FSU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
September 25, 2020 (via Zoom)
Ex Comm Members Present: Steve Striffler; Caroline Coscia; Tracy Brown; Monique Fuguet; Jessica Holden; Meghan Kallman; Linda Liu; José Martínez-Reyes; Jeff Melnick; Joe Ramsey; Tim Sieber; Travis Johnston
Others Present: Katie D’Urso, MTA Field Rep; Ann Evans; Joel Fish; David Gorman; Thierry Gustave; Aroon Manoharan; Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator; Eduardo Siqueira; Amy Todd
- Approval of the agenda: Motion to approve. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
- Approval of the minutes of the August 28 and September 11 Executive Committee meetings: Motion to approve. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
- TT Special Election Update: No nominations. Discussion of whether to extend the deadline for nominations. Motion to extend to October 5. Motion seconded. Motion passes.
- Outreach Check-in: Ex Comm members report on their outreach efforts to FSU members. Not many responses so far. We will continue reaching out and may be assigned additional names. Lorenzo: of 16 recently hired TT faculty, 9 have joined the FSU. This is a high ratio for this time of year compared to previous years.
- FSU Forums: Forum on the FSU Response to the Faculty of Color Report was held on September 23 with a good turnout. Linda, Joe, and José have been working on an NTT forum. The format will be a few short presentations followed by a listening session. This forum will likely be held in October. Eduardo: the Faculty Council will vote on their by-laws and constitution to be inclusive of NTT faculty.
- Fall General Assembly Meeting: This meeting will be held on October 7 from 4:00-5:00. There will be note FSU business to vote on (which occurs during each spring general assembly meeting). The format will be 30-40 minutes of presentations followed by a 20-minute question and answer session. Topics may include the role of the union (including the FSU membership coordinator), bargaining updates, the Faculty of Color Report, FSU forums, getting involved with the FSU, the MTA Higher Ed campaign, the Provost search, and the development of Bayside. Discussion of holding an FSU forum on the development of Bayside. The FSU might ask the PSU and other unions to co-sponsor this forum. Tim, Steve, and Eduardo will work on this forum.
- Article 3 – Non-Grievability: Tim provides background on the history of Article 3 and affirmative action violations. Affirmative action violations are not grievable according to the current FSU contract. Discussion of raising this issue in bargaining.
- Anti-Racist Training for Executive Committee: Discussion of MTA-led anti-racist trainings for Executive Committee members. MTA has a group who are leading these trainings. The training would involve multiple sessions.
- Merit: Discussion of the FSU merit process, including possibly bargaining to allow across-the-board allocation of the merit pool.
- UMass Online: Discussion of the plan for UMass Online and how it will affect the UMass campuses. Katie and Jeff will work on submitting an information request so that we can learn more. The FSU might address this in bargaining.
Motion to adjourn. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
MEETING ENDS