Akron-AAUP Monthly Newsletter

October 4, 2007

The Administrative Role in RTP Guidelines Revision:

This is a matter for your undivided attention. When the administration and the Akron-AAUP finally agreed on the collective bargaining contract, the general procedures for Retention, Tenure and Promotion were legally set out in Article 13. The Provost's office, under Provost Hickey, had asked for and received revisions of RTP guidelines from departments around campus prior to contract ratification. To complete contract implementation on this issue, each department must review the RTP guidelines they now have in place, and make any modifications necessary to comply with the contract. Faculty need to ensure that the guidelines do not contradict the language in the contract. This is a fairly straightforward and simple matter that will likely not entail substantial changes to existing guidelines.

Nonetheless, there have been concerns raised from faculty across the campus that the administration at different levels has been mandating substantive changes in departmental RTP guidelines as a condition of post-contract approval. If so, it is the position of Akron-AAUP that faculty should resist this and contact the Akron-AAUP Executive Committee to share the particulars. Akron-AAUP would remind faculty that the contract is specific on this matter, and states that writing RTP guidelines, and making revisions to them, is a faculty-driven process (see Article 13, Sections 3 D-G).

While the administration may make suggestions to faculty about what it believes would be improvements in the guidelines, faculty are under no obligation to accept those suggestions. The administration and the faculty have a right to expect sensible changes to RTP guidelines to bring them in line with contract language - period. Substantive requirements for RTP are a matter for the faculty in each discipline to decide according to the contract.

If anyone other than departmental faculty, at any administrative level, attempts to mandate substantive changes in guidelines as a condition for approval of your RTP revisions, the Akron-AAUP believes that they are violating the contract and overstepping their bounds. Administrators may make suggestions - even substantial ones, but they cannot mandate them. Further, we ask you to notify your departmental liaison of any such mandated changes, if you receive them in your department. Liaisons should then contact any Chapter officer with details.

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The Market Salary Adjustment Process Documents on the Chapter Website:

A number of departments are making market based salary adjustments as called for in the collective bargaining agreement. The links below are to three PDF documents which faculty in those departments may find useful:

1) An Overview of The 2006-07 Market Salary Adjustment Process,

2) Instructions for Market Compression Adjustments Effective 2006, and

3) Contract Article 16, Section 9 "Market Adjustment".

These documents are also posted on the front page of the chapter website at http://www.akronaaup.org. Administrators with questions should contact Chand Midha at cmidha@uakron.edu. Bargaining unit faculty with questions should contact Mike Cheung at cheung@uakron.edu.

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Treasurer Election:

Akron-AAUP members are reminded that ballots for the interim Treasurer's Election are due by Thursday, October 11th at 5pm. If you have not received your ballot, please notify Steve Aby at x5171 or at steveaby@mac.com. Members should have received a stamped return envelope along with their ballot. If you would like to read a brief candidate statement written by the candidates, these can be found on the Akron-AAUP web site (http://www.akronaaup.org). Any Akron-AAUP member may attend the counting of the ballots at 10am, Friday October 12th in 178B Bierce Library.
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Domestic Partner Benefits in Ohio:

A recent decision by the Ohio Supreme Court has resolved a critical issue regarding benefits for domestic partners. You will recall that the passage of the Ohio constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage or its equivalent had led some to question whether domestic partner benefits were therefore now illegal in state institutions. This would have had a particularly severe effect on those state colleges and universities that offered such benefits to faculty and staff. However, a recent decision by the Ohio Supreme Court in the Ohio v. Carswell case has confirmed that a number of benefits for domestic partners do not approximate marriage and therefore are legal. For more information on this decision, read a recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer here.

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Departmental Liaisons: Meeting of the Liaisons Set for October 10th

Thanks to reponses by most departments with chapter members, we now have a newly elected set of departmental liaisons. Please see the liaison council listing on the chapter website at http://www.akronaaup.org/general/liaisons.htm. All liaisons listed are asked to meet on October 10th (Wednesday), 3-5pm in Student Union Room 312 for the Fall 2007 Liaison Meeting. At this meeting, the 2007-08 membership campaign will be detailed, and two representatives to the member-at-large positions on the chapter executive committee will be elected

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And finally...

Defining the Duties of Departmental Liaisons:

Since the contract was ratified going on two years ago, new faculty have come on board who may not be familiar with the processes by which we govern ourselves. We urge all faculty to review the current collective bargaining agreement (at http://www.akronaaup.org/Contract/ctract.htm, as well as the Chapter Constitution at http://www.akronaaup.org/documents/akronaaupconst.pdf

Akron-AAUP Communications Committee wanted to take a moment and outline the duties of departmental liaisons so that all faculty might understand how your faculty union can better serve your interests.
Article V of the Chapter Constitution details liaison election procedures and liaison duties. From Article V, Section F:

F. Departmental Liaisons are advocates for the needs of their departments, schools, or equivalent units, resources for
faculty seeking Union-related information, and the persons to whom faculty may take concerns and complaints. Among a Liaison’s duties are:

1. keeping an up-to-date membership list for faculty in the department or area and informing the Akron-AAUP office of the names and current addresses for all new hires, retirees, departing faculty, and faculty taking sabbatical or other leave;
2. serving as a first point of contact for faculty in a department with grievance issues, maintaining contact with Akron-AAUP Grievance Officer(s) concerning faculty grievances, plus notifying the Grievance Officer of any potential problems;
3. serving on the Departmental Liaisons Council;
4. helping to form, with the Executive Committee, study groups to research contract issues and proposals;
5. communicating with other members of the Departmental Liaisons Council about faculty concerns and ideas that should be brought to the attention of the Departmental Liaisons Council and Executive Committee;
6. communicating with colleagues by contacting newly hired faculty in the department or area about the Akron-AAUP, its activities, and membership information; distributing newsletters, minutes of Akron-AAUP meetings, and other important information to colleagues; and presiding over Akron-AAUP meetings within a department whenever necessary;
7. attending and encouraging colleagues to attend Akron-AAUP meetings;
8. participating in activities related to contract negotiations as specified in Article XII.B.

While Akron-AAUP encourages faculty to contact any member of the Executive Committee on any issue of concern, it is the departmental liaisons that are the official faculty first contact. Liaisons are our first line of defense against contract violations, and have all served the interests of their faculty well througout our first two years as a union. We hope faculty will continue to utilize their representative as often as necessary. Once again, a complete listing of current liaisons can always be found at http://www.akronaaup.org/general/liaisons.htm.

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Over two years ago, Akron-AAUP stated that

"Faculty interests are Akron-AAUP interests, so Ask Us Anything"

Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee

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

Back to Akron-AAUP Home Page

In This Issue:

Administrative Role in RTP Revisions

Market Salary Adjustment Documents

Treasurer Election

Domestic Partner Benefits in Ohio

Meeting of the Liaisons Set for October 10th

What Are the Duties of a Liaison?

Past Issues

Ask Us Anything!

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By clicking here, an email window will pop up. Simply type in your question and click to send.

or
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Only Akron-AAUP Officers will read your questions or comments unless you approve wider dissemination.

Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee

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