Update on the Market/Compression Issue:

Contract Article 16, Section 9 specifies the procedure for determining how the administration shall distribute money for compression/market adjustment (the procedure is very similar to that used by Cleveland State University). Bargaining unit faculty at the rank of Associate and Full Professors are eligible for this salary increase, and the pool to be distributed is ½% of the total salary pool for 2006-2007 (and for the next two years as well).

See here for full details.

The first step of this procedure is the Deans’ choice of benchmark institutions, which are drawn from the institutions for which CUPA (College and University Personnel Association) collects salary data. The administration had chosen these benchmarking institutions last summer and requested the relevant data to determine how to distribute the money. Each department will be compared with all the schools in this list that have comparable departments.  The CUPA schools chosen for comparison are:  Ball State University, Bowling Green State University, Cleveland State University, Georgia State University, Kent State University, Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Delaware,  University of Toledo, Wayne State University, Western Michigan University, and Wright State University.

However, there were nine departments where comparison benchmark data were not available (CUPA will not release comparison data if the number of comparison institutions is less than 4). The administration and Akron-AAUP have been working with the faculty in those departments to determine mutually acceptable comparator schools. This has been a time-consuming process, but is nearly completed. Since this ½% pool is common to all bargaining unit faculty (unlike merit pool, which is specific to each department), no money can be distributed to anyone until the complete list of comparator schools is finalized. As soon as the list is finalized, the procedure for distributing the money will begin. Any salary increases awarded will be made retroactive to the first pay period of the 2006-07 academic year. (As with other salary increases, the faculty member must be ranked at least “satisfactory” in that year’s merit evaluation to be eligible for the market adjustment.)
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Spring Membership Meeting:

This Spring’s Akron-AAUP membership meeting will be Wednesday April 25, 3:30-5:00 in Student Union Ballroom C. We expect to introduce our newly elected President and Vice-President at this meeting, provide updates on recent business, and have a Treasurer’s report. Refreshments will be provided.
     

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Chapter Elections Underway:

The Akron-AAUP is currently conducting its election for chapter President and Vice-President.  These are two-year terms of office.  Ballots have gone out to the Akron-AAUP membership, and they must be returned by Friday, April 20 at 5pm.  Stamped return envelopes are included with the ballots, which may also be returned by hand to Steve Aby (Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee) at the office address noted on the ballot.  Candidates for the positions have been offered the opportunity to write a 300 word statement.  These will be posted on the Akron-AAUP web site (http://www.akronaaup.org) as soon as they are received.  Running for office, voting in chapter and national AAUP elections, and voting on contracts are some of the privileges that are available only to Akron-AAUP chapter members.  To join the Akron-AAUP, go to our web site and click on the link to membership.

Parking Grievance:

In response to the many of you who sent your comments and concerns regarding the parking situation to Akron-AAUP, on Feb. 12, 2007 Akron-AAUP filed a grievance over the University administration’s action changing the designation of all parking lots on campus to “All Permit.”  The grievance seeks to have the Faculty/Staff designation to those lots that had previously been designated Faculty/Staff restored, to extend the operating hours of the Polsky shuttle until 8:30 PM Monday through Thursday, and that the University shall bargain with Akron-AAUP in the future when changes in parking conditions are anticipated. The grievance process is now beginning “step two”, and the parties met on Monday, April 9th to formally air their respective views of the situation. No resolution. The administration is deliberating, and if the grievance is denied, Akron-AAUP will consider taking the issue to arbitration.   In the meantime, the University administration has convened a parking task force to consider responses to a 2006 parking consultant’s report. The complete 163 page report can be found at www3.uakron.edu/parking/Study-Report.pdf and a two-page MSWord summary at www3.uakron.edu/parking/Study-Summary.doc. Sue Ramlo, who graciously agreed to represent Akron-AAUP on the task force, recommends that faculty read the full report.
 

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Progress of Merit Guidelines:

As of March 30, 2007, thirty-three departments/units have received approval of their merit guidelines.  Twenty-two departments/units have not had their merit guidelines approved.   Departments/units who have not experienced success in approval of their merit guidelines, and therefore have not received their contractual based raises, might want to visit the Akron AAUP website for posted approved guidelines.  If your review process is being delayed for issues that other departments/units have successfully resolved, your AAUP would like to know about that problem.  (http://www.akronaaup.org/Merit/meritFAQ.htm ).  The Akron AAUP continues to gather data from departments/units concerning their experiences of the process and timeliness of their merit guidelines.  This data will be used in the arbitration of our Merit Guideline grievances which will begin on May 4th, 2007. 

If we learned anything from the merit guidelines approval process it is that departmental faculty who maintained their original merit guidelines intent and guarded their interests along disciplinary lines are ultimately going to implement more integrated merit documents.  At this time 33 out of 55 departments have merit guidelines approved by the UA administration, almost a full year since many of them were first submitted for review.  Faculty are reminded that before the semester is out, they will have to submit merit documents for the pay period just passed (Summer 2006, Fall 2006, Spring 2007).

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RTP, and Chair Review Guidelines: -

Faculty are reminded that two additional guidelines processes are imminent -  guidelines for RTP and Chair Review.  Akron-AAUP will aid and assist departmental faculty who seek our advice, and will post information on the chapter website as these become more pressing.  Akron-AAUP urges all faculty to be active in protecting the guidelines already in place, to be cautious about making revisions, to assert the guidelines that your discipline requires, and to stand up for your professional standards when the inevitable conflict occurs.

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$750 Full-Time Enrollment Bonus for Faculty:

All faculty in the Akron-AAUP collective bargaining unit will   receive a bonus check for $750.00 (minus the necessary deductions) on Friday, April 6th.  This is a one-time payment/stipend for the increase in “full-time enrollment” reported for fall semester 2006.  The bonus/stipend is guaranteed in Article 16, Section 10 of our faculty contract which states that an increase of 750-999 FTE from the preceding fall semester will be paid in a lump sum during the following spring semester.   Enjoy!

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AAUP Summer Institute:

Every July, the national AAUP conducts a four-day Summer Institute at a host university around the country.  This July the Summer Institute is at the University of Nevada-Reno.  Typically, about 150 or more AAUP faculty members from collective bargaining and non-collective bargaining chapters around the country attend to take workshops on such topics as healthcare benefits, academic freedom, chapter building, shared governance, strategic communications, contract negotiations, grievances and arbitration, conducting collective bargaining campaigns, and much more.  This July, the Akron-AAUP is sending four chapter members to the Institute, and another two, Steve Aby and Dave Witt will be attending at national's expense as workshop presenters/panel discussants.  By all accounts, the Summer Institute is one of the jewels of the AAUP’s annual list of events.  For chapters, the Summer Institute provides the opportunity to develop leaders for the future.  If you are an Akron-AAUP member, and might like to get more involved in the chapter, consider attending a future Summer Institute.

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See the new and improved National AAUP website at http://www.aaup.org.
 

Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee

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