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Research Chairs

Collective Agreements

VIUFA Agreement

Letter of Understanding

Vancouver Island University (VIU) is committed to excellence in teaching and learning. Our academic culture is grounded in these values, and our key research themes in our strategic research plan derive their importance from them. VIU’s research aspirations are to engage faculty and students in inquiry, enhance teaching and learning, advance disciplinary knowledge, and encourage interdisciplinary interaction among faculty and students. Based on these values, we recognize the value and role of Research Chairs and their benefits to VIU students and teaching community.

A faculty member holding a grant-funded Research Chair term appointment which is supported in whole or in part by non-VIU funds is recognized by the parties to be subject to extraordinary terms while funds are available. As such, the VIUFA collective agreement and the Research Chairs national and provincial guidelines shall be used to establish the terms and conditions of such positions.

The Research Chair is administratively responsible to the Vice President, Academic. The Research Chair reports directly to his/her Dean(s) with respect to the research responsibilities. Research Chairs are expected to contribute to the overall intellectual life of the University’s scholarly activities with an emphasis, where appropriate, on interdisciplinary work. They shall also serve as academic ambassadors to VIU’s external community. A report on the activities of Research Chairs may be published annually by the Research and Scholarly Activity Office.

The terms specified in this letter shall be established for Research Chair appointments and if changes are necessary, it will be by mutual agreement of the parties. Terms other than those mutually established will be in accordance with the VIU Collective Agreement.

Terms will include:

  1. Eligibility and the selection process will follow the guidelines of the funding agency and the eligibility requirements will include the demonstrated ability to meet the professional responsibilities of an instructional faculty member including intellectual direction and coordination of a research team.
  2. A Research Chair may be placed at or moved to Step 1of the Provincial Salary Scale.
  3. When the Research Chair is awarded to a current regular employee, the individual will not be required to repeat their probationary period.
  4. An evaluation of research and funding control requirements will follow the guidelines from the grant agency (Canada Research Chair Secretariat for Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs and LEEF for BC Regional Innovation Chairs) and any guidelines specifically established in the grant funding of the Research Chair.
  5. Research Chairs shall be given .75 FTE release time from the maximum instructional workload.
  6. The Vice President, Academic may grant additional release time in order to meet the requirements of the Research Chair.
  7. A Research Chair will be eligible for all leaves within the VIUFA collective agreement, but will follow the guidelines of the granting agency (Canada Research Chair Secretariat for Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs and LEEF for BC Regional innovation Chairs) for taking such leaves.
  8. Where the individual chooses to step down from the research position or is unable to secure further research funding to maintain his or her Research Chair position, the individual will no longer be designated as a Research Chair.
  9. When the individual ceases to be a Research Chair, he/she shall become a regular faculty member with a full teaching load in an assigned department(s). For the twelve months following, there shall be no layoffs in the department(s) affected.
  10. A Research Chair cannot be laid off, and cannot be bumped by any other faculty member.

References:

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Gara Pruesse, Chair                                                  Date
VIUFA Contract Negotiating Committee

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Dan McDonald, President, VIUFA                                    Date

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Heather Stadel, Director, Human Resources                  Date

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David Thomas, VP Academic                                       Date