Nuts & Bolts: Welcome, FSU Successes, Support PSU, Executive Committee Meetings, Pizza and Cookies in the UDC, Transportation Bargaining Update, AFR dues date and MTA Benefits
9/2/2025
Dear Faculty and Librarians,
To returning faculty and librarians – welcome back to campus and happy new academic year! We hope you had a relaxing period of non-responsibility.
To our thirty-four new pre-tenure and tenured faculty, welcome to campus. It was a pleasure meeting you at the new faculty orientation. We look forward to receiving your membership application.
We also want to welcome Nursing’s Simulation Lab Instructors to FSU. Their job descriptions were updated, moving them from the Professional Staff Union (PSU) to the FSU. This change required negotiating a memorandum of agreement between the administration, PSU and FSU. Thank you to the Sim Lab members for participating in this process.
Congratulations to those faculty who were promoted to Senior Lecturer, Senior Lecturer II, Senior Lecturer III, Associate Professor and Full Professor. These are effective September 1st and come with a promotional raise which is part of our collective bargaining agreement. Also, congratulations to those who had a successful 4th year review.
This issue of Nuts & Bolts provides some basic FSU information along with sharing our recent successes.
FSU Membership
Your FSU membership includes being a member of both the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and the National Education Association (NEA). MTA is the statewide educator’s union representing both K to 12 and public higher education. NEA focuses on education policy at the federal level.
Dues distribution: Your payroll dues deduction includes dues for all three entities. FSU collects the dues and then forwards MTA and NEA payments to MTA. The FSU portion that remains with FSU is about a third of the total dues.
Union membership is not automatic. Unsure if you are a member? Look at a paycheck (September to June) to see a dues deduction. To join, email us and we will send you the online application.
FSU Successes…..
Since May, the FSU has had three big successes, two are detailed here. Next week we will detail the third.
2024-2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
In June we ratified our 2024-2027 CBA. Thank you to all who voted. We were able secure gains in salary floors, promotional raises to name a couple.
The State Legislature funded our contract specifically our January and June 2025 pay raises and Human Resources is starting the process of paying us the funds. These retroactive pay raise payments will appear in our September 12th paycheck. Our new payrates were included in your August 29th paycheck.
The CBA contains a promotional increase when promoted. For those promoted last year, your promotional retroactive increase was included in your August 29th paycheck. Same for those promoted this year.
(language for the 24-27 CBA is still being finalized; as soon as that is completed, we will post it on our website)
MTA Legal Representation for those threatened with deportation
MTA’s Annual Meeting of Delegates overwhelmingly voted to adopt a new business item brought forward by FSU members. Today, MTA provides legal representation in cases where members are threatened with detention, deportation, and possible removal from the United States. We know this summer MTA Legal worked with higher ed members prior to their travel and assigned an attorney to be on call in case a situation arose upon their return.
Adopting a new business item is not easy but FSU members did it! Only a handful passed this year and ours passed with the largest percentage of support. Congratulations to Sana Haroon, Rania Said, Christopher Fung, Alejandro Reuss, and Nick Juravich for all their hard work.
Reach out: If you need assistance, contact us and we will contact MTA Legal for you. These services are only available to dues paying members.
Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations (DLR) win
We received an awesome July 1st decision. We won an appeal! More details next week.
FSU Contract Success but Not All UMB Unions Have Ratified Contracts
The Human Resources August 26th email informed the UMB community that five of seven unions would be receiving pay raises. What about the two? PSU has been at the table for many months with no real movement, especially on salaries and steps. They need our support. PSU members support us. They support our students. They are advisors, they run the trio programs, and they administer our grants.
Please join PSU members as they stand up for fair wages and a fair contract on Wednesday September 3rd from 1:30 to 2pm. Meet at the union office (Quinn, 2nd floor, near catwalk) to walk across campus. Not able to do so, then head out to the plaza and cheer them on. PSU’s color is green. Consider wearing green in support of PSU.
FSU Executive Committee
The FSU Executive Committee, the governing body of the FSU, represents you. Seats are based on constituency. The president and vice president positions are elected by all dues paying members. The four (4) Tenured Track faculty are elected only by faculty with tenure. Pre-tenure (2 seats), non-tenure track (4 seats) and librarians (1 seat) are elected by their constituencies.
2025-2026 Executive Committee
President: Caroline Coscia Vice President: Jason Rodriquez
Tenured Representatives: Jorge Capetillo, Patricia Krueger- Henney and Brian White
Pre-tenured representatives: Meredith LaferteCoutu and Rania Said
Librarian representative: Andrew Elder
Non-tenure track representatives: Lynne Benson, Monique Fuguet, Karen Grayson and Keith Jones
FSU Executive Committee Fall Meetings
FSU Executive Committee meetings are open to all FSU members. This semester our meetings are Sept. 8th 3:30-5:00PM, Sept. 23rd 11:30- 1:00, Oct. 7th 3:30-5:00, Oct. 22nd 3:30 – 5:00, Nov. 4th 9:30 – 11:00, Nov. 21st 3:00-4:30, Dec 5th 3:00-4:30 and Dec 15th 10:00-11:30. All are in zoom.
FSU Pizza and Cookis Gathering in University Dining Club (UDC)
The tradition continues. Join FSU leaders in the UDC for some pizza, cookies and conversation. Take some time away from your office, relax and enjoy some food. Grab an FSU T-shirt, button or sticker.
This semester we will be there on specific Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 to 1:00. Our first is Wednesday, September 10th. Watch this space for future dates.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, September 10th UDC Pizza and Cookies 11:30AM to 1:00PM
Stop by UDC for some lunch, relax, chat with colleagues and meet new colleagues.
Wednesday, September 17th 12:30 – 1:30 All Union Meeting on Transportation Bargaining
The FSU is in coalition with the Classified Staff Union (CSU), Department Chairs Union (DCU), and Professional Staff Union (PSU) negotiating with administration on parking and transportation. Join us to hear the latest news and provide feedback on the counter proposal. Watch for an email with details.
Annual Faculty Review (AFR) is due on September 15th
Your AFR is due on Monday, September 15th. Once you complete the form, be sure to select ready for review for your submittal.
Membership has Privileges
FSU membership includes MTA Benefits. Check out https://www.mtabenefits.com/ , set up an account and begin saving money.
Sincerely,
Caroline Coscia
FSU President
Senior Lecturer II
Political Science Department