November 23, 2012
FACULTY STAFF UNION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 11/23/12
Present: Marlene Kim, Kathy Kogan, Peggy Walsh, Steve Levine, John Hess, Larry Kaye, Meredith Hoy
Others Present: Jeff Keisler, TT Grievance Officer; Phil Chassler, NTT Grievance Officer; Al Leisinger, NTT Grievance Officer; Daniel Finn, Administrative Assistant
Announcements/Opening
FSU Newsletter-The FSU newsletter’s release was announced. It was decided that there would not be a release party for the newsletter given scheduling difficulties.
Additional Holidays for Membership Coordinator- There was a motion to establish the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve as a paid holiday for Lorenzo. The motion was seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Teachers' Strike in Haiti- There was discussion of the teacher strike in Haiti. A letter of support on behalf of the FSU Executive Committee for the teacher strike in Haiti was presented. Some minor language changes were made. There was a motion to issue the edited letter of support. The motion was seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Business
Conversion to 2:2 course load in CLA: Marlene and MTA Rep. Mickey met recently with the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Emily McDermott. It was explained that while a great deal of issues require attention, every single aspect could not feasibly be negotiated at the moment. A process was set in place to facilitate solving any problems that may occur, such as, but not limited to, the research standards and process for tenure track faculty to continue to receive CLRs and a process to evaluate and monitor the conversion. Moving forward, it was made clear that all would have to vigilantly monitor changes through the conversion process, look for issues as they arise, and also think of specific language that could address these problems as well.
It was mentioned that the College of Management has for two years now been going through the 2:2 conversion process that the College of Liberal Arts is now beginning. The College of Management could help point to potential issues that might arise as the College of Liberal Arts goes through this process. The discussion ended on the topic of how this conversion could impact students, and particularly with respect to the potential for an increase in class size. It was mentioned that the Dean had assured this conversion process will not be a general shift toward larger classes. It was suggested that a clear method of evaluating the impact on students over the years could be beneficial. One suggestion was to add a question to class evaluations regarding class size. John Hess mentioned that he would be proposing to the NTT caucus that a general effort be made to increase discussion on campus around the topic of class size.
Bargaining:
Bargaining on Distance Learning and Workload/Research support/working conditions discussions have not begun.
NTT bargaining is scheduled for December 12.
Parking: A private lawyer will be representing the administration in negotiations. The first meeting for these negotiations will be on December 18th. A number of different proposals on the parking issue were discussed, such as income-tiered pay scales and geographical price scales, in which lots farther away would cost as little as $2.00. Other suggestions included the incorporation of an employee MBTA discount into any final decision, improved facilities to incentivize biking to campus, and a discount for staff members on campus who, unlike faculty, are required to be on campus five days a week for work. Some voiced concern about the potential for an income based pay scale to prove divisive.
Other Issues:
A number of significant problems were mentioned regarding the email system on campus. Issues included the random disappearance of emails and entire folders of information disappearing from faculty email accounts. It was suggested that IT be contacted and asked to send out a blast email to all faculty explaining what some of the common problems have been and that faculty should look for these and contact IT should they arise.