LETTER OF AGREEMENT #10: MBA LOU

This Letter applies to the Vancouver Island University MBA degree and the University of Hertfordshire (UH) MSc-IB. The program is a dual degree program. In this Letter, any reference to “degree” shall mean the MBA.

It is recognized that there are three semesters in the MBA degree and each faculty member in the degree will:

  • Teach a minimum of one MBA section;
  • Supervise up to eight students on their Applied Projects;
  • Serve as second marker for one other section;
  • Attend three faculty development workshops;
  • Prepare and make additional assignment where students are granted rewrites;
  • Attend University of Hertfordshire subject boards.

A faculty member may choose to supervise a maximum of 24 Applied Projects in any 12 month period.

Workload

  1. Teaching

1a. Teaching – Full-time Regular Faculty

Each section of an MBA course offered shall count as one section for the purposes of workload calculation regardless of whether there are two, three or four contact hours associated with that course.

The maximum workload of a faculty member teaching two or more sections of an MBA course (or courses) shall be six sections.

No faculty member shall be required to teach more than two different MBA courses during an academic year.

The maximum workload of a faculty member teaching only a single section of an MBA course shall be seven sections. If that faculty member is also teaching an upper level course, the maximum workload will be six sections.

Regular faculty teaching in the degree shall not be required to teach more than two sections of degree courses in an academic year and shall not be required to teach any Pre-MBA courses.

1b. Teaching – Part-time Regular and Temporary Faculty and Pre-MBA teaching

A temporary faculty member shall be compensated at the applicable flat rate for each section taught. Temporary workload contains no release time.

If a full-time or part-time regular faculty member teaches Pre-MBA courses they shall be compensated at the flat rate for each summer section taught, and at 1/12 of their annual full-time salary for each section taught in any semester other than summer.

Any regularization of faculty will be determined as per 9.4.1.1 of the VIUFA Collective Agreement with the following modifications:

  • Including all MBA courses regardless of the semester they are offered;
  • Teaching eight sections (or equivalent combination of sections and student supervision) over any sequential 24 months period, with a minimum of four sections in each of both 12 months periods, shall be sufficient to meet the 50 percent requirement for triggering regularization rights;
  • The supervision of six to eight student projects will count as the equivalent of one section for the purposes of regularization.
  1. Other Duties

It is acknowledged that the degree calls for duties that may not be present in other graduate programs. Such duties include serving as second marker for one other section, attending three half-day faculty development workshops, attendance at Subject board meetings and preparing and marking additional assignments where students have been granted rewrites. Regular and temporary faculty members shall be required to complete these duties as part of their teaching assignment in the MBA degree.

Temporary faculty members will be paid a stipend of $750 for performing these other duties.

A faculty member who is required to act as a second marker for more sections than they are teaching shall be paid a stipend of $1000 for each section above the number of sections taught.

  1. Applied Business Project Supervision

Regular and temporary faculty members shall be required to supervise Applied Business Projects of up to eight graduate students in an academic year.

Regular faculty members supervising a graduate student Applied Project may be required to meet with their students at most two times during the vacation period, and the second meeting, if required, shall be a minimum of two weeks after the first meeting. Regular faculty members may request vacation exchanges, which shall be granted except in rare and unusual circumstances.

Regular faculty may choose either a workload credit or cash payment.

For each graduate student, a regular faculty member supervises, the faculty member shall, at their discretion, either be paid an additional payment of the greater of $1,100 or 1/64 of their annual full-time salary, or be permitted to bank an overload credit equal to 1/8 of a section. It is recognized that some projects may be group projects, with a normal maximum of five students. In the situation where more than two students are working on the same project, the compensation for the third, fourth and fifth students will be $1,000 per student. No faculty member will be required to supervise a group project.

Temporary faculty shall be paid $1,100 per supervised graduate student.

  1. Scheduling and teaching beyond the provisions of 1a above

Full workload credit will be given for any MBA courses taught regardless of when they are taught.

Teaching during the May through August period shall be at the discretion of the faculty member. If a faculty member agrees to teach during the May through August period, their workload assignment shall, if the faculty member so desires, be structured to ensure that they have two blocks of non-teaching time each of which has duration of two months. The scheduling of those blocks shall be mutually agreed upon by the faculty member and the Dean.

The faculty member will identify a 44 day vacation period, consistent with Article 12.2.3. All other time during the above two two-month blocks will be professional development time and non-instructional duty time in keeping with Article 10.1.2.1. During this time the faculty member will be on campus unless a plan is approved by the Dean for the member to be off campus.

  1. Second Applied Business Project Reading

For each graduate student Applied Business Project supervised, regular or temporary faculty members may be required to act as the second reader for the Project of one student being supervised by another faculty member. Where a regular or temporary faculty member acts as second reader for more than the number of graduate student Applied Business Project they are supervising, the regular or temporary faculty member shall receive $250 for each Applied Business Project in excess.

  1. MBA Internship Coordinators

MBA Internship coordinators will be faculty engaged in facilitating student learning who are called upon to exercise judgment in ensuring a successful and safe internship experience. Professionally qualified coordinators prepare students for the internship with a combination of group and individual learning activities, develop internship placements, oversee the internship experience, troubleshoot problems encountered by students or employers and recommend students on a pass/fail basis according to primarily objective criteria.

B. Payment for Applied Project Referrals (Submission of a revised Applied Project), Re-enrolments (Submission of a new Applied Project after re-enrolling) and Deferrals (Submission of a deferred Applied Project because of extenuating circumstances).

  1. Definitions (extracted and adapted from the University of Hertfordshire Academic Regulations for Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Programmes (UPR AS/C/5 Section D5)):

Referral: Defined as a reassessment opportunity for students who have   been unsuccessful at their first attempt. Students are not required to re- enroll in the course.

      Re-enrolment: Students are given the opportunity to repeat a course or   courses, which they have previously failed at first or second attempt.

Deferral: The Director may decide that a student with valid reasons for            not having attempted one or more assessments may be permitted to          undertake deferred assessments at a later date.

  1. Payments for referrals

In the event that a student has been granted a referral after receiving a failing grade on an Applied Project, the rewriting of the failed Applied Project will extend beyond the normal deadline. To accommodate the referral, students will be given the opportunity to be supervised, to rewrite and to resubmit the Applied Project. To facilitate the resubmission, both the Applied Project supervisor and the second marker for the Applied Project will continue to be engaged to supervise and mark the resubmitted (referred) Applied Project. The Applied Project supervisor will make detailed comments for any failing Applied Project and discuss these with the student. During the rewriting, the Applied Project supervisor will meet with the student at least twice, once to provide feedback on problems associated with the failed Applied Project and once to review improvements the student has made. The Applied Project supervisor will mark the resubmitted Applied Project. The second marker will also mark the resubmitted Applied Project. For this additional work, the Applied Project supervisor will be paid $250 and the second marker will be paid $100.

  1. Payment for re-enrolments

In the event that a student has been granted a re-enrolment and thereby given an opportunity to write a completely new Applied Project with a new topic, a new Applied Project supervisor and second marker will be assigned. The student will re-enrol in the Applied Project course and pay full tuition. The workload credit for the new supervisor shall be as per section A-3. The new second marker will be paid $250. A student granted a re-enrolment opportunity may also be eligible for a referral should they receive an F grade; in which case the Applied Project supervisor and second marker will proceed as outlined above under “referral”.

  1. Payment for deferrals

In the event that student has been granted a deferral, due to extenuating circumstances, and will thus be submitting their Applied Project later than the normal deadline either a new supervisor and second marker may be appointed, or the original supervisor and second marker may continue to be involved with the student under their original contact.

In the even that a new supervisor is assigned, and they have the comments from the prior supervisor, they will be expected to meet with the student only once. The new Applied Project supervisor will be paid $300 and the new second marker will be paid $150.

C. Terms of Agreement

The Letter of Agreement replaces three previous letters.

  1. The MBA Hertfordshire Addendum – Payment for MBA Thesis Rewrites, dated September, 2005
  2. The MBA Hertfordshire Addendum – Payment for MBA Thesis, dated November, 2005
  3. The MBA Hertfordshire Letter of Agreement, dated May, 2003

Original letter signed October 2007.