March 24, 2021

FSU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

March 24, 2021 (via Zoom)

Executive Committee Members Present: Steve Striffler; Caroline Coscia; Tracy Brown; Dana Commesso (term begins June 2021); Monique Fuguet; Sana Haroon; Jessica Holden; Travis Johnston; Linda Liu; Jose Martinez-Reyes; Jeff Melnick; Joe Ramsey; Tim Sieber

Others Present: Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator; Katie D’Urso, MTA Field Rep; Maria Brincker; Joel Fish; Aroon Manoharan; Amy Todd; Troy Tower

1. Approval of the agenda and the minutes of the March 3 Executive Committee meeting: Motion to approve the agenda and minutes. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
   
    
2. Welcome Sana Haroon! Introductions from FSU Executive Committee members.
   
    
3. Forums: Today and Beyond: Forum today at 4:00 on Academic Freedom. Upcoming forums on Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, health and safety during fall semester.
   
    
4. Elections: Policy Proposal and Report: Smooth election thanks to Qualtrics. High response rates, especially in contested Tenured election. Elections Committee presents recommended policy changes [see Appendix A]. Motion to approve amended policy changes as presented. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
   
    
5. Grievance Committee: Policy Proposal: Grievance Committee procedures for FSU response to dismissal charges [see Appendix B]. Motion to adopt the policies as presented. Motion seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
   
    
6. Academic Technology Committee: Discussion of HyFlex (“BeaconFlex”) course delivery system. Allows for hybrid model of teaching through cameras and mics in classroom, with students attending both virtually and in person. Will be piloted in the fall semester at UMass Boston.
   
    
7. Annual Meeting: Budget: Wednesday, April 28. MTA Vice President Max Page will attend to give an update on state-level funding. Agenda items include discussion and approval of the FSU budget; introductions from Executive Committee; highlights from the past year; and open discussion. MTA Annual Meeting on April 30 and May 1. FSU will need 15 delegates to go to the meeting. There will be six by-laws and the budget to vote on.
   
    
8. FSU Constituency Meetings: Discussion of meetings for members in each constituency to meet with their union representatives.
   
    
9. Survey: FSU Workload Survey will close this Friday. Approximately 225 responses so far, disproportionately Tenured Track responses.
   
    
10. Student Debt: GBH report (“Massachusetts Public Colleges Are Withholding Transcripts And Degrees From Thousands Over Unpaid Bills”) states that nearly 10,000 UMass Boston students not given their transcripts because of student debt. This is an industry-standard practice and is not antiracist or health promoting. FSU will ask the Chancellor to suspend this policy.

MEETING ADJOURNS

Appendix A: FSU Elections Committee Recommended Policy Changes

The following changes were approved by the FSU Elections Committee for recommendation to the Ex Com---3/24/21

Elections Committee[FSU1] 

The Spring 08 elections will be done using the electronic voting process--- 5/6/08

Adopted Elections timeline (see below) – 11/19/15; amended 3/24/21

All candidates for FSU election will be given in-person access, in the FSU Office, to the list of their voters’ and constituencies’ names and departments during the campaign period. All candidates will be given the opportunity to send one email to their voters and constituencies through the FSU email address. Elections Committee will decide when the email goes out but all the emails will go out the same day. The Elections Committee will have the independent authority to direct the FSU staff to contact the membership regarding elections----2/6/19

Only FSU members in good standing are eligible to participate in elections for the FSU Executive Committee. ‘Good standing’ for purposes of determining eligibility to vote in FSU Executive Committee elections requires the following: (1) that the person in question is in the FSU bargaining unit, (2) that the person in question has beenis a member of the FSU since at least 5 days prior the start of the voting period, (3) that the person in question is not  in arrears regarding dues payments, and (4) that #1, #2, and #3 have been verified at least 530 days prior to the start of the voting period of any FSU Executive Committee election. The FSU Elections Committee will approve the final voting roster and will have authority to remove or add members to and from the roster based on the ‘good standing’ criteria enumerated above.

In cases where there are disputes or uncertainty over a member’s standing, final determination of voting eligibility shall be made by the FSU TreasurerElections Committee. A faculty member or librarian who believes they should be eligible to vote in an FSU election and who has either been removed from the voting roster or has not been placed on the roster may cast a provisional ballot before the end of the voting period provided that they submit a written explanation for why they believe they meet the criteria for eligibility as outlined above (please note: the option of a provisional ballot does NOT apply to members in good standing who have been sent voting information but who indicate that they have had technical problems accessing the ballot). Provisional ballots will only be counted if the counting of such ballots could alter the outcome of an election. In that event, the FSU Elections Committee will provide information to the FSU Executive Committee regarding the membership status of the faculty member or librarian who submitted the provisional ballot. The FSU Executive Committee will then vote to determine whether or not the faculty member or librarian in question may be considered a member in good standing for purposes of voting the election based on the criteria enumerated above. If the Executive Committee determines that the member is eligible to participate in the election, the FSU Executive Committee will instruct the FSU Elections Committee to count the ballot accordingly. ----12/6/19, amended 3/24/21

The FSU will provide all bona fide candidates for the FSU Executive Committee including the office of President and Vice President in the year of their election, with a list of names and the corresponding UMB email address of their member constituency. Candidates receiving such list must sign a statement that the list will be used for election campaigning and not for any use beyond campaigning during the 2 week campaigning period.-----2/11/20

Appendix B: Grievance Committee Proposal for Procedures for FSU Response to Dismissal Charges

Procedures for FSU response to dismissal charges (NOTE: Approved by the FSU Grievance Committee on 3/4/21):

1. The MTA Field Rep and the FSU Membership Coordinator will assess every dismissal charge made by the Administration to determine whether or not there is cause to contest the dismissal charges on behalf of the member. 
2. The MTA Field Rep and the FSU Membership Coordinator will be authorized to request additional information from Admin and to ask recipients of dismissal letters for additional information in response to the charges, if needed.
3. When all relevant information is gathered, the MTA Field Rep and the FSU Membership Coordinator will assess the following: whether or not there is cause to believe that the charges are warranted based on either/both the substance of the underlying charges or the procedures followed leading up to the invocation of dismissal process.
4. If it is determined that the charges are not warranted and that the administration has not reached the contract mandated threshold for justifying dismissal, the MTA Field Rep and the FSU Membership Coordinator will recommend to the FSU GC that the FSU should seek to formally contest the charges on behalf of the member based on either the content of the charges or the procedures followed.
5. If the GC agrees with the recommendation of the MTA Field Rep and FSU Membership Coordinator that there is cause to contest the charges, the GC will select an officer to work with the member on contesting the dismissal. This will include:

1. Attending dismissal hearings
2. Speaking on behalf of the member during the hearings
3. Analyzing information
4. Seeking the help of the GC and MTA if needed

1. If it is determined that the charges are warranted and that the administration has reached the contract mandated threshold for justifying dismissal, the MTA Field Rep and the FSU Membership Coordinator will recommend to the FSU GC that the FSU should NOT seek to formally contest the charges on behalf of the member based on either the content of the charges or the procedures followed.
2. If the FSU GC decides to NOT seek to formally contest the charges on behalf of the member based on either the content of the charges or the procedures followed, the member will be informed. The latter will then have the option of appealing the GC decision to the Ex Com. The Ex Com will then make a final determination on whether or not the FSU will formally contest the charges on behalf of the member after hearing from the latter as well as the GC. If the Ex Com decides that the FSU will formally contest the charges, the GC will be instructed to proceed accordingly with the member. An Ex Com decision to not file charges on behalf of the member will be the final decision on the matter.
3. On every dismissal charge where the FSU is NOT formally contesting the charges the FSU will, to the extent possible, have an officer present during the hearing process to ensure proper procedures are followed. The FSU officer should be a GO but the FSU may assign another officer if a GO is unavailable.
4. On every dismissal charge where the FSU is NOT formally contesting the charges the FSU will, to the extent possible, provide basic advice/information on the procedures, policies, and relevant contract language to the member who received the dismissal letter, should the member ask for it. It must be made clear to the member in this circumstance that the information provided to the member does NOT mean that the FSU has decided to contest the charges on their behalf; rather, the FSU is only providing them with the basic information needed to understand the process.