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April 21, 2021

FSU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

April 21, 2021 (via Zoom)

Executive Committee Members Present: Steve Striffler; Caroline Coscia; Monique Fuguet; Sana Haroon; Jessica Holden; Travis Johnson; Meghan Kallman; Linda Liu; José Martinez-Reyes; Jeff Melnick; Joe Ramsey; Tim Sieber

Others Present: Lorenzo Nencioli (FSU Membership Coordinator); Elizabeth Fay (FSU member); Joel Fish (FSU member); Nardia Haigh (FSU member); Eduardo Siqueira (FSU member)

  1. Approval of the agenda and the minutes of the April 9 Executive Committee meeting: Motion to approve the agenda and minutes. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.

     
  2. Annual Meeting: Discussion of agenda for Annual Meeting. Will include PowerPoint presentation. Max Page will speak about Cherish Act and higher education funding. Meeting will not be recorded.

     
  3. Antiracism/Discrimination Suits: Tim speaks about plan for FSU exit interviews with departing faculty and librarians of color. FSU could hire a graduate student from the Leadership in Education Program to research recent departures. $9000 per semester to hire the student. Collect the data during one semester, analyze the data during the next semester. Another option would be to form collective of faculty colleagues to conduct interviews. Tim, Sana, and Meghan express interest in conducting interviews. Discussion of IRB approval, funding sources, interviewing departing white faculty to create a source of comparison. Discussion of discrimination case settlements: retainer fees are very high, huge expense for faculty members bringing cases forward.

     
  4. Library Resources: Discussion of library funding, resources, staff, new building. Build coalition with faculty, librarians, GEO graduate students. Lobby the administration for more funding. We need library resources and services to create an antiracist institution.

     
  5. Workload Survey: Results will be published soon. 100 pages of open response comments.

     
  6. UMass Online/UMass Global: Discussion of UMass Online. Overlaps in programmatic offerings. UMB online courses are being listed under UMass Online. How can we creatively use our online platforms to bring students back to our classes and UMB instructors? UMB purchased Brandman University, an online university, which will eventually become UMass Global—more tailored toward adult learners, not as Massachusetts-focused (money grab). UMass Online more targeted toward Massachusetts students pursuing courses both face-to-face and online.

     
  7. Annual Budget Presentation: Monique presents FSU budget proposal. Three membership dues increase scenarios: $15, $25, and $35 per person. With $15 increase, we break even. With $25 increase, we could build reserves and/or fund additional programs. Discussion of various line items. Motion to recommend $25 dues increase to the FSU membership. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Membership will vote whether to approve the dues increase at the FSU Annual Meeting on April 28.

MEETING ADJOURNS