Revised Constitution 2002

ARTICLE 1: NAME

The name of the Association shall be the Queen's University Faculty Association, referred to hereinafter as the Association or as QUFA.

The purposes of the Association are:

i) To serve as the exclusive bargaining agent of the members of the bargaining unit defined by the certificate of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, dated 7 November 1995, and any other group of employees which the Association may represent;

ii) To promote the interests of the Queen's University academic staff (faculty, librarians, and archivists), including the regulation of employment relations between the University and its academic staff;

iii) To promote equity in the recruitment and hiring of academic staff;

iv) To promote a positive working environment for academic staff, free of discrimination, interference, restriction, or coercion relating to any term or condition of employment;

v) To provide appropriate representation for all members of the Association;

vi) To promote academic interests at Queen's and in the broader community.

i) Membership is open to all members of the bargaining unit, to clinical faculty in the Faculty of Health Sciences who are eligible for membership in the Clinical Teachers' Association of Queen's University, and to such other groups as the Association may determine. In the event that a dispute arises as to the application of this clause in any individual case, the matter shall be placed before the Executive Committee, whose decision as to eligibility for membership shall be final;

ii) To become a member of QUFA, one must apply to the Association in a form prescribed by the Executive Committee. Membership becomes effective upon receipt by the QUFA office of a completed application form;

iii) The Association shall not discriminate against any person with respect to any matter on a ground prohibited by the Ontario Human Rights Code or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

iv) Only members in good standing shall be eligible to vote at meetings or hold a position in the Association including officer, Executive Committee member, Councillor, or member of another committee.

i) Except as provided in this Article, members of QUFA shall pay fees, including dues and any levies or assessments established in accordance with this Article;

ii) There shall be no fee for members on long-term disability;

iii) Retired Queen's academic staff, who are members of the bargaining unit by virtue of their continued employment at Queen's, shall pay the minimum fee or fees based on their gross annual non-pension salary from Queen's, whichever is the greater;

iv) There shall be a fee structure, including dues and any levies or assessments, ratified by the membership. Any changes to the fee structure shall be made at a scheduled General Meeting;

v) A member who fails to pay any fees (including dues and levies or assessments) established in accordance with this Article, within 30 days of such fees becoming due and owing, shall cease to be a member in good standing.

i) There shall be at least two meetings of the Association each year: a Fall Meeting to be held in October, November or December and an Annual General Meeting in March or April, each at the call of the Secretary. The Secretary shall call special General Meetings as directed by Council, or at a written request of 20 members in good standing of the Association, which includes a statement of the purpose of the meeting. The Secretary shall give written notice of meetings at least 14 days in advance;

ii) The Annual General Meeting shall include a President's Report, a Treasurer's Report, a report of the Nominations and Elections Committee, and other committee reports as determined by the Executive Committee or Council;

iii) The Secretary shall circulate the written agenda for any scheduled General Meeting at least one week prior to the Meeting. The agenda shall include motions to be voted upon at the Meeting, including any motions submitted in a petition signed by at least five members in good standing of the Association, including the mover and seconder. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution regarding amendments, any motion not on the agenda shall be considered only with the consent of the Chair;

iv) Thirty-five (35) of the members of the Association in good standing shall constitute a quorum for all General Meetings of the Association.

i) Amendments to this Constitution require a two-thirds vote of those present at any scheduled General Meeting, or at a General Meeting called for that purpose;

ii) Proposed amendments to the Constitution must be circulated with the notice of the scheduled General Meeting at which they will be addressed;

The governing bodies of the Association shall be composed of:

i) The Council of Representatives, which is responsible, in general, for approving the policies of the Association as formulated by the Executive Committee and, where necessary, for providing direction to the Executive Committee for the formulation of policy, subject to the provisions of the Constitution and By-laws, and to such directions as may be given at any annual or scheduled General Meeting;

ii) The Executive Committee, which is responsible, in general, for establishing policy and for forwarding policy considerations to the Council of Representatives for approval; and

iii) The Officers, who are responsible for the ongoing administration and operation of the Association.

The duties and responsibilities of each of the above are described below.

There shall be a Council of Representatives which shall consist of the Officers of the Association and representatives of the electoral units. The establishment of the electoral units of the Council and the number of Councillors for each electoral unit shall be in accordance with the By-laws.

The term of office of a Councillor shall be for two years, commencing May 1 of the year of election. Re-election is allowed.

The procedures for the election of Councillors shall be in accordance with the By-laws.

The Council shall be responsible for:

i) acting on policy recommendations from the Executive Committee and instructing the Executive Committee in the development of policy for Council approval;

ii) approving the budget of the Association in accordance with this Constitution;

iii) approving general collective bargaining principles, in accordance with this Constitution;

iv) approving general grievance principles and procedures;

v) on the basis of Executive Committee recommendations, approving the staffing of QUFA Standing and Ad Hoc Committees, including their Chairs, and appointing members to joint employer-Association committees;

vi) on the basis of Executive Committee recommendations, filling any vacancies which may arise in the course of the terms of appointees to such committees;

vii) approving terms of reference for Standing and Ad Hoc committees;

viii) approving policy on office staffing;

ix) directing the convening of special meetings of the Association, as required, in accordance with this Constitution.

In addition to the foregoing, the duties of Councillors shall be to:

i) represent on a regular basis the views of their constituents to Council and vice versa;

ii) advise their constituents regarding their rights and responsibilities under the Collective Agreement;

iii) direct constituents to the appropriate sources of assistance in seeking redress under the terms of the Collective Agreement; and

iv) advise Council and the Executive Committee of any problems encountered by constituents arising from the Collective Agreement and its implementation.

A Councillor may be removed for reasons of gross neglect of the duties specified in this Constitution. Removal requires a two-thirds vote on the part of the Councillor's electoral unit in favour of removal and in accordance with the By-laws.

i) A Council meeting shall be called at least once a month from September to May and at the request of any five members of Council;

ii) The agenda shall normally be the responsibility of the Chair, in conjunction with the President, but any item requested by a member of Council or a petition of five members of the Association shall be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of Council and shall normally be voted upon at that meeting;

iii) Any May meeting prior to the election of a new Chair shall be called by the President of the Association, who shall also circulate the proposed agenda, including any notices of motion, for that meeting;

iv) Council may, between meetings, pass resolutions required to expedite the normal day-to-day operation of the Association by means of electronic mail transmissions or telephone calls exchanged between the Chair and the members of Council, provided such resolutions do not involve policy changes within the

Association and receive the consent of the majority of Council as evidenced by their electronic mail transmissions or telephone responses. The results of such votes, based on hard copies of the electronic mail transmissions and written record of telephone responses, shall be announced at the next Council meeting and recorded in the minutes.

i) Written notice of regular meetings shall be sent to Council members at least one week in advance. The proposed agenda, including any notices of motion, shall be sent to Council members by the Chair of Council at least five working days in advance;

ii) Written notice of special meetings, along with the proposed agenda and any notices of motion, shall be sent to Council at least 24 hours in advance;

iii) The non-receipt of a notice shall not invalidate a meeting unless there is negligence or bad faith.

i) The Council shall elect a Chair by secret ballot at the first regular May meeting of Council.

ii) The term of office for a Chair shall be one year, commencing May 1 of the year of election. Re-election is allowed;

iii) It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to call meetings of Council, to prepare Council agendas in consultation with the President, to circulate agendas to Council members prior to meetings, to liaise with the Executive Committee and the President as required, and to appoint a temporary Chair in his or her absence;

iv) The Chair shall cast a vote only in the case of a tie.

i) Council members shall have the right to appoint alternates, who are from the same electoral unit and members of the Association, to sit in their place at Council meetings. The Council Chair must be notified of the appointment of an alternate prior to the commencement of the meeting in question. Duly appointed alternates shall have all the rights of a Council member for the meeting in which they serve as alternate;

ii) Officers of the Association shall not have the right to name alternates except in their capacity, if any, as a representative to Council of a constituency.

A quorum for meetings shall be one-third of the members of Council and shall be constituted by regular (i.e., non-alternate) members.

Voting shall be by a show of hands unless otherwise specified by the Constitution or By-laws, or as requested by five members present in respect of voting on a particular issue. Unless otherwise specified by the Constitution or By-laws, and excepting matters of procedure, resolutions shall be adopted by a majority of votes cast.

Items of new business shall be ruled upon by the Chair who shall be guided by the principle that matters of substance which normally require notice should be postponed until the next meeting, unless urgency requires otherwise. The decision of the Chair may be challenged and overruled. Approval of a motion to overrule requires a vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting.

The Council may, by resolution, delegate any of its powers or duties to the Executive Committee, and may rescind such delegation in the same manner.

There shall be an Executive Committee of the Association consisting of the Officers of the Association, The Chair of the Grievance Committee, one QUFA representative from the QUFA Committee for the Management of the Collective Agreement specified elsewhere in this Constitution, two members-at-large, one representative from among librarians and archivists, one adjunct representative, and one equity representative. The position of librarian and archivist, adjunct, and equity representative shall be filled regardless of whether other members of these constituencies hold positions on the Executive Committee. All Executive Committee members must be members of the Association. The Chair of the Council of Representatives and the Grievance Officer shall also be included as ex-officio members of the Executive.

i) The Officers, excepting the Past President, shall be elected by the Association membership, pursuant to the By-laws;

ii) The representative from the QUFA Committee for the Management of the Collective Agreement shall be selected by that committee;

iii) The Council representatives (as established by By-law) for adjuncts and for equity shall serve as the Executive Committee adjunct and equity representatives. One of the two Council representatives (as established by By-law) for librarians and archivists shall be selected by their electoral unit to serve as the Executive Committee representative. Should one of the librarian/archivist representatives on Council hold or come to hold another position on the Executive Committee, the other librarian/archivist representative on Council shall serve as Executive Committee librarian/archivist representative. Should the adjunct representative on Council hold or come to hold another position on the Executive Committee, the Executive Committee adjunct representative shall be elected by the electoral unit for adjuncts. Should the equity representative on Council hold or come to hold another position on the Executive Committee, the Executive Committee equity representative shall be appointed by Council, upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, from an equity mechanism (committee, caucus, council) of QUFA or in which QUFA participates;

iv) The members-at-large shall be elected by Council, pursuant to the By-laws.

i) The Executive Committee shall exercise all the powers delegated to it by Council and report its activities regularly to Council;

ii) The Executive Committee shall be responsible for:

(a) developing policy for the Association, under direction from Council or as it deems necessary, and recommending such policy to Council for approval;

(b) implementing the policies of the Association;

(c) administering the budget of the Association;

(d) supervising the collective bargaining of the Association;

(e) acting upon the recommendations of the Grievance Committee;

(f) recommending to Council the formation of new Standing Committees;

President