The Membership Committee is one of the newest committees at UTFA, under a decade old, but its mission is central to the organization – coordinating communication with and outreach to members. Our goal is to be accessible, understand the multiple goals and concerns faculty and librarians have, and raise the level of dialogue and awareness among our members, enhancing university citizenship.
Academic Librarians are recognized as an integral and core part of all aspects of teaching and research at the University of Toronto. We have an exceedingly active community with colleagues working on Librarians’ behalf on many levels in UTFA. In the past year, the emphasis has been on: representing Librarians in the SJAC process; providing the current bargaining team with relevant information concerning Librarians’ benefits and monetary issues; and sustaining regular contact with members across our community. Work continues on the drafting of a new Policies for Librarians document.
Another year has gone by, and it is once again my pleasure to report to you that the financial affairs of UTFA are in good health. The last fiscal year, ending June 2014, has seen us manage the operations of the Association to a surplus of $691,330. Captured in this surplus is an unrealized gain in our reserve fund investments of approximately $338,000. Although we presented a balanced budget and scheduled a one-month dues holiday in December 2013, a number of budgeted expenses were not realized and a surplus was achieved once again.
The Appointments Committee began its 2014 work at a time when the Special Joint Advisory Committee (SJAC) process was coming to an end. One of tasks of the Appointments Committee was to receive updates and to offer comments and support to the SJAC team. The committee congratulates everyone involved in the SJAC initiative for bringing those negotiations to a successful conclusion.