OCFA

About the OCFA

The OC Faculty Association represents more than 300 faculty members of Okanagan College. It serves to maintain and promote the professional status of the members of the Association, to regulate relations between faculty and OC through collective bargaining, and to function as a trade union pursuant to the laws of British Columbia.

OCFA Contacts

OCFA Executive

President Sharon Mansiere 250-328-2206 smansiere@okanagan.bc.ca
First VP, Chief Steward Rod Watkins 250-804-9973 rpwatkins@okanagan.bc.ca
Second VP, Bargaining Chair Sean Johnston 4672 ocfa.2ndvp@gmail.com
Secretary Sasha Johnston    
Treasurer Randy Brown 250-765-3339 rbrown@okanagan.bc.ca
Faculty Liaison - Arts Raluca Fratiloiu 4582 rfratiloiu@okanagan.bc.ca
Faculty Liaison - Business Vacant    
Faculty Liaison - Health Vacant (pending grievance)    
Faculty Liaison - Non-Instructional Lindsay Willson 4567 lwillson@okanagan.bc.ca 
Faculty Liaison - Science Bruce Campbell 4784  bcampbell@okanagan.bc.ca
Faculty Liaison - Technology Scott Fazackerley 4376 SFazackerley@okanagan.bc.ca
Community Representative - Kelowna Laura Loewen 4776  lloewen@okanagan.bc.ca
Community Representative - Penticton Vacant    
Community Representative - Salmon Arm Brian May 8212  bmay@okanagan.bc.ca
Community Representative - Vernon Deb Warren   dwarren@okanagan.bc.ca
Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Indigenization Representative Vacant    
Human Rights and International Solidarity Rep Terry Bridges 4484 trbridges@okanagan.bc.ca
Non-Continuing Faculty Representative Moos van Caspel   MvanCaspel@okanagan.bc.ca
Pension Advisory Representative Treasurer for 2023/24    
Status of Women Representative Eva Gavaris 3224 egavaris@okanagan.bc.ca
Workplace Health, Safety, & Environment Representative (WHSE) Leonard Youden   lyouden@okanagan.bc.ca
OCFA President (ex-officio) Sharon Mansiere    
Kelowna Campus Steward Youry Khmelevsky 4741 YKhmelevsky@okanagan.bc.ca
Penticton Campus Steward Colin Wallace 3334 cwallace@okanagan.bc.ca
Salmon Arm Campus Steward

Terry Kosowick

 

tkosowick@okanagan.bc.ca

Vernon Campus Steward Art Boehm 2243 aboehm@okanagan.bc.ca
Climate Standing Committee Rosalind Warner rowarner@okanagan.bc.ca
Professional & Scholarly Development Committee Sean Johnston ocfa.2ndvp@gmail.com
Contract Administration Review Rod Watkins rpwatkins@okanagan.bc.ca
Bargaining Coordination Sean Johnston ocfa.2ndvp@gmail.com
Disability Management & Rehabilitation Laura Loewen lloewen@okanagan.bc.ca
Decolonization, Reconciliation & Indigenization    
Education Policy Sean Johnston ocfa.2ndvp@gmail.com
Human Rights & International Solidarity Terry Bridges TBridges@okanagan.bc.ca
Status of Women & Gender Equity Eva Gavaris egavaris@okanagan.bc.ca
Pension Advisory Randy Brown ocfa.treasurer@okanagan.bc.ca
Workplace Health, Safety & Environment Leonard Youden lyouden@okanagan.bc.ca
Non-Regular Faculty Moos van Caspel MvanCaspel@okanagan.bc.ca
President's Council Sharon Mansiere smansiere@okanagan.bc.ca

Professional Development (PD) Committees

Arts
Corinna Chong (English)
Sean Johnston (English)

Business
Adrian Fontenla 
Glen Coulthard

Science, Technologies & Health (STH) 
Julian Buck (Aug 1, 2022 - July 31, 2024)
Lindsey Reinholz (Aug 1, 2022 - July 31, 2024)

ESL (Extended Study Leave)

Yvonne Moritz (Chair)
Laura Turnheer (OC)
Scott Fazackerley (Technologies)
Amy Cohen (Arts)
Stacey Sakakibara (Science)
Roën Janyk (Non-Instructional)
Mark Ziebarth (Business)

GIA (Grants in Aid)

Ross Tyner (Chair)
Youry Khmelevsky (STH)
Sean Johnston (AFP)
Glendon Wiebe (Non-Instructional)
Blair Baldwin (Business)

Professional Allowance Committee

Jennifer Hobart (Chair) (Mathematics & Statistics)
Yvonne Moritz (College Rep)
Laura Loewen (Psychology)

OCFA Investment Committee*

Randy Brown (Chair) (Electronic Engineering Technology)
Steve Watson (Business)
Roën Janyk (Library)
Elena Mitropolsky (Business)

Satoshi Tomoda (Mathematics)
*OCFA Council Standing Committee

OCFA Human Rights & International Solidarity Committee*

Terry Bridges (Chair) (Physics & Astronomy)
Norah Bowman (Interdisciplinary Studies/English)
Bruce Campbell (Biology)

*OCFA Council Standing Committee

OCFA Meetings & Events

Council Meetings

Council meetings normally take place on Fridays, 2-5 pm, on the Kelowna campus or online.

  • September 8 (online)
  • October 13 (in-person moved to online)
  • November 3 (in-person, Capri hotel)
  • December 1 (online)

General Meetings

  • Fall GM 2023:  November 3, 2023, 5-9 pm, Capri Hotel, Kelowna
  • Winter GM 2024: January 19, 2024 (5-9 pm), Capri Hotel, Kelowna
  • AGM: April 12, 2024 (tentative)

Campus Socials

Socials are an opportunity to meet with members of the executive and council of your union, as well as other faculty.  The locations below represent which campus representative is hosting, but socials are open to all members across campuses

Fall 2023 Socials

  • Vernon: Wednesday, October 4, Alexander’s Pub (upstairs), 4-9 pm
  • Salmon Arm: Tuesday, October 10, Setters Pub, 4:30 pm
  • Penticton: Thursday, October 12, Tin Whistle, 5-7 pm
  • Kelowna: Friday, October 13, Kelly O’Brian’s Pub, 5:30 pm

Events

Feminist Horror Festival  (October 2023)

A Series of Terrifying Delights - The Feminist Horror Festival is a series of events running from Sept. 26 to Halloween that consists of film screenings, art activities, a speaker series, book club, activist roundtable, music, dance, and theatre. Special guests include filmmakers Ariel Baska and Karen Lam, podcast host Chelsey Weber-Smith of American Hysteria, and Johanna Isaacson, author of Stepford Daughters. Events are mostly in downtown Kelowna (ORL), UBCO and OC campuses, and Kelowna Art Gallery. This event is a partnership between the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL), Kelowna Women’s Shelter, Queerphoria, Bernie’s, the Gather, HorrorFest, Greater Vancouver Horror Writers’ Association, Final Girl Festival Berlin, and a handful of others. Satellite haunted theater tour and film festival at The Towne community theater in Vernon. OCFA contributed funding to this event.

OCFA Resources

OCFA Collective Agreement

 The OCFA Collective Agreement Binder (Local,  MOA, Travel, Common):

  1. The 2019-2022 Collective Agreement (Local & Common);
  2. 2022 Travel Allowance Rates Summary;
  3. April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2024 Negotiated Salary Scales

For Collective Agreement term of March 31, 2019 - April 1, 2022

OCFA Handbook

Information about conditions of your employment and common FAQs. 

OCFA Constitution & Bylaws

OCFA Policy Manual

OCFA Department Chairs Guide

Key Dates

Find the important dates and deadlines contained in the collective agreement. If you are in doubt about these dates or if you have any other questions, consult the collective agreement and/or your shop steward .

Probation (Collective agreement reference: Clause 15.3): OC shall notify employees, in writing, not less than two months prior to the expiration of their probationary period indicating whether the probationary period has been successfully completed. An employee who does not receive notification within the specified period shall be deemed to have completed the probationary period.

Professional Development (Collective agreement reference: Article 22): 2-year cycle April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2024. Apply at any time.

Extended Study Leave (Collective agreement reference: Article 24): An employee shall apply to the Extended Study Leave Committee for extended study leave by October 1 of the calendar year preceeding the year in which the extended study leave is to commence. The Extended Study Leave Committee shall review applications no later than November 1 each year and recommend to the OC President candidates for extended study leave. Approval or rejection of an application for extended study leave shall be given by December 1.

Annual Reports (Collective agreement reference: Section 21.1.1): For continuing members, annual reports are to be submitted to the designated supervisor by May 15, for the preceding calendar year. A designated supervisor who wishes to use a faculty member's annual report as part of a summative evaluation must meet with the employee by June 15. The employee has the right to union representation at such a meeting. Term employees are not required to submit an annual report.

Professional Allowance (Collective agreement reference: Clause 37.7): Apply by May 31 to claim expenses incurred during the preceding year.

Vacation (Collective agreement reference: Section 39.1.3): OC posts schedule by April 15.

Assignment of Duties for instructional faculty (Collective agreement reference: Section 18.1.3): whenever possible, by May 31.

Salary Increments (Collective agreement reference: Clause 33.4): All continuing faculty members who were employed by OC as of March 31, 2006 shall receive a salary increment each April 1, until the maximum salary is reached. All other employees receive an increment on the anniversary date of the starting day of continuous employment with OC.

Department Chairs (Collective agreement reference: Clause 25.6): The term of a Chair shall normally begin on July 1 and shall normally have a length of three years.

Retirement (Collective agreement reference: Section 26.1.1): Please note that as of January 1, 2008 this collective agreement language is inconsistent with current British Columbia Human Rights legislation which effectively put an end to mandatory retirement. While the normal retirement date of June 30 is unchanged there is no longer under our collective agreement any requirement for an employee to retire at age 65.

Resignation (Collective agreement reference: Section 26.3.1): A continuing employee or full-time term employee may resign from any appointment by giving at least two months' notice in writing to the OC President. The resignation shall take effect on the June 30 following the submission of the resignation notice or at the end of his or her appointment term whichever is earlier unless an earlier date is mutually acceptable.

Grievance (Collective agreement reference: Clause 32.2): An employee who wishes to present a grievance at Step 1 of the grievance procedure shall do so by informing his or her designated supervisor in writing no later than 30 working days after the date:
a) which he or she was notified orally or in writing of the action or circumstance giving rise to the grievance; or
b) on which he or she first became aware of the action or circumstances giving rise to the grievance.

Forms for Faculty

Professional Development

PD application and report forms. 

Professional Allowance

Claims are normally submitted once per year through Moodle. Purchases must be made by May 15 of the given year, unless otherwise noted.  Receipts and submissions must be received by May 31. The form is available through myOkanagan or Moodle.

Grants-in-Aid

Grants-in-Aid guidelines and application information.

Extended Study Leave (ESL)

Application process and information

The next deadline for applications is October 1, 2023

Expense Claims

  • Expense claim form for OCFA-related expenses.
  • Find other forms including expense claims related to PD or GIA, mileage claims, and other forms through myOkanagan.

The Update

The Update is OCFA's newsletter to members. It is usually published two to three times annually. The Update contains reports from members of Council and the Executive as well as letters to the editor from OCFA members. Published digitally in PDF format, issues are distributed by e-mail and via this website. Please address any questions about the Update to its editor, the current OCFA Secretary.

The Update welcomes letters to the editor from members of the Association. Members are encouraged to write either in response to what they read in the newsletter or about other Faculty Association matters. Letters to the Update do not represent the opinions of the editor nor the OCFA Executive. Letters should be sent by e-mail to the current OCFA Secretary. Preferred formats are MS Word (.doc), rtf or plain text.

Related Links

Other Canadian Faculty Associations & Federations