News & Announcements

Back-to-School, but not Business as Usual

Dear Members, Welcome back to a new term at Camosun! Whether you are a continuing faculty member or joining us on a term contract, the Camosun College Faculty Association (CCFA) extends a warm welcome and solidarity as we begin another academic year together. You hardly have to look around to notice the absence of so many of our usual term faculty colleagues to realize it is anything but business as usual. There are fewer sections, fewer courses, and fewer students than in any fall term since the pandemic. That means, now more than ever, we need to be on guard against workload bloat and reject uncompensated labour to solve our employer’s problems. The start of term is exciting but also very busy for most of us, and it’s easy to deprioritize ourselves while we invest time and passion into preparing for and supporting students, so I want to highlight a…

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The Confluence

Call Out for FPSE Trustee for College Pension Plan – APPLY BEFORE SEPT 12!

Weldon Cowan (pictured below) is stepping down as one of the three Federation of Post Secondary Educators (FPSE) Pension Trustees. FPSE is seeking to appoint a new Pension Trustee, and the Pension’s Advisory Committee (PAC) is soliciting nominations for a Trustee for the Pension Plan from Member Locals (CCFA is Local 12)…

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Member Resources

Call Out for FPSE Trustee for College Pension Plan – APPLY BEFORE SEPT 12!

Weldon Cowan (pictured below) is stepping down as one of the three Federation of Post Secondary Educators (FPSE) Pension Trustees. FPSE is seeking to appoint a new Pension Trustee, and the Pension’s Advisory Committee (PAC) is soliciting nominations for a Trustee for the Pension Plan from Member Locals (CCFA is Local 12) and PAC.  Photograph of Weldon Cowan Speaking on Stage In accordance with FPSE’s Pension Advisory Committee procedures and the responsibilities of Presidents’ Council as outlined in the FPSE Policy & Procedures Manual (Section 5.5) and the Constitution, the Pension Selection Committee is seeking nominations to fill the FPSE-appointed trustee position on…

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Know Your Rights: You Don’t Have to Say Yes

At Camosun College, faculty members are protected by a legally binding collective agreement between the CCFA (Camosun College Faculty Association) and the employer. One of the key features of this agreement is that no faculty member can be required to accept changes to their workload, evaluations, or other terms of their employment without their explicit agreement. This might seem obvious, but in practice, we often find ourselves in situations where “suggestions” or “requests” from supervisors feel more like directives. So here’s the bottom line: you have the right to say no, or at least, not say yes until you’ve had…

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I always feel like, somebody’s watching’ me!

…and I have no privacy! Who knew that song would come back as the anthem for the Artificial Intelligence era? Starting March 17, Information Technology Services enabled Live Transcription within Microsoft Teams. Live Transcription provides the dialogue by each speaker, aiding participants in noisy environments or those who prefer visual support. Don’t get me wrong, from an accessibility standard, on the surface this is a very good thing. However, how do services that allow meetings to be transcribed in real time really work? The feature captures spoken dialogue and converts it into text, which can be stored and accessed later.…

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