Welcome back Fall 2008.

Hi all,

Welcome back to the new academic year.  I expect it will be a complicated,
challenging and exciting one, with the launch of so many new degrees, the
roll-out of General Education, and the implementation of List S and the new
collective agreement.  I attended part of the new faculty orientation last
week, and I'm pleased to welcome so many new faculty again this year to our
vibrant community.

The MRFA's roles are varied: contract negotiation and administration,
faculty welfare, association and institutional governance, professional
development and social events.  I've attached this year's version of
MRFA-At-A-Glance, a summary of key contacts and activities.  I'd like to
encourage all faculty to participate in the life of the Association.  We
have a number of new committees this year, and many opportunities through
the year to participate in committees, PD and social events.  We also
provide confidential advice on contractual, committee and ethics issues,
conflict resolution, and compassionate support for faculty in unexpected
financial need.

In Memoriam

I'm very sad to relay the news that our colleague, Rafal Kosztirko from
Policy Studies, died in Poland, July 27 after a long illness.  His family
had travelled with him and they have not returned yet.  A memorial service
at Mount Royal is planned for sometime in the Fall.

Web Page

Thanks to MRFA Secretary Rod Corbett for his extensive work on our web
page, at mrfa.net.  This is an excellent source of information, with MRFA
documents, an events calendar, links to various forms, and information
updates from the Executive and committees of the Association.  If you can't
find what you're looking for, please contact the MRFA Executive Assistant,
Ellen Burdett (6192).

Faculty Centre

The Faculty Centre (completely renovated in 2007) is open for coffee, snack
and beverage service this week.  We offer lunches beginning on 2 September,
and our weekly Attitude Adjustment begins Friday 5 September at 3:00.
Watch for announcements of upcoming social events.  The Centre has a large
lounge space, meeting rooms available for booking by faculty, an
open-access computer terminal as well as wireless access throughout the
Centre, newspaper subscriptions, and new this year a collection of games:
cribbage, chess, backgammon, and darts to name a few.  Darlene Windrem
(6753) is our Faculty Centre Coordinator for room bookings and other
requests regarding the Centre.  If there are additional subscriptions you'd
like to request, please let me know and we'll see what we can do.

Upcoming Elections

The MRFA Executive has begun its planning for the year, and the first step
is to fill two vacancies on Executive.  The first is a Member-at-Large to
replace David Clemis, whose service and thoughtful analysis of problems
I've appreciated very much over the last year.  The Member-at-Large is
elected for a one-year term to support the Executive in years when we do
not have an Immediate Past President; the primary responsibility is to
serve on Exec and act as Chief Returning Officer for MRFA elections.  The
second is a new position, Academic Liaison Officer, to be elected for a two
year term and to be responsible for coordinating communications among the
Faculty Councils and the General Faculties Council.  This position will be
supported by a new Academic Liaison Committee.  Neither position has
reassigned time attached.  If you are interested in either position, please
contact David Clemis or Gerry Cross for information.  Because Exec is
short-handed to start the year, we plan to hold these elections on 10 and
11 September.  To facilitate this, please submit nominations by 4:30 pm,
Friday, 29 August. to Ellen Burdett and send a copy to David Clemis.

A further set of elections will occur during the third week of September,
to elect members to new and existing committees and to elect a new MRFA
Part-Time Representative to replace Heather Faas, who has served for two
years and reached the term limit under our by-laws.

President's Illness

Saving the hard part for last, I'm going to be off on sick leave likely for
the next month to deal with a cluster of health concerns that need my
focused attention.  It's asking a lot of Gerry Cross, who will be Acting
President in my absence effective immediately, and the rest of Exec, and as
always I'm grateful for their dedication and support.

Hoping the start of classes is smooth and invigorating,

David


Dr. David Hyttenrauch
President
Mount Royal Faculty Association

Ph.  (403) 440-6191
Fax (403) 440-6752
Cell (403) 827-6732 (TAP-MRFA)