Become a Board Member

FSA members, your 2022-24 President and Vice President are Colin Jones and Shannon Kelly, respectively. Colin and Shannon are returning to their positions by acclamation following completion of the nomination period on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Both bring a wealth of experience in the FSA and at BCIT to their positions. The FSA is committed to creating an outstanding workplace through engaging, celebrating, protecting, and making gains for all our members. This work is made possible by the dedication and participation from you, the membership.

Statements

Shannon Kelly

“I would be very honoured to continue as your FSA Vice President. Now completing my fourth term on the FSA board of directors, I am delighted to receive the VP nomination for the upcoming election from FSA member Zaa Joseph.

With our very capable FSA President, Colin Jones, taking on the additional role of Chief Negotiator, as we enter bargaining season I’ve taken on more duties in order to free up Colin’s time for bargaining preparation. I will continue to do so, as bargaining picks up speed. It’s a pleasure working closely with Colin to serve our members. In bargaining, the FSA as an organization will benefit from the stability and experience of FSA leadership, along with the involvement and continued input from you, the members.

I have been at BCIT for 20 years, as faculty in the Communication department. Our Comm department, like many other departments, is taking advantage of FSA training on collegial governance and department rights. Department rights and the right to be consulted are key rights that need to be protected and strengthened in our collective agreement, along with better benefits and competitive wages that keep up with the cost of living and inflation. Our board of directors, our bargaining team, and our collective agreement committee, will be working extremely hard in the coming months to secure these rights. As FSA board policy trustee, I work to align policies and practices to support our strategic operations and decisions.

I have broad experience at BCIT, including serving for many years as a program head for PTS. I care deeply about my peers who teach in PTS, and I would like to see greater gains for PTS members in this round of bargaining. I am the board liaison for FSA’s Caucus on Part-Time Studies (COPTS), an important forum to advocate and strategize for PTS members’ rights.

Along with my instructor role, I am also a researcher who is passionate about the benefits of applied research and advanced studies at BCIT, including graduate studies. I want to see proper workloading, support, and infrastructure for these activities. I consult with members about these issues as the board liaison for FSA’s Caucus on Applied Research and Advanced Studies (CARAS). I am also the board liaison for FSA Equity Caucus, which I am deeply honoured to support.

Connecting with members from all over BCIT, in your respective Schools, campuses, divisions, departments, programs, and employment categories, I know you are facing changes and pressures, especially with the impacts and challenges brought on by the pandemic. A strong, focused, responsive, and operationally sound FSA will help us succeed together as we continue to navigate these waters. Embedded within provincial structures and fiscal mandates which now, more than ever, directly affect us, we need solidarity, strength, and strategy — to influence our employer and gain better working conditions and rights.”

Colin Jones

“Hello colleagues,

I am humbled to put my name forward again to serve as FSA President. The past two years been an incredibly unpredictable time. It has been my honour to represent you during this crisis.

And, while it sounds cliché, these last years have been a fabulous opportunity to see, first hand, the diligence, commitment, thoughtfulness, and compassion of our members. Everyone has gone above and beyond what can be expected to care for our students – and each other. Thank you.

I sat on the FSA Executive as a Director for the first time in 2009, which marked the beginning of my formal involvement in the FSA. Over the years, I have learned a lot about how the FSA works. I have also learned a lot about how BCIT works – and doesn’t work. FSA board members have an opportunity – and responsibility – to bring forward issues identified by our members, and work with BCIT to see improvements.

Though I have worked in IT Services for almost 25 years, and taught in part-time studies for most the that time, as your President and Chief Negotiator through our last round of bargaining, I have been more involved in our association than ever before. This privilege has given me a unique perspective on our union, and the opportunities and challenges we face.

Should I have the pleasure of serving the next two years as President of our FSA, I will continue our work to increase the influence members have in our Association and at BCIT. Our Tech Reps are a wonderful resource, and I would like to see that cadre complemented with the introduction of a role similar to traditional “steward.” While we are fortunate to have a skilled and dedicated team of staff, there is no equal voice to that of a member speaking skillfully, strongly and passionately in response to their or their colleague’s concerns.

Meanwhile, with the backing of our board, I look forward to supporting our staff as they defend the longstanding tenets of academic freedom and shared governance that are the cornerstones on which BCIT was established. These, alongside Departmental and member rights, are paramount to our union. I strive to find opportunities for BCIT and the FSA to communicate more, not less, and work together to solve the complex problems we all face – tackling them as partners, not adversaries.

If elected by our members, I will amplify your voices, advocating for the improvements required to do our jobs even better.”

Need More Information?

Contact us at [email protected] with any questions you have!

The 2022 Chief Returning Officer is Denise Calvert.