Letter from the President

Letter from the President

Fall 2015

Dear Colleagues:

I hope you are having a great semester.  The FSU has been busy.  Here is an update on some important issues. 

Raises:

We finally received our retroactive pay in your last paycheck in October. 

This should have included a 1.75% cost of living increase from July 1, 2014 to May 2, 2015, a 0.35% cost of living increase from January 2015 to May 2, 2015, and retroactive merit pay from January 2015 to June 2015.  If you did not receive your retroactive pay, contact payroll and HR as well as the FSU. 

You received another 1.75% cost of living increase on July 1, 2015. 

You will be receiving another 0.35% cost of living increase in January 2016, and another 1.75% in July 2016.

You will be receiving additional merit pay from a 1.45% pool in January 2016. (You received merit pay of the same pool amount in June 2015). 

Despite these benefits, many of you are not members of the union.  Your dues helped pay for the lobbying efforts to get your retroactive pay and stop your health care cost share from increasing (see here for more information).  Those of you who are not members are receiving a letter from me shortly urging you to help us continue to help you by becoming a member.  

Updates:

The FSU, along with a coalition of organizations and unions, is working on the Fair Share Campaign, which will raise $1.3 billion annually for public education and transportation.  See the article here for more on this.

NTT promotions and contract conversion issues:   Eligible NTTs have until December 14 to apply for Senior Lecturer or Senior Lecturer II (check the FSU website or contact the FSU office for prior updates on conversion issues as well as for more details on NTT promotions).

We remain engaged with the Administration on a number of issues related to converting to the new contract, including counting years of service prior to 7/1/14 and the impact of delaying implementing this new contract on promotional criteria from the old contract. We’ll keep members updated on the progress of these talks.

The agency responsible for accreditation of higher education institutions, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ Commission (NEASC), is reviewing and changing accreditation standards to the detriment of non-tenure track faculty.  Equitable treatment and job security of NTTs would be reduced.  Please sign the petition here http://509.seiu.org/page/speakout/cihe-standards to oppose these changes.  For more information on these changes, please click here http://higherroadma.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2011_2015_CIHE_Faculty_Standards_Compare.pdf

2:2 in CLA:  The FSU will be sending you an electronic survey to help us evaluate the 2:2 in the College of Liberal Arts.  Please fill this out when you receive it. 

Got a problem, question, or want to help on any of these issues?  Contact us.

Sincerely,

Marlene Kim

FSU President