April 30, 2013- FSU Annual Meeting
FSU ANNUAL MEETING 4/30/13
FSU Members Present: Catherine Lynde Peggy Walsh Amy Todd Beth Clemens Jon Millman Musa Sharif Edward Ginsberg Michael Katz Susan Leveille Conevery Valencius Xiaogang Deng Loan Dao Ronald Cheung John Saltmarsh Tina Mullins
Others Present: Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator
Parking
An update was given on the current parking negotiations: the union coalition has given a proposal to Admin and has suggested mediation to address ongoing differences. The coalition is still waiting for a response. It was also noted that many parking lots (A, B, C, South, and Short-Term) will be closing in the next few months.
MTA Annual Meeting- May 10-11
There was discussion of the need to get FSU delegates to attend the meeting and vote on the resolution concerning the proposed legislation on retiree health insurance.
Report on Governor’s Proposed FY14 Budget
It was reported that the budget contains an 8% increase (about $30 million) in funding for UMass. It is unclear if this increased funding will be enough to prevent tuition/fee increases. It was noted that the House version of the FY14 budget removes $112 million in scholarship money for higher ed. It was also noted that UMB is likely going to be in the red for FY14 due to lower than expected enrollments, insufficient grant revenues, and increased expenditures for expanded academic programs.
Retiree Health Insurance Proposal
It was reported that the Governor’s proposal has been put in committee by the House and will not be voted on until in the fall.
Update: NTT Bargaining
Bargaining ended with no agreement. Admin had pushed to create an ‘adjunct pool’ of NTT who would never get just cause protections in exchange for offering certain FSU members continuous employment contracts. The FSU bargaining team could not agree to any proposal that would deny members (current and/or future) job security protections. Main table bargaining for the successor agreement to the 12-14 contract will begin in Spring 14. NTT issues can be taken up again at that point.
Update: CLA 2/2
Concern was expressed over the impact of the 2/2 pilot program on NTT. It was noted that NTT sections have dropped in many departments but it is unclear if this is due to 2/2 or other factors (lower enrollments, etc.). There was also concern expressed over the pedagogical impacts of increased class sizes as well as the issue of unequal workload (i.e. some colleges will have 2/2 while others do not). Catherine stated that the FSU’s position is that there should be as equal a distribution of workload among members as possible though it was noted that the employer has the right to institute differing job requirements as long as the average workload in the department does not change during the life of the contract and as long as this work is based on scholarship, service, and teaching. It was suggested that the FSU endorse a timeline for the creation of an equal workload distribution to ensure that there are no major discrepancies between colleges. The FSU will continue to monitor this program over the next few years and will negotiate a continuation of the pilot program in 2015.
Vote: FSU FY14 Budget
There was discussion of the proposed budget, which includes a $5 increase in dues. This increase is to cover raises for FSU/JCC staff, increased health insurance costs for staff, and to make up a FY14 budgetary shortfall. It was suggested that the FSU could lower certain expenditures such as newsletter printing costs. A motion was made to enact the FY14 budget. Motion was seconded. The proposed FY14 FSU and JCC budgets were ratified by unanimous vote. (to see the FY14 FSU and JCC budgets contact the FSU office).
New Business
Concerns Over Taking Paid Parental Leave (PPL)- It was noted that when a CLA member takes a PPL departments are not allowed to hire a temporary NTT replacement. This results in an increased workload for colleagues in the department. There are concerns that this will result in a ‘chilly climate’ for requesting PPL’s, especially amongst junior faculty. It was suggested that the FSU come up with a resolution stating that faculty have the right to PPL’s and should not be dissuaded from taking them due to pressure re potential increased workload for other faculty. It was also noted that the 12-14 contract called for the creation of a Gender Equity Study. It was suggested that this issue could be taken up as part of this study.
AFR Issues-Concern was expressed that the current electronic AFR does not include any section in which community engagement work can be easily inputted. It was noted that the FSU opposed a change to the AFR that would have created a separate section for this work. This was due to a concern that such a change would result in un-negotiated changes in workload expectations/requirements. It was noted that community engagement work can still be inputted into the various sections of the AFR.