May 18, 2011
FSU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 5/18/11
Ex Com Members Present: Catherine Lynde John Hess Kathy Kogan Heike Schotten Philip Chassler Peggy Walsh Xiaogang Deng Victoria Palmer-Erbs Marlene Kim
Others Present: Mickey Gallagher, MTA Consultant Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator Jeffrey Keisler, FSU Grievance Officer Amy Todd, Lecturer, Anthropology, member of FSU Distance Learning Bargaining Team
Announcements
GIC Re-Enrollment- It was reported that 100% of all benefited faculty re-enrolled in the GIC (with the exception of 1 member, due partially to the efforts of the FSU.
MTA Annual Meeting- Catherine Lynde reported that an initiative for the MTA to support a single payer health care system failed. It was also reported that an $18 MTA dues raise was approved for 11-12 (including $5 for an MTA PR campaign). It was noted that there was anger at the MTA meeting over the stand that the MTA Board took re charter schools and MCAS-based evaluations. It was also noted that, apart from CL, there were no tenure stream faculty members from the FSU at the meeting.
Master Planning Steering Committee- Marlene Kim, who is also a member of the committee, reported that the committee is recommending that parking fees should be increased and that they are hoping that more faculty will commute by public transportation. It was noted that if Admin wanted more people to use public transportation they should subsidize T passes. MK also reported that she informed the committee that large classes are not desired by the faculty, contrary to the committee’s plans.
Spring 11 FSU Ex Com Elections
The elections for the 11-12 Ex Com will be postponed until early Fall due to lack of available candidates.
FSU FY12 Proposed Budget
It was noted that the MSP (FSU’s sister chapter) has approved a $5 increase in the local dues for 11-12 (the increase has to be approved by both chapters). It was noted that 70% of the total money generated by the $5 increase for FSU would go to Lorenzo Nencioli’s cost of living raise. There was discussion of whether or not it would be politically viable with the membership to raise dues for 11-12. It was suggested that LN’s raise could be funded by reserves in the FSU’s money market accounts, without the need to raise dues. It was also suggested that dues could be raised by $2 instead of $5. There was a question as to whether or not the Ex Com had to recommend the proposed budget to the membership rather than simply putting it up for a vote. There was a motion to vote to recommend the $5 11-12 dues raise to the membership. The motion was seconded. The motion passed, not unanimously (MK and HS opposed the dues increase).
Requests to the FSU for Funds
Amy Todd asked the Ex Com to help fund her participation in an American Anthropology Association (AAA) conference. The AAA has a labor committee that will be looking at non-tenure track labor issues. Amy suggested this would be a good opportunity to encourage and work with other non-tenure track faculty from around the country. Heike Schotten also asked the FSU for $300 reimbursement for a flight to attend a press conference in Washington, D.C. for the launch of the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education, at which she spoke. Both said they would write reports on their experiences that could be published in the FSU newsletter. The Labor Resource Center at UMB also sent a request to the FSU for monetary contribution. It was unclear what exactly the contribution would be directed to so CL indicated she would find out details and get back to the Ex Com with more info. There was a motion to have the Ex Com vote to accept the funding requests from Amy Todd and Heike Schotten. The motion was seconded. The vote passed with unanimous support.
Website Update
LN and CL continue to work with Union Web Services on building the new website. The new site should be operational some time during the summer.
Proposed Part-Time Position for Tenure Track Faculty Organizer
MG and LN still need to draw up a job-description for this proposed position. It was reported that Reebee Garofalo, former Ex Com member (tenured slot), might be retiring before the 11-12 AY and has expressed interest in this work. There was discussion of whether or not it was viable to organize the tenure track faculty. There was also discussion of what the optimal work for such a person would entail.
Distance Education Bargaining
Amy Todd spoke to the Ex Com on her concerns over DE bargaining. She indicated that it is hard to bargain DE separately from ‘regular’ bargaining and stated the 2 should be bargained together at the main table. She also indicated that Admin has been derelict in formulating their DE bargaining team, resulting in totally moribund DE bargaining (it was supposed to have been completed at the end of the Spring 11 semester). There was discussion of the merits of this proposal.
Main Unit Bargaining
It was suggested that the FSU bargaining team and the MSP bargaining team meet over the summer to discuss cohesive bargaining possibilities, particularly around non-tenure track issues. There was discussion of the possibility of proposing conversion of non-tenure track faculty to tenure-track. It was noted that in Fall 11, the FSU will do further outreach work on soliciting bargaining proposals. There was a question as to how the FSU bargaining team is supposed to be constituted. The Ex Com will follow the FSU bylaws re constituting a bargaining team.
Grievance Committee Report
There were reports on ongoing grievances in Nursing, Management, Grad College of Ed, as well as a report on the Lecturer II and Senior Lecturer issue that the FSU brought to the attention of Admin (i.e. multi-year contracts not issues to Senior Lecturers, salary floors and raises not issued in a timely fashion to many Lecturer II’s and Senior Lecturers).
FSU Summer Retreat Plans
The Ex Com will be organizing another summer retreat for activists. The retreat will focus on formulating FSU plans for 11-12. LN will send an email to Ex Com members asking about their summertime meeting availability.
MTA Summer Retreat (Williamsburg)
The MTA summer retreat will take place in August. Members interested in attending and getting reimbursement should contact LN. Peggy Walsh expressed interest in attending.
Report on Campaign for Future of Higher Education Press Release
HS reported on the kick-off event in Washington, D.C. She noted that the organization would likely convene a national conference next year at UMB. It was noted that the LRC is also planning a conference on the future of higher ed labor organizing around the same time. HS or JH will talk with LRC reps to see about merging the two conferences or re-scheduling them. JH will begin the work of organizing the national conference, will seek support from UMB Admin, MTA, and FSU. It was noted that the organization hasn’t as of yet set up specific goals for the upcoming year. MK suggested that they create a state by state ‘grading system’ that would publicize how states fund or defund public higher education.
NTT Caucus Update
It was reported that the Office of Faculty Development is continuing to include NTT. A sub-committee had been charged with examining research resources for NTT but there none to be found. It was noted that the FSU bargained to establish an NTT Scholarship Fund but as of yet that Fund has not been created. It was noted that the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects will not allow NTT to be the principal in___ of grants. It was also noted that that limitation is contractually mandated.
Class Size
It was reported that UMB’s Implementation Design Team (IDT) has been planning/suggesting that class sizes should increase to accommodate the expected growth in students. It was noted that, according to the contract, Admin MUST bargain any proposed changes in policies re faculty/student ratios. It was suggested that the FSU notify Admin right away of this regulation as there was worry the policy would be implemented before FSU input could be obtained. JH will find the IDT report in which larger class sizes are called for. MG or CL will then craft a letter to the Chancellor and Provost insisting on the necessity of bargaining over this issue. There was discussion of the need to organize faculty over this issue.