following questions. Thank you. 1. How often do you read the weekly Exchange newsletter? Q Most the time Often Seldom f~1 Never 2. How often do you phone into the Exchange Line? Indicate 0 to S times per week. Number of times 3. Of the Exchange newsletter and Exchange Line, which do you find most useful? Q Exchange newsletter [~| Exchange Line I""] Equally useful Q Neither are useful 4. Generally, how high is your level of satisfaction with the Exchange newsletter? Indicate 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of satisfaction Level of satisfaction 5. Generally, how high is your level of satisfaction with the Exchange telephone line? Indicate 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of satisfaction. Level of satisfaction Continued on the other side... 6. Please write any comments or suggestions you have for improving the Exchanges. 7. You are: Q Faculty member Staff member Administrator £] Other Please return the questionnaire via inter-office mail by Monday, October 25 to: Office of Institutional Research Sth Floor—King Edward Campus