Akron-AAUP Monthly Newsletter: Feb, 2010

Akron-AAUP Spring Elections

Have you considered becoming more active in your faculty union?  Think about it. Next month you will be receiving an official “Call for Nominations” for two open offices on the Akron AAUP Executive Committee:  The office of Secretary, and the office of Treasurer.  The Executive Committee is the governing body of our Chapter. All active members of Akron AAUP (dues are paid to date) are eligible to run for these voting positions on the Executive Committee.   The elected official will serve a two-year term, beginning May, 2010.

The Secretary’s primary responsibilities include: 1) taking minutes at the bi-weekly Executive Committee meetings and 2) sending notices to university constituents as may be required. 

The Treasurer’s primary responsibilities include:  1) keeping accurate records of all money received and disbursed; 2) retain accurate records of the payment status of members; and 3) certify the chapter members with the national and state AAUP; 4) overseeing the annual audit of our finances conducted by our outside auditing firm. For a complete description of each office read our Chapter Constitution at:

www.akronaaup.org/documents/akronaaupconst.pdf

Contract is On Web Site:

The proof-read and paginated new Collective Bargaining Agreement is now up on the Akron-AAUP chapter web site.  We appreciate everyone's patience while we worked with the university representatives to clean up the official copy.  You will find it readily linked on the chapter homepage at www.akronaaup.org under the Contract tab at the top of the page.

RTP Update

Our new collective bargaining agreement has a new, slimmer, updated version of Retention, Tenure, and Promotion guidelines.  A summary of the RTP changes can be found at
http://www.akronaaup.org/documents/OverviewofNewRTP.pdf

All UA academic departments, schools, and Wayne College will need to amend their previously submitted RTP guidelines, and resubmit them to the Provosts office to comply with the new contract

Contract Implementation Update –  Merit

With the contract signed, one issue on the horizon is the July 2010 start of the second year salary implementation.  As faculty may know, the 2010-11 salary increase includes 2% across the board, .75% merit, 1.5% market adjustments, and .75% special equity adjustments.

For merit, faculty need to keep in mind two procedural matters.  First, we should submit our merit applications for the coming year by the spring deadline.  This is especially important for 12-month faculty, for whom salary increases begin at the end of July.  Second, for departmental faculty who use 3-year rolling averages for merit, you want to be sure that you have your 2009-2010 merit scores in place.  While there is no merit pool for 2009-2010, that figure may be needed to keep up the 3-year rolling average for the coming year’s merit pool.  If we all tend to these procedural matters up front, we can hopefully have a timely and smooth implementation of salary this year.

Same Sex Domestic Partner Benefits:

Faculty who may qualify to apply for same sex domestic partner benefits should do so as soon as possible, using the forms required to make such application.  These forms are linked here and posted on the chapter web site (http://www.akronaaup.org/DomesticPartnerBenefits.html).  Once you have completed the forms and have the required documentation, submit them to either Ms. Sarah Kelly (Director of Benefits) or Mr. Kevin Turner (Assistant Director of Benefits) in Human Resources. 

If your same-sex partner currently has health insurance, it is still worthwhile to submit the forms.  Once registered as domestic partners you will be eligible for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), tuition benefits and all other spousal benefits identified in the current contract. 

Verification of Dependents for Health Care Coverage - Due March 18:

Faculty and other campus employees should have received a form letter requesting that they verify the dependent relationship of various family members covered under the health care plan.  The letter specifies the kind of documentation that is required. 

The actual documents go to the outside company doing this audit.  Take note that to ensure that your family members are covered, the forms are due by March 18.

Summer Institute at San Diego State:

Akron-AAUP chapter members who are interested in becoming more active in the chapter are encouraged to inquire about attending the national AAUP's Summer Institute.  The Summer Institute is in from July 29 to August 1 at San Diego State University.  This is a four-day series of workshops and seminars for faculty activists from around the country.  There are workshops on such issues as contract negotiations, grievance administration, communication, academic freedom, shared governance, health care costs, data mining on issues of faculty interest, and much more.  Also, at least one evening is usually devoted to an outing of some sort.  The last time the Summer Institute was in San Diego, these included going to a Padres baseball game or a night in Old Town.  Read more about this year's SI on the national AAUP website at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/events/SI.htm.  Contact a member of the chapter Executive Committee if you would like to be considered.

April 17th Ohio Conference of AAUP Chapters - Annual Meeting:

Akron-AAUP chapter members are also members of the Ohio Conference AAUP, and are invited to attend the annual conference in Columbus on April 16th and 17th at the Airport Marriott.  There will be workshops on Saturday afternoon on 1) Shared Governance and 2) Increasing the Faculty Presence in Campus Affairs.  The luncheon speaker will be Gary Rhoades, General Secretary of the national AAUP.  In addition, this year the Executive Committee of the Collective Bargaining Congress will be in attendance.  A meeting agenda, registration form, directions, and hotel room reservation information can be found at http://ocaaup.org/documents/2010_ACM_Agenda_Registration_Form.pdf

Developments around Ohio and the Nation: 

  • National AAUP Elections - Candidates for national officer positions and for nine at-large seats on the Association’s governing Council are listed, including our own Steve Aby who is running for member-at-large to the counsel at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/bus/candlist/ .

  • Elections to the Ohio Conference Board are forthcoming. Watch your home mailbox for your copy of Ohio Academe, which lists candidates and their statements.

  • BGSU-FA update - the Bowling Green Chapter has filed their pledge cards with the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), calling for a collective bargaining election.  This week, the BGSU administration challenged the chapter's definition of their bargaining unit, in a typical effort to stall the campaign. Our colleagues have moved mountains to come to this point, with the assistance of national staff Jenn Nichols, Pat Shaw, and new organizer Kira Schuman, and deserve our support and good wishes. Read about the chapter at https://sites.google.com/site/bgsufa/Welcome.

  • Lake Erie College - There is a new AAUP advocacy chapter in Ohio. Faculty at Lake Erie College invited members of the Ohio Conference to campus to talk about shared governance and detail the steps to create a chapter. Steve and Dave, plus Cheryl Casper from KSU and OCAAUP Executive Director Jaimie Pottorf made the trip, which resulted in a brand new chapter up on the lake, with a slate of officers and a spanking new constitution.

  • AAUP moving west - Dave Witt will accompany Mike Mauer from the national office to Las Cruces, New Mexico for a two day visit in early March to the NMSU campus. The purpose of the visit is to form a new chapter from the 1700+ faculty. NMSU has a main campus plus several branches around the state. Take a look at their first draft website at http://www.nmsuaaup.org/. The only other chapter in the state is UNM-Albuquerque.

  • Oregon campaigns - The efforts to build on the C.B. chapter at Portland State, with joint AFT/AAUP efforts at Oregon State and Oregon University, are moving along smartly with several organizers on the ground. Indications are strong for a Fall 2010 election on at least one of the campuses.

  • The embattled CFA - Finally, our colleagues in the California Faculty Association continue to brave the fallout from fiscal difficulties gripping the state (see http://www.calfac.org/). March 4th has been designated as "Save Public Education" day in response to massive faculty layoffs and closing college doors to thousands of California students. You may recall that Akron-AAUP has repeatedly benefited from the advice and experience of CFA veterans. Drop them a line of support.


Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee

Submitted by the Akron-AAUP Communications Committee

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