Faculty Staff Union New Academic Year Welcome

9/3/2024

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 new faculty, welcome to campus. It was a pleasure meeting you at the new faculty orientation.

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.

2024-2025 Executive Committee

President:  Caroline Coscia          Vice President: Sana Haroon

Tenured Representatives: Suha Ballout, Patricia Krueger- Henney and Wei Zhang.

Pre-tenured representatives:  Jared Poole and Rania Said

Librarian representative: Andrew Elder

Non-tenure track representatives:  Lynne Benson, Monique Fuguet, Karen Grayson

FSU Executive Committee Meetings

FSU Executive Committee meetings are open to all FSU members.  Meetings are being held on Tuesdays from 3:30PM to 5:00PM in Zoom. Fall semester meeting dates are September 10th, 24th, October 8th, 22nd, November 12th, 26th and December 10th.

All Member Meeting

Save the date! Wednesday, October 9th 11:30 – 1:00. Join us to hear about our activities, enjoy a bite to eat and meet colleagues.

Special election:

The Executive Committee is short one tenured member and one non-tenured track member. We will be holding a special election in October to fill these positions with the selected member’s term beginning immediately.

If you are interested in collaborating with colleagues in making working conditions for us and our sister unions the best they can be then please consider running for these seats.

FSU communications

Nuts & Bolts is sent on Monday mornings. It contains a variety of items including policies, FSU actions, upcoming events, MTA benefits and actions we ask you to take.

The Point provides members with information related to the labor movement and emerging campus issues.

In addition, your Core Bargaining Team (CBT) sends contract bargaining updates to keep you abreast of what is taking place as we bargain a new collective bargaining agreement. The FSU Elections Committee has its own email account for information on elections.

FSU, MTA, and NEA

When you join the FSU, you are also a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and the National Education Association (NEA). The MTA works at the state level for policies that benefit public higher education whereas the NEA focus is at the federal level. Each provides member benefits. Watch Nuts & Bolts for their membership discounts.

Massachusetts Teachers Association: Local Representative

The MTA supports each local union from K -12 to public higher education. Each local is assigned a representative to assist on a variety of issues. Maria Hegbloomn is our representative. She was a faculty member at Bridgewater State University, so she is very well versed in our issues.

FSU Office

Lorenzo Nencioli is our super-duper senior staff person who truly keeps FSU going. The union office is in Quinn, second floor, room 81 (at the catwalk between Quinn and Healey). Lorenzo is on campus Wednesday and Thursday. The email is fsu@umb.edu

Social Security Fairness: Repeal the Government Pension Offset

Last semester we provided a workshop about the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provisions. These two laws, enacted under President Reagan, reduces your earned social security benefits if you also receive a state pension. Also, if you are eligible for spousal social security benefits, they too may be reduced. If you are impacted, please check out https://ssfairness.org/ and take action to assist in the repeals.

Reminder:  Annual Faculty Reviews are due no later than September 16th. Librarians annual report is due September 10th. FSU service is university service!

This is your union, and our ability to shape UMass Boston and public higher education policy depends on collective action and your participation. If you have not yet joined the FSU, we encourage you to do so.

Have a great semester and do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Caroline Coscia                                 

FSU President                                   

Senior Lecturer II                               

Political Science Department