April 16, 2024

FSU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 3:30-5:00 pm (Zoom)

Executive Committee Members Present: Caroline Coscia (President); Suha Ballout; Lynne Benson; Monique Fuguet; Jessica Holden; Patricia Krueger-Henney; Linda Liu; Jared Poole; Wei Zhang

Others Present: Lorenzo Nencioli (FSU Senior Staff Member); Maria Hegbloom (MTA Field Rep); Joel Fish; Karen Grayson; Thomas Pyke Johnson

 

1. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the minutes of the April 2, 2024, Executive Committee meeting. Motion seconded. Motion passes.
   
    
2. Chief Diversity Officer: Caroline spoke with Peter Kelly about this position. What is the budget and salary range, and will this position have staff? He responded that he has “great plans” for the position, and that a full plan will be worked out once an individual is hired for this position. Discussion of the potential timing for interviews: if interviews are held during the summer, that is a period of non-responsibility for faculty.
   
    
3. FSU Annual Meeting, April 23: The annual meeting is next Tuesday from 3:00-5:00 on Zoom. We must adopt a budget for FY 25. The meeting will include Executive Committee introductions, our successes over the last year, upcoming activities, a bargaining update from the CBT, and open discussion for member comments and questions. We must have 20 members attend in order to pass the budget.
   
    
4. Health Services Email on Mental Health First Training: Discussion of mental health training to assist students, staff, and faculty. This training will not be mandatory. A member had a concern about this training. Caroline will draft questions for Robert Pomales and will share with the Executive Committee before sending them to him. Will faculty be compensated for the training? Will faculty be covered by any laws/protections? What is the difference between first responders vs. mandated reporters?
   
    
5. Expanded Bargaining Attendance: Healey Library administration has informed all librarians that they must report vacation or personal time if they attend FSU bargaining sessions. This is a violation of past and current practice, as librarians do not report time for attending any other type of campus event, and have not reported time for attending sessions as silent observers (part of the FSU expanded bargaining team) during the last two bargaining cycles. FSU sent a letter to the dean of the library, the assistant dean of the library, the provost, Marie Bowen, and Mickey Gallagher addressing this concern. We are awaiting their response.
   
    
6. Patricia – The Point response: Tony Van Der Meer, Keith Jones, and Jemadari Kamara filed a case with MCAD for unfair labor practices related to retaliation. The Executive Committee released a statement supporting Africana Studies on September 8, 2023. We could reissue that statement in light of the recent MCAD filing. Patricia and Suha wrote a new introductory paragraph for the September statement. FSU will send this out tomorrow to bargaining unit members.
   
    
7. MTA Summer Membership Program: Maria asks if Executive Committee members are interested in joining a New Members Committee. This will be a small committee. Maria can join individuals who have recruitment meetings/conversations with potential new members. Discussion. Concerns about the timing of this program when faculty are so busy – should we postpone until the fall? We have Sodexo gift cards that we can use for these conversations. We could have an end-of-semester ice cream social on campus (UDC on May 8?) and use that as an opportunity to recruit new members. Another update: MTA needs another 12,000 signatures for a ballot question regarding the removal of the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement.

MEETING ADJOURNS