Vuncouver Cwnrnunitv CollcHjt
King Edward Campus I ibron

P.O. Box 24670 Sfn f
1155 East Broadway
Vanr.wuver, B.C. V5T 4N.1

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JUNE 15,1989

Appraisals accentuate the positive
VCC will implement a performance
planning and appraisal process for all
Vancouver Municipal and Regional

Employee Union (VMREU) members
beginning July 3. Although new
members have for several years been
subject to evaluation during and at the
end of their probationary periods, this
will be the first time that permanent
employees participate in an ongoing
process of performance planning and
review. VCC supervisors have
completed workshops to learn how to
plan and review performance with their
employees.

The new program for permanent
employees-entitled Performance

Planning and Appraisal (PP&A)-calls
for a phasing in of the process
beginning as follows:

Supervisors have been attending workshops in preparation for PR & A.
}

* For those whose birthdate is after
July 1: This year, in their birth month.
For those bom between January 1 and
June 30, next year in their birth month;
*Th ere after, during the employee's
birth month every second year;
*Upon the request of the employee; at
the discretion of the supervisor.

Spectrum: Why is VCC enacting
PP&A and why is it being done at
this time?

of performance. If that's true in my
case, I would find it true in other

Gallagher; When I came here, I
requested an annual performance
plan and review for myself. I also
made this a regular practise for all of
the people who report to me and all

Also, we are a publicly accountable
institution and it is inconceivable to
me that we do not have in place the
normal processes of establishing
expectations and reviewing
performances against those

supervisors.

cases as well.

expectations.

Spectrum recently talked with VCC
President Paul Gallagher about the
process.

In my view, it is virtually impossible
to function effectively unless there is
a process of planning and reviewing

(MCOUflR

COMMUNITY

Spectrum: What kind of information
are you looking for in PP&A?

Gallagher: I find it difficult to talk
only about the performance review

because that is the tail end of the
process. The front end of the process
is the planning.
At the front end, we are looking at
our expectations. And at the end of
the process we are looking at how
well those objectives or expectations
have been met and what needs to be
done to improve performance. So, in

that jargon we are dealing with

difficult if you do not have any sense
in a formal way of knowing whether
the person you report to is satisfied
or dissatisfied with your work. So,
we must take the steps necessary to
make sure that the process is, and is
perceived as, a positive and
constructive exercise, rather than a
negative or punitive exercise.
Spectrum: What options are

available to employees who feel they
have been incorrectly reviewed?

positions on a salary grid. It has

nothing whatever to do with
performance.

Spectrum: What benefits, if any, may
employees expect from a favourable
appraisal review?
Gallagher: We don't have a salary
merit system in place and so an
answer can not be given within that
context. However, in the discussions

that I had in each of the workshops,

formative evaluation; the whole

objective of the exercise is to help

position fits in relation to other

Gallagher: There will be an
opportunity for the employee to sign

and to be more satisfied with their

the form and to indicate whether they

the question was raised of some form
of recognition for the excellence of
many of our employees. And I'm

performance.

agree or disagree.

looking at a number of possibilities in

Spectrum: How will the information

Spectrum: How far will the college

be used?

go to help develop employees who
are not performing their job
competently?

Spectrum: Is the college prepared to
offer the supervisors release time for

Gallagher: That's a question that I
think a number of supervisors are
concerned about. I believe that
performance planning and review are
part of the normal process of
operating in any work setting. So I

not going to be used for. It is geared
to the improvement of performance,
not to punitive action. If we have
problems of a disciplinary nature,

Gallagher: I can't give you a precise
dollar figure, but what I can say is
that training and development have
become one of the institutional
priorities in terms of the budgetary
process for 1989-90. I think when
you ask 'how far', you mean how
much in the sense of investment and
that would depend upon how much
needs to be done. I do not anticipate

for supervisors. I see it as an integral
part of their task. So it is more a
question of work reorganization than

those are dealt with by different

that we have a whole raft of

an additional task that people are

processes. They are not dealt with by

employees who are not performing
well. What we have is a whole raft of
employees who are performing well
and who want and need confirmation
of that...deserve confirmation of it.

taking on.

people improve their performance

that respect.

Gallagher: It will be used primarily
by the supervisor and the person
being supervised. The formal record

of the process will go in the
personnel file of the person whose
performance is being reviewed.

Perhaps I should explain what it is

PP&A.
Spectrum: So the information is not

going to be used to discipline or
attempt to terminate an employee?

Spectrum: Aside from this article,
how do you plan to communicate the
Gallagher: No. When we have
people on probation, there is an
evaluation process that we go through
to determine whether or not that
person moves from a probationary
status to a continuing status. Here
we're talking about people who are
continuing employees and who are
interested in improving their
performance and interested in having
an understanding of how they are
performing relative to what the
expectations are for them. So it is
not a discipline-oriented process-it is
an improvement oriented process.

process within VCC?
Gallagher: I think that it is necessary
for all of the people who are involved
in the process either as supervisors or

people being supervised to
understand what the process is all
about. That has not been done well.

do not see this as an additional task

PP&A
OK-VMREU
Several people have questioned the
lack of union involvement in the
PP&A process.
VMREU staff representative Jim
Gorman says the union recognizes
management's right to conduct the
reviews.

Prior to July 1 it is my intention to
get some information out to all

employees so that they know what is
going on.
Spectrum: Does the current job
reclassification process relate to the

PP&A?
I want to emphasize that what we are
after is to make this a place where
people enjoy working; where they are
fulfilled by their work. That's very

the PP&A?

Gallagher: Not in any way. The
reclassification exercise is a process
that determines where a given

"We have no problems with the
reviews as long as they're done
properly," said Gorman. "It's a

management tool, and we don't really
want any involvement unless an
employee feels he or she has received
an incorrect appraisal. If that (
happens, we'll certainly talk with
management about it. But in the past,
there has been good success with
these kinds of things."

Spectrum: The Langara Faculty
Association and Vocational
Instructors' Association are also
involved in the process with their
permanent employees. Is the
VMREU process consistent with
what is going on in those other two
bargaining units?
Gallagher: Absolutely. The
objective is to have a college-wide
system. While the objectives are the
same, the tools might be different
because there is no perfect tool for
all of this and we are going to
improve as we go along.

Spectrum: The LFA and VIA
include peer appraisal in the process.
Why is that not the case with the

VMREU?
Gallagher: I guess that I would say
because of the nature of the work of
the VMREU members. But I don't
exclude that as a possibility.
Spectrum: Are there plans to
evaluate the managers as appraisers?
Gallagher: Yes.
Spectrum: Who appraises your
performance?
Gallagher: The College Board. The
practice up to this point has been
that the people who report to me
contribute to that review as well. But
the responsibility for the review is
with the Board.
Spectrum: Is there anything you care

to add?
Gallagher: We owe it to our
employees to clarify what we expect
of them. If they're satisfied with our
expectations and we're satisfied with
their performance, the employees are

bound to enjoy the feeling they have
toward their work place. The result
of that is a better place to work for

everybody. And the result of that will
be a better acceptance of the college
in the community.

Canada-India proposal
gets government backing
The federal government has
announced a $7.5 million grant to
implement a bilateral agreement
between Canada and India based on
a report co-authored by Patricia
Groves VCC Dean of Instruction and
Student Services at KEC. Groves,
was part of a Canadian team sent to
India last year by the Association of
Community Colleges of Canada to
develop a better understanding of
that country's post-secondary and
non-degree education structures.

The recommendations from their
report-entitled India-A Program of
Support for Polytechnical Education-

The agreement proposes a link
between VCC and Shri
Jayachamarajendra College of
Engineering in the province of
Karnataka in Southwestern India.

Activities would include faculty
exchange and professional
development workshops.
Faculty from all three campuses and
contract services will be involved.
All costs, including release time and
administrative overhead, will be
covered by CIDA.

International Development Agency

The areas seen as having the most to
exchange are computer assisted
learning, transfer of technologies, and
language training and entrepreneurial

(CIDA).

development.

The report suggested that, " a
program of support for Indian
polytechnical education, would
provide the basis of new insight for
Canadian college education, but more
importantly, the program would
support and accelerate the
improvement of technical/vocational
education on a significant scale
throughout India".

India has become the tenth largest
industrial nation in the world.
Groves said, "The federal government
in the past has related to India as a
third world country. Canada now
wants to define its relationship in

will be implemented by the Canadian

terms of partnerships. Transfers in

education are seen as the first steps
towards trade in technology and
economic links".

People
on the move
Wayne Martin to the new position of
Labour Relations Officer. A native
of New Westminster, Martin received
his Bachelor of Education from
Western Washington State University
and took Labour Relations and
Managerial Training at UBC.
He spent five years with Controck
Construction in Coquitlam as senior
contract negotiator and general
construction manager before taking a
position, in 1978, as Industrial

Wayne Martin

Relations Officer with the Ministry of

recommendations, representing the

Labour, Employment Standards

college before the Industrial
Relations Council and other boards
and commissions, assisting in the
resolution of staff grievances and in

Branch.

In his new post, Martin will be

responsible for a broad range of
labour relations activities, including
researching data for salary

the conducting of collective
bargaining negotiations.

Philip C.H. Lai as VCC
representative in Hong Kong.
Lai received his Bachelor of Social
Work and Master of Education
(Counselling) from the university of
Manitoba and worked as a social
worker for the Department of
Education in Hong Kong and as
Program Director for the University
of Manitoba's International Centre
for Students.

He will be responsible for publicizing
VCC programs in Hong Kong, and

counselling and facilitating
applications of international students.
VVI Principal Hans Rerup and members of the VCC Alumni Association's Board of Directors
presented certificates of appreciation to volunteers during the association's annual general
meeting. Pictured [left to right]: Rerup, Giulia Vendramin, Gina Sernagiotto, Susan Tsuyuki,
Christine Svenhard, Netty Tam and Harry Wong.

Provided with a tasty B.B.Q. lunch
prepared by the Langara Catering
department, Versa Foods, the division
found the day stimulating and very
rewarding.

Health Fair
Dennie Rothschild
John Parker

Parker
Master Teacher
VCC-Langara English instructor John
Parker received a Master Teacher
award from the National Institute for
Staff and Organizational
Development during ceremonies at
the University of Texas in Austin.
Parker was recognized for his
commitment to active learning, an
alternative to the lecture process that

TESL President
Congratulations to Dennie
Rothschild, ESL instructor at KEC,
who has been elected president of

TEAL (Teachers of English as an
Additional Language). She will serve
a two-year term in the provincial
association of ESL teachers and
instructors.

C.E. Day
Using the theme of "Working
Together", the Continuing Education

Division held its 6th C.E. Divisional
Day at Langara Campus, last Friday.

encourages students to become more

actively involved in their education.
Watch for the next edition of
Spectrum's Magazine, in which
Parker will describe the concept and
techniques of active learning.

With all the members of the division
present, the group benefitted from
the three workshops: Team Building,
Unlocking Creative Potential and
Coming Together Through Laughter.

One of the more popular exhibits at the KEC
To Health with You fair was a display of
illegal drugs, presented by the RCMP.The
turnout for the fair was in the thousands.