November 8, 2010
FSU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 11/8/10
Members Present: Heike Schotten Larry Kaye John Hess Catherine Lynde Phil Chassler Ling Shi Linda Dumas
Others Present: Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator
Announcements:
Newsletter- There was unanimous positive feedback for the work of Dorothy Nelson, FSU Communications Director, on the Fall 10 newsletter.
Pay Raises- It was reported that the 6/30/10 1.5% pay raise was implemented and should appear in members’ paychecks in November. The retroactive portion should be paid before the end of the calendar year.
FSU Uncollectible Dues and Agency Service Fee
The Ex Com was asked to vote to approve a list of bargaining unit members who the FSU was not able to collect dues or the agency service fee from in 09-10. This list indicates that the barg unit members were invoiced but did not pay. A vote to approve this list would acknowledge that the FSU will not now or in the future be able to collect 09-10 dues from said bargaining unit members. A motion for this vote was made. Motion was seconded. A vote to approve the 09-10 list of FSU uncollectible dues and agency service fee was passed unanimously.
Upcoming Orientation Meeting
The FSU will be planning two orientation sessions for members on 12/6 and 12/7. FSU’s MTA Consultant Mickey Gallagher will help craft an agenda for the meeting with FSU President, Catherine Lynde. John Hess and Linda Dumas agreed to help with other planning elements of the orientation as needed.
Part-Time FSU Staffer
CL indicated that she would like to hire a part-time (half or quarter time) staffer to work as an internal organizer. This position would focus primarily on activating the tenure stream faculty members and it was hoped that a retired tenured faculty member might be hired for this position.
Upcoming Contract Negotiations
There was discussion of planning contract negotiations for the 13-15 contract. It was noted that bargaining for this contract would begin in AY 2011-12 and that a negotiation team will have to be put together before next year. Marlene Kim indicated that she will serve again as a team member. Larry Kaye indicated that he will consider serving again. Ex Com members are asked to consider other possible negotiation team members; (send suggestions to Catherine Lynde and/or the FSU office). There was discussion of the need to develop materials to be used to solicit input from members on bargaining priorities. It was suggested that the FSU use the MTA’s survey technology. It was also suggested that the FSU do outreach directly to departments by attending departmental meetings, etc. to solicit input.
Service for NTT Faculty
There was discussion of the need to clarify the service requirements for non-tenure track faculty. There is ambiguity in our understanding of the role of service in the CBA.
Merit for NTT Faculty
There was discussion of the problems associated with the allocation of merit for NTT. It was noted that many departments do not inform their NTT that in order to qualify for merit the latter are required to complete AFR’s, while others do. It was reported that (1) the new contract stipulates that merit pool A is divided into tenure track and non-tenure track pools, and (2) Peter Langer in the Provost’s Office agrees that NTT faculty will not be penalized for years in which NTT were not notified of the AFR requirement. (We propose an across-the-board award in such cases.)
Resolution to BOT
There was discussion of the Board of Trustees’ search for a new president. It was noted that the search has not been open to public scrutiny. It was decided that the FSU Ex Com will send a letter to the BOT urging them to make the search process open to review by and participation of the UMass community
Website
The FSU is still working on the re-design plans for the new website; (it was on hold during the election campaign process). Lorenzo Nencioli will continue to research web design options.
FSU representative needed for fee waiver committee
The PSU contract calls for a system wide, all-unit, labor-management committee to examine UMass’s fee waiver policy for spouses and dependents of employees. The goal is to determine a way to restore the benefit to its original intent. (It began as a tuition waiver policy only, but fees were minimal at that time. Now they are several times tuition). The FSU needs to find a representative to this committee which is to convene in Spring 2011. Catherine Lynde indicated that the FSU would send an all-member email asking for volunteers.