AAPS January Updates: Bargaining Update, Deadline for PD Claims and More

We hope you’ve had a positive start to the new year and academic semester. Please find below a few updates.

Bargaining Update

We understand that many of you are looking forward to the start of bargaining as concerns about inflation and cost of living continue to dominate news headlines and our everyday experiences. We take inflation very seriously and we foresee that this will be a challenging bargaining round as we fight to make meaningful improvements.

We are currently discussing dates with UBC with the goal of resolving matters. We know that many of you are expecting a new collective agreement fairly soon. Given that this may be a challenging bargaining round, a new agreement may take time. We do believe that it is more important to get a good agreement than a fast one.  

Our mandate is to promote your welfare, which means addressing your concerns and improving your collective agreement.

We look forward to bargaining with UBC and advocating for you to ensure your voices are heard. We will send out more information as it becomes available.

UBC M&P PD Claim Year-End Submission Deadline: March 3, 2023

As a Management and Professional (M&P) staff, we know professional development (PD) is important to you. This is why we encourage you to use the UBC M&P Staff PD Fund.

The M&P Staff PD Fund is for your self-directed and self-initiated professional development activities that support your overall job and career growth at UBC. The annual limit is $750/year based on FTE. For more information on how you can use the UBC M&P Staff PD Fund, check out our website to review answers to frequently asked questions.

If you are planning to register and pay for any professional development events, courses, conferences, or buy books or you have done so within the last 90 days, please note the following deadlines to get your reimbursement in a timely manner.

  • Friday, March 3, 2023 is the PD claim year-end submission deadline. You will need to submit your PD fund claims for reimbursement online using Workday's expense report functionality.
  • Friday, March 17, 2023 is the deadline for managers to approve online claim submissions in Workday. 

Please remember that the UBC M&P Staff PD Fund is a general pool of money that you can draw down on a first-come, first-served basis until the annual funding pools are exhausted or by March 3, 2023—whichever comes first.

For more information about the claim submission deadline, please visit the UBC Human Resources website. 

New AAPS Office

Last year, we shared with you how the membership has grown to over 6,000 members and how this has stretched our team and our office space beyond its capacity. To continue to meet your needs and fulfill the goals identified in the AAPS Strategic Plan, the AAPS Board approved the leasing of a new office space.

We will take possession of the new office space in TEF III on March 1st. Prior to moving in, the new office space will need to be renovated. This space needs to accommodate discreet in-person meetings on labour relations matters as well as professional development events and networking opportunities for up to 50 members.

The AAPS Board has approved to allocate $400,000 to renovate the space in TEF III. Though it is a substantial amount of money, this does not require us to borrow funds or increase membership dues. We can cover the cost using our cash reserves and none of the regular work of AAPS, including advocacy, offering professional development, negotiation and community relations will be impacted by this expenditure. This also does not impact the timelines for the UBC Okanagan office, for which we are still seeking suitable space on or close to the Okanagan campus.

New Board Member

We’re pleased to announce that Vanessa Hrvatin joined the AAPS Board of Directors. With Kelli Kadokawa’s uncontested election to the position of Secretary back in October 2022, there was a Member-at-Large vacancy for the rest of her term ending in 2023.

The Board discussed and agreed to approach the persons with the next most votes in the recent Member-at-Large elections until a willing candidate was found. The first and only person contacted was Vanessa Hrvatin and in December a motion to appoint her was carried. We are excited to have Vanessa join the Board.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of the updates provided, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you all for your continued participation and support.