On August 26, MGEU President Michelle Gawronsky, Post-Secondary Education Component Director Penny Copeland, UCN Local President Jackie Fitzpatrick and other MGEU staff met with UCN representatives, including President Konrad Jonasson, to discuss UCN’s decision to suspend some programs and reallocate staff.

The decision prompted the MGEU to ask President Jonasson to convene a series of regional meetings to discuss the institution’s future direction. He agreed that regional meetings would provide an opportunity to generate ideas about how we can jointly meet the challenges faced by UCN and foster dialogue with staff and faculty.

As a result, MGEU and UCN have established two meeting dates:

The Pas: September 20, 2013, 2:00 pm in the cafeteria

Thompson: September 27, 2013, 2:00 pm in P4-100

Staff and faculty in regional centres with video-conference capability can join the conversation as follows:

September 20 meeting: Swan River, Flin Flon, Split Lake

September 27 meeting: Nelson House, Norway House, Cross Lake

Regional centres without video-conference can join the conversation via tele-conference. Dial 1-866-512-0904 and use access code 5568176. If you have any questions about linking in from your community, please contact Media Services Technician Grant Nemeth at 204-627-8560.  

Both sides are confident these meetings will contribute to some meaningful dialogue between management and UCN employees about the current challenges and possible solutions.