In This issue

Adminstration Spending

More Administration Spending

Akron-AAUP's Negotiating Team

Philosophy's RTP grievance

ITL Grants

PT/Contingent Faculty Meeting

Campaigns at OU and BGSU

AAUP Links

Akron-AAUP Monthly Newsletter: May 2009

Spending on Upper Administration, Cutting Department Budgets - A New Vice President:

Since last month’s newsletter, University of Akron trustees have created yet another new vice president position, at a cost of $142,000. They hired a longtime Republican consultant Scott Borgemenke, 43, to fill the position of “associate vice president of strategy and finance.” Borgemenke's broad job description calls for him to develop ''innovative solutions to challenging problems'' in budgeting and financing. Borgemenke is commuting from his home in Dublin, a Columbus suburb.

He also is to help John LaGuardia, vice president of public affairs and development, to establish relationships within local, state and federal governments and with the governor and other senior officials. That apparently would supplement lobbying UA already has under way with Sean P. Dunn and Associates in Columbus for $162,000 a year, 16 percent more than UA spent the previous year, and with Birch, Hortin, Bittner and Cherot in Washington, D.C., for $36,000 a year, according to records provided by the university.

Borgemenke’s past experience includes being head of the state Racing Commission from 2002 to 2004; trustee for his alma mater, Ohio University, from 2006 until 2008, when he resigned; executive vice president of Canada's Magna Entertainment Corp., the largest owner and operator of race tracks in North America, including Thistledown in Northfield, for about six months in 2008; and last fall he was chief strategist for the Ohio Republican Party. (Read the entire article at Ohio.com, the Akron Beacon Journal web site at http://www.ohio.com/news/43044157.html.)

Other Admin Spending Items:

President Proenza’s bonus:

This additional expense comes right after University of Akron trustees rewarded President Proenza with $85,000 in “performance payments” (see March newsletter here.)

Administrative Leadership Skills Consultant:

The University of Akron is also paying a consultant $25,000 a year, plus travel expenses, to improve the executive and leadership skills of President Proenza and other top administrators. Frank T. Grosser of FTGExecutive Group Inc. in Deerfield, Ill., provides customized coaching under the terms of an agreement that might be the only one of its kind among state universities in Ohio. UA spokeswoman Barb O'Malley said Grosser's services are available to about 40 members of UA's top leadership team, which includes the president, provost, vice presidents and deans. She said Grosser consults on such topics as how to be more productive and efficient. Spokespeople for Ohio State, Kent State, Bowling Green and Cleveland State said they do not employ executive coaches for their top leaders. Some expressed surprise that any institution did. (Read the entire article at Ohio.com, the Akron Beacon Journal web site at http://www.ohio.com/news/43044157.html).

10% budget departmental cuts and salary freeze:

Simultaneous with the President’s $85,000 bonus, the new $142,000 VP position, the $25,000 plus expenses consultant, and so on., the administration has asked all departments to plan to cut 10% from their operating budgets. Many departments have no fat to cut, and so any budget cuts will negatively impact their missions.

Additionally, salaries will be frozen for faculty, staff and contract professionals. John Case, vice president of finance and administration, said the administration is working to close a projected budget deficit of $5 million to $10 million for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1 (see UA Email Digest 4/29). Bargaining unit faculty raises will be negotiated in the next contract, and the administration cannot unilaterally freeze those salaries. They can, however, freeze salaries of staff and others in order to pay for new VP positions and bonuses. Further, while 2009-2010 raises will be negotiated and retroactively applied, the enrollment bonus for any enrollment increase above the FTE threshold for Fall 2009 is guaranteed, according to the contract. Year 2009 is at the end of the list of the other years for which a Fall threshold increase automatically generates a Spring enrollment stipend.

While Akron-AAUP can understand the need for budget cuts if state funding is severely reduced, we would expect such cuts to be shared by the administration. But the administration’s recent spending habits seem to indicate that there is plenty of money available for their priorities. This summer, economist Rudy Fichtenbaum of Wright State University will once again go over the university’s audited financial statements with a fine tooth comb, to analyze exactly where all the money is going. Rudy performed this service for us during negotiations for our last contract, and it was very revealing. We will publicize the results of this investigation in the Fall.

Akron-AAUP's Negotiating Team:

As we learned the last time around, it is never too early to begin planning and strategizing for the next round of negotiations. Our current contract expires December 31st, 2009. Akron AAUP is very pleased to report that Mike Cheung, from Chemical Engineering, has agreed to lead our negotiation team again. You may recall that Mike served as Chief Negotiator during our first lengthy round of negotiations. In preparation for the next round of negotiations, Mike, has selected the following faculty members to join him at the negotiating table:

Linda Barrett from Geography is returning for the second time. (Linda is serving double duty, as she is also our Grievance officer.) New members include
Minel Bran from Mechanical Engineering,
Gary Frank from Accountancy,
Elizabeth Kennedy from Associate Studies,
Kevin Kreider from Theoretical and Applied Math,
Evangeline Newton from Curriculum and Instructional Studies, and
John Reeves from Anthropology.

This dedicated team of faculty have agreed to represent our nearly 700 member bargaining unit at the negotiating table this Summer and Fall 09. While these are certainly tough economic times, we are confident that this team will be ready for strong negotiations and will address the issues faculty have identified as significant on the recent faculty survey. The Negotiating Team, in tandem with the Executive Committee and Communications Committee. have had two day long retreats this semester to review the current contract and note the changes faculty seek. They are ready! Be sure and thank these faculty members when you see them on campus.

Update on Philosophy Department's RTP Grievance:

The Akron-AAUP filed a grievance against the administration last summer because of the administration’s denial of the Philosophy department faculty’s RTP guidelines. Philosophy faculty submitted guidelines that were substantively equivalent to their current guidelines, most notably on the requirements for promotion. The Provost’s office rejected the promotion guidelines, mandating additional scholarly requirements for promotion to full professor. Philosophy faculty resisted this administrative overreach, and we agree. The contract states that RTP guidelines should be “faculty driven.” Faculty in the disciplines are the best judges of RTP requirements, given their departmental mission and disciplinary expectations. This is a fundamental faculty right, and it is guaranteed in the contract.

The grievance is still at the Step-Two stage, as both sides consider possible resolutions. So, while the Akron-AAUP goes forward with this grievance, we encourage other departmental faculty, who may receive similar rejections, to contact the Akron-AAUP and not to acquiesce to unreasonable limitations on faculty rights. Stay tuned for more updates.

Faculty Development Grants via ITL:

We want to remind faculty that as a result of the settlement of the grievance over delayed salary implementation, the university administration created a fund for faculty to support improvements in teaching and learning. From January 2009 until December 15, 2009, all bargaining unit faculty (including those hired this year) are eligible to apply for grants of up to $400 from the remaining funds. There is still money available. People who have already received a grant need to wait one year before re-applying. Dr. Helen Qammar, the Director of ITL, notes that faculty from the same department can combine their $400 awards as long as there is relevant rationale. She suggests that it is helpful if they write the benefits to the teaching mission and/or students in their rationale. They should not present reasons that describe improving research capabilities, as the grant is to support teaching and learning.

This is your money, and we encourage you to apply for eligible support. The remaining funds will be distributed in the order in which proposals are received. To read the guidelines and get the application form, see HERE and then send your application to Prof. Qammar.

Part-time/Contingent Faculty Meeting:

As part of New Majority Faculty Day, honoring contingent faculty around the country, a group of concerned UA contingent faculty met Thursday, April 29 at 7pm in Kolbe Hall to watch two films on the working conditions of part-time/contingent faculty. "Degrees of Shame" and "A Simple Matter of Justice" documented the often appalling treatment of part-time and contingent faculty, who now constitute a majority of teaching faculty in the country. Despite their centrality to higher education, contingent faculty are paid a fraction of what full-time faculty are paid per course, generally receive no health care benefits, and are given minimal institutional support. Many contingent faculty might teach more than a full-time load across two or three institutions, with only a substandard income to show for it. The damage to their professional lives, and to their maximum contributions to higher education, is substantial. Following the films, there was a lengthy discussion about what local contingent and full-time faculty could do, and how their efforts were part of a broader national movement on behalf of contingent faculty.

Notes on the Collective Bargaining Campaigns at Ohio University and Bowling Green State University:

Our colleagues in the western and southern reaches of Ohio are hard at work organizing their faculty unions. Ohio University's progress can be tracked at http://www.aaup-ou.org. The Bowling Green State University Faculty Association's website is https://sites.google.com/site/bgsufa/Welcome. They would welcome any support UA faculty could provide in the form of support letters, and constructive comments. Of course the AAUP's Department of Organizing staff has made multiple campus visits, along with several experienced colleagues from the faculty unions all over Ohio and Michigan. You all know how tough it can be starting out in organizing so please visit their respective websites and offer some positive words Each website has contact information for you to use.