Executive Board Minutes
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (January 21, 2004)
Attendees: Brenner, Luce, Reardon, Boyer, Clawson, Karasz, Spencer, Robinson, Ishii, Turner, Barker, Phillis, Krishnamurty, Page, Lafollette, Stamps
Dan began the meeting, and started with a discussion of the retreat. The retreat will take place on Friday January 30, 12:00 to 3:00, Campus Center 101
The people we are trying to get there is 1) all of us; and 2) good people willing to do some work.
The idea is that we are going to try and work in committees. Suggestions from Dan are:
Communications
Politics and Lobbying
Research and Education
Member Services
Department Rep and Internal Organizing
Non-Tenure Track Member Issues
Retirees
We then opened it up to discussion, and discussed several issues. These included the best way to develop a deeper layer of people active in the union; organizing our work into tasks that are manageable for people; how to approach the budget fight; how to prioritize the retro pay; and what role the retirees should play, among others.
After much discussion, we agreed to have only three committees proposed at the retreat, with following board members taking charge of each:
Communications: Randy, Max, Laetitia (this committee will also coordinate the newsletter with Man and Doron, as well as the contract survey with Sundar)
Politics and Lobbying: Mark
Member Services: David
Our priorities are probably going to be: Retro Pay, Budget Fight, Building for Next Contract
We had a discussion about who we should invite. We finally agreed that what we'll try is to send out an action alert inviting people, and that we'll try and recruit the active layer from last semester.
Dan then made a series of announcements and raised a series of votes, including:
Delayed raise payment - we think we'll get our raises as of 1/30
PDF - Dan reported that we are fighting for the PDF money, which is 2% of their salary.
David Kirk - Jenny moved that we allocate $150 to bring David Kirk to campus in April. We voted 14 to 1 in favor.
David Bacon - February 5th is a presentation by labor journalist David Bacon from his recent trip to Iraq. We agreed to allocate $50 for the event, and co-sponsor the event. We voted 11-4 in favor.
We approved, unanimously, to send a formal thank you letter to Stan Rosenberg for all his hard work on getting the veto of UMass' supplemental appropriation over-ridden, and Dan encouraged everyone to write him a letter.
Max proposed that we send a formal letter to the Provost search committee, saying that we hope that the provost who is chosen is not hostile to the union, and Jenny and Dan agreed to do so.
Randy Phillis said that the UMass President's search committee is not going to have a public component. It will be a closed process. Jenny suggested that we send someone to the first faculty senate meeting and raise this issue publicly, asking whether the process will be public, hoping we will have input. Alan will go to the faculty senate meeting to raise this issue.
The meeting adjourned.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (February 11, 2004)
Attendees: Clawson, Boyer, Spencer, Ferguson, Barker, Barringer, Ishii, Krishnamurty, Karasz, Brenner, Phillis, LaFollette, Page, Goldman, Reardon, Robinson (and Steve Brewer for the wiki demo).
We approved the minutes from the last meeting.
We discussed the issue of raises for Heads and Chairs. It appears that many of them might not get paid their raises until next fiscal year, and people wanted to see how we should respond.
Ann moved that after talking to a few more Heads and Chairs we organize a preliminary meeting to see how they want to respond to this. We voted 10-1 in favor of organizing this meeting.
Steve Brewer and Randy Phillis demonstrated the MSP forum/discussion list website. They explained how it works and we discussed how we could use it.
We turned to the retreat. We will organize the retreat around:
Legislature and Lobbying
Member Services
Contract Bargaining and Research
The officers will discuss more of the logistical details at their next meeting.
Turning to the budget, it appears that Romney's budget is $11 million lower than what it would take to level fund the University plus pay the raises. If you assume that the supplemental increase we received last semester counts in the base budget then Romney's budget is $21 million short. If you include raises for heads and chairs and such, then we are down $26.5 million. We also discussed the pension changes and the changes with in the healthcare issues. Mark volunteered to work with Frank to stay on top of the changes in healthcare and benefits.
Finally we considered a resolution put forward by MSP member Paula Chakravartty against the SEVIS fee for international students. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (February 25, 2004)
Attendees: Clawson, Ishii, Barringer, Barker, Turner, Page, Robinson, Ferguson, LaFollette, Karasz, Boyer, Luce, Brenner, Reardon, Spencer, Goldman
We approved the minutes from last meeting.
Doron gave us a presentation on the direction of the newsletter, and we discussed several ideas about how to expand our circulation and scope.
Beth and Frank reported on the proposed pension reforms. There are two proposals. The first is Romney's proposal, which completely restructures the pension system to our substantial disadvantage. The second is the "Bulger proposal" which will put a cap on the maximum pension you can draw. We have hired the Mercer Group to do some actuarial scenarios for us, which should be available in a few weeks.
Melissa raised the issue of whether the ORP is actually legal as an alternative to the state retirement system, because normally Social Security alternatives are required to contribute at least 7.5% and our ORP only contributes 5%.
Romney is also proposing several changes to the healthcare.
We then turned to the reports from the retreat:
Bargaining (Melissa reported)
The bargaining team discussed: the bargaining survey; funding of the contract and how it is done; a step system; sabbatical changes; how to put disincentives into the contract so the administration does not leave our contract unfunded; healthcare costs; increasing the number of tenure track faculty; childcare; dental plan; nontenure track issues (parental leave, tenure/job security, etc.); parental leave protection
Retiree Group (Jenny reported)
Worked on integrating the retiree initiatives into the overall MTA/MSP organizing agenda.
Member Services (Jenny reported)
Their big focus was the rep system and they also discussed the newsletter.
Legislative and Lobbying (Mark reported)
There were three issues: a lobby day in April; events at the State Democratic Convention; MTA convention in May and the leadership retreat in August
Ann reported that Robert Paul Wolff will do something on the value of public higher education for the MSP forums committee. We suggested that it be on May 6th.
Max reported that the MSP is sponsoring a lunchtime talk on April 22nd by David Kirp (author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line)
We unanimously approved a motion to allow Arlene Isaacson access to her office at the MTA while on unpaid leave.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (March 10, 2004)
Attending: Clawson, Karasz, Barker, Boyer, Phillis, LaFollette, Ferguson, Barringer, Ishii, Goldman, Sanders, Luce, King, Reardon.
A draft Bargaining Survey for this year's contract negotiations has been distributed to the board for review and suggestions. Comments should be directed to Melissa Barringer.
Bargaining support groups will be formed to help provide resources and information for the Bargaining Team. There will be 4 groups to cover the following topics:
1. Nontenure system faculty issues
2. Increasing the number of tenure system faculty and librarians
3. Salary and Benefits
Comparative data with other institutions
Step -based COLA increases
4. Family issues
Some data on tenure system faculty at UMass-Amherst since 1994-95 to 2002-03 are now available on a department by department basis. In brief they show:
Tenure system faculty fell from 1071.8 to 893.7 (with ~100 more lost since then)
Non tenure system faculty have increased from 130.6 to 209.9
Tenure system faculty are still teaching similar numbers of students, but many more students are now taught by non tenure system faculty.
Bargaining timetable is just being determined
The Survey will go out by 3/20
Exchange of proposals between MSP and administration will occur in April
Richard Sanders emphasized the importance of maintaining the coalition with other bargaining units on campus. Many of these units have had much more contentious relationships with the administration, and suffered greater losses than the MSP. Total employees at UMass-Amherst has fallen from 6000 to 4000 in the past 7 years.
MTA statewide meeting is coming up and will be attended by Dan, Jenny, Max and Beth. Important issues include:
Creating a Higher Education Institute for research/policy development for issues relevant to public higher ed.
Approaches for the upcoming Democratic conventions.
State convention - May 8, 2004 - Mullins Center - UMass Amherst
National Convention - Fleet Center - Boston
Development of a unified message for lobbying.
Budget Lobbying at Statehouse Day
An effort is underway to maintain the tradition of Statehouse Day for lobbying for the University Budget as a whole in late March, early April.
Continuing efforts are underway for reviving the Department Rep system.
Issues include:
Rewards/recognition for reps
Availability of tools, information
College based senior reps to coordinate department reps
Heads and Chairs have not yet received their raises
Professional development is still unresolved. A motion passed unanimously that if no resolution occurs by the next board meeting, plans will be made for clear actions to be taken. Filing of grievances by affected members (all members are affected) was suggested.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (March 24, 2004)
Attendance: Brenner, Luce, Ishii, Page, Barker, Ferguson, Barringer, LaFollette, Sanders, Turner, Clawson, Spencer, Reardon, Boyer, Karasz, Phillis, Krishnamurty, Grosse, King.
We approved the minutes from last meeting.
Ann Ferguson Note to Wednesday May 5th, at 4pm there will be a forum sponsored by the forums committee.
Professional Development Update - There will be a meeting between April 1st between Jack Wilson, Ed Sullivan, Kathy Kelley, etc. Max suggested that we also consider filing a collective grievance. We discussed the pros and cons of this strategy. We voted to constitute a committee to investigate ways to pressure the administration, and Max will convene it. Dan, Max, Frank, Ian, Naka will work on a rapid response.
Bargaining Update - Our bargaining survey went out to the membership and we set March 30th as the deadline. Stephanie reported on the non-tenure track faculty meeting. One issue that was articulated was the need for an Ombudsperson for the non-tenure track faculty within the MSP, who could basically field questions on non-tenure track faculty and their issues. We discussed whether there was a conflict of interest between non-tenure and tenure-track faculty
Lobby Day - Max and Dan reported on Lobby Day. The possible dates will be Wednesday April 14th, or Thursday April 15th (to be decided by the lobby day committee immediately following the board meeting). We unanimously approved expenditure for two busses (approx. $1600) to go to Boston for Lobby Day.
Democratic Convention Update - Jenny reported on the State Democratic Convention. May 8th is the date. There will be a labor breakfast, and a youth track. We voted to approve a $200 expenditure on a table inside the convention. We also agreed to pursue an outside strategy, focusing on leafleting delegates as they move from the Mullins Center to the Campus Center. We agreed with the MTA that it would be good to do a double-sided flier with Higher Ed issues on one side, and K-12 issues. We will also try and produce a flyer of our own for the leafleting between the Mullins and Campus Center.
Expenditures - We will table the issue of NCHE membership, and talk to some folks who are active in it to see if it's worth it.
We had a lively discussion of political donations and how we should do political action. Strong sentiment was expressed to establish some more transparent procedure for making these decisions. In the meantime:
We voted 9 to 5 in favor of paying $125 to send a representative to a John Rogers reception in Boston.
We voted unanimously to send $35 to Jobs with Justice to support a low-income attendee to their annual banquet April 1st.
We voted unanimously to approve $400 for the bargaining training.
We voted 10 to 4 to approve $50 to send to Steve Kulik per his solicitation.
MTA Convention - We discussed the MTA convention, which is May 20-22nd.
Dean and Isabel have been working on the convention, and we should approach them to be sure we are not duplicating effort. We took volunteers from the board to attend. It looks like our delegates will be Mark, Sundar, Ian, Christine, Dean, and Isabel, as well as any others who are interested (we have up to 19 delegates allotted to our union).
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (April 7, 2004)
Attendees: Phillis, Ishii, Reardon, Boyer, Brenner, Spencer, Goldman, Clawson, Barringer, Barker, Robinson, Luce, Grosse, Krishnamurty, Karasz, Ferguson, LaFollette, King.
We approved the minutes from last time.
Bargaining - We announced the bargaining training, Friday April 9th, 2-5 p.m. We invited interested board members to attend (please contact Mark Brenner: brenner@econs.umass.edu). We discussed that the bargaining survey, and agreed that we would talk to dept. reps about why or why not people filled out the survey.
Lobby Day Report - Two buses are reserved and 70 students signed up. We, however, have only 8 MSP members signed up as of today. We need to try and really reach out to our own members as well as other union members to "get on the bus". Dan also reported that things look very good for the retro pay (according to Ed Sullivan who has been in close touch with Tom Finneran). Randy, Naka, Mark, Dean will all be likely to attend lobby day.
Professional Development Money -Ed Sullivan, Cathy Boudreau, and Kathy Kelley had a meeting with Jack Wilson. Wilson said he is committed to fully funding the contract, including PD money, but he needs two weeks to sort out where the money is. We will follow up in two weeks.
Nominations Commission - Will meet next week to put together a slate for the empty board slots, as well as the MTA convention slots.
Democratic Convention - UMass unions are contributing $500 to the town committee party on Friday May 7th, 8pm - 10pm, Campus Center auditorium. We are co-hosting the labor breakfast from 7-9am 3rd floor of the Mullin Center. We have two union tables inside the convention, and we are looking for volunteers to help with those, as well as possibly doing tours during the panels. Volunteers - Dan C., Laetitia (will go an admissions tour and help on the tours the day of), Christine K. will do a tour of Nursing.
Forums - May 5th, 4-6 p.m. Campus Center 101. Robert Paul Wolff: "The False, the Truth, and the Real of Public Higher Education". We will ask Max to be a discussant for his talk.
Health Fare - Tuesday April 27th. 10pm to 2pm, SUB. Need to go for two reasons: 1) there are a lot of plans that are getting discontinued; 2) you can also sign up for life insurance without a physical exam.
PAC - We had a discussion of the pros and cons in terms of the PAC. We need to set up a committee to study a PAC: (Jenny, Dan, Mark).
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (April 21, 2004)
Attendees: Ishii, Boyer, Phillis, Reardon, Luce, Robinson, Barker, Barringer, Page.
We approved the minutes from the last meeting.
Lobby Day Report: About 100 people from our campus went to Boston last week. The down side was that relatively few bargaining unit members went. The upside was that students have a ton of connections with reps that we had no idea about, and this may help us in the future make connections as MSP to the legislature. The trick will be figuring out how to institutionalize those connections.
Report on the Budget: Overall there is a 2% cut for the budget, because our salaries are a separate line item. Counting the salaries it's a 5.4% increase. We discussed the pros and cons of what is happening and how to approach it.
Staffing Report: Dan reported on the staffing committee's work, and we authorized the personnel committee to move ahead with the advertising.
Democratic Convention Planning: Mark reported on both the inside and outside strategy for the state convention. The inside strategy is very much in place. We are going to put the date in the next email alert and try and recruit people to participate in both the inside and outside strategies.
2005 Budget for MSP/JCC: Dan presented a proposed budget for next year. We discussed it, and Max suggested that we constitute a committee to examine our dues structure, to report by Dec. 15th back to the board. We voted to recommend the proposed budget to the General Assembly, including a 10 dollar dues increase for the MSP portion of total dues.
Bargaining Update: Mark reported on the results of the bargaining survey. We discussed priorities and strategies and we agreed to address this at the next board meeting. We also reported that we are going to get our PD money, the details will be forthcoming soon.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (May 5, 2004)
Attendees: Karasz, Reardon, Boyer, Ferguson, Ishii, Page, Luce, LaFollette, Barringer, Barker, Fite, Clawson
We unanimously approved the minutes.
We discussed our bargaining issues and proposals.
We discussed our plan for the State Democratic Convention and made a very strong pitch for all the board to be there for the whole event.
We reported on the PD money, which will be added to the payroll sometime before the end of June.
Max Page proposed the following motion: "We, the MSP, endorse the strike of Teaching Assistants at Columbia University, and encourage the university to follow the law and begin bargaining."
This motion passed 8-0-1.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (June 15, 2004)
Attendees: Reardon, Boyer, Luce, Clawson, Brenner, Spencer, Ishii, Turner, Grosse
We discussed the MSP's mobile parking pass and decided to give it to Lori for this year, and evaluate after a year whether to keep it or not.
We discussed bargaining and how it's going.
We then discussed PD money. Basically, the deal that we negotiated with the administration provides that you get PD money even if you are on leave without pay, even if you are on soft money, and even if you are leaving in the summer.
We talked about MSP staffing. We have narrowed our applicant pool down from 26 to 4 and are about to start interviews.
Dan has been appointed to the MTA strategic directions committee and Mark to the grassroots initiatives committee.
Dan has also met with the new student government leadership.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (July 13, 2004)
Attendees: Reardon, Boyer, Brenner, Barrington, Barringer, Barker, Spencer, Page, Clawson, LaFollette, Lawrence.
We unanimously approved the minutes from the last two meetings.
We started our meeting with a discussion of the retro pay. Although we have no indication to the contrary, we have not received our retro as of yet. We still believe it will be passed this month and the legislature will have time to override any Romney veto.
Lori reported that we have finished the lawsuit with the National Right to Work Committee, and started collecting the settlement money.
Dan gave a report on the MSP hiring process. We got 30+ applications. We interviewed 9. We then narrowed it down to 2 finalists. Out of the two, we decided to offer the job to Ferd Wulkan at $40k and he has accepted, subject to board approval.
Melissa gave a bargaining report, which we discussed for quite a bit.
Dan gave a quick report about the Provost's letter to Deans regarding to academic planning. We suggested that as a response we have a meeting with John Lombardi and Charlena Seymour first to clarify what this letter means, and second to express our opinions.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (August 3, 2004)
Attendees: Reardon, Boyer, Wulkan, Brenner, Clawson, Barker, Barringer, McCarthy, Turner, Lawrence, Barrington, Ishii, LaFollette, Spencer.
Retro Pay Update - We expected the legislature to pay our retro pay by July, and they kept saying they would take it up early. However, they haven't done it yet, and there is concern that it won't be paid until after November. The problem is that the legislature doesn't want to vote on the supplemental budget before the election because Romney wants to force them to vote on a proposed tax cut. We agreed to send out a retro pay email alert ASAP.
After we achieved a quorum we approved the minutes with one abstention.
Introductions and Greeting of New Staff - We went around and introduced ourselves and said a little about who we are and what we do.
Campus Health and Safety Issues - USA is planning a health and safety campaign during the Fall semester. They are trying to get building coordinators to agree to take pictures (with disposable cameras they provide) of H&S problems in their buildings. Their campaign is working with a H&S lawyer from MTA, and they have done a campus tour where they revealed that at least two buildings on campus could be closed at present. We also discussed the problem in the library, where a large piece of concrete fell through the ceiling in the main section of the periodicals room two weeks ago (a 1.5 by 2.5 foot piece of concrete!). Ferd will be coordinating this within MSP and so we should use our networks to try and recruit a member or members to be a part of this committee.
Report on Bargaining - Melissa gave a bargaining summary and we had a lot of discussion about what the administration is proposing and where we are.
Main Item: Fall Campaign on Tenure Track Faculty - Dan laid out a proposal (attached to the agenda) for how we could mount a campaign to increase the number of tenure track faculty on campus. Jenny recommended that we also frame our case in terms of the national picture, and that the Faculty Senate should be brought in. We need volunteers.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (September 8, 2004)
Attendees: Wulkan, Boyer, Spencer, Ishii, Turner, Luce, Ferguson, Grosse, Lawrence, Jensen, LaFollette, Barker, Barringer, Page, Reardon, Clawson, Brenner.
We approved Laura Jensen and Tom McCarthy for two open board seats.
We approved the minutes of the August 3rd minutes.
Announcements - Len Paolillo is running for the state retirement board. He is an MTA member in higher education, and we should encourage MSP members to vote in the election, rather than throw away those ballots.
Nominations committee will be finishing its mandate this fall, filling empty board seats.
Library Construction Update - We got an update about library construction, and the health and safety issues involved. (There was a second big incident of the construction crew breaking through the ceiling). We suggested that an (honest) construction update be posted outside the library.
Bargaining Update - Bargaining resumes next week. We discussed various aspects of the bargaining. We also discussed what is happening with our retro pay, which is supposed to
New Member Contacts - Lori gave us a series of updates. We have about 100 new bargaining unit members, and we have been attending orientations in person. One of the big issues that we found in these meetings is the retirement package choice. There is virtually no good information from the administration and so we are organizing a new faculty orientation on retirement options for Sept. 23rd.
Newsletter - Ferd gave a brief overview of what we are covering in the next issue of the newsletter. He also asked people to sign up to do a personal contact of new faculty in their department.
Politics - We discussed the Nov. election and whether and in what capacity we should be involved in it. Dan is interested in forming a politics committee for the union and requested that others who are so inclined contact him.
Faculty Decline - Dan reported on recent developments among the higher-ups in the administration, and we discussed if or how we should respond.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (September 22, 2004)
Present: Barringer, Barker, Chakravartty, Clawson, Grosse, Ishii, Kamat, King, Luce, McCarthy, Spencer, Turner; Boyer, Reardon, Wulkan
Absent: Barrington, Brenner, Ferguson, Jensen, Krishnamurty, LaFollette, Lawrence, Page, Phillis, Robinson
Announcements
Parking Committee - Tom will either represent MSP or find someone from his department.Faculty Senate - MSP has a slot to speak at meetings but needs someone to fill it. Jenny said she would be alternate.
Officers will discuss a rotation.
Newsletter - September issue is out; still looking for blurbs about new faculty for next issue.
Retirement Options Workshop 9/23, 4 PM
Reception for new faculty and librarians 9/30, 4 PM, 43 Fearing Street. Board members encouraged to come.
Tenure Workshops 10/5 and 10/6, 12 Noon
New Board Members
Vote to accept Paula Chakravartty and Sangeeta Kamat - unanimous
Faculty Staff Assistance Program (Presentation by Elizabeth Holtzman, Director, FSAP)
FSAP assesses, refers, and does short term counseling about workplace and individual problems. FSAP sees employees
and relatives; everything is confidential. Faculty going through tenure process, and faculty new to the area should particularly
know about FSAP. Ms. Holtzman would be interested in coming to MSP tenure workshops.
Retro Veto
Governor vetoed the first retro installment on 9/17. Strong public statements by House Ways and Means Chair and others committing to new legislative action no later than January. Rep. Kulik will try for an earlier override.
Politics
Some legislators say they never hear from us except when we want something from them. MSP has recruited liaisons to supportive local legislators, and is prepared to contact them about modest help we can give them. A discussion ensued about whether and how MSP should endorse candidates. Agreement that if MSP is to do anything in this election, it needs to happen quickly.
Motion #1: Officers should be empowered to decide about endorsements for this election, and then MSP should develop a
better long-term process. Defeated 2-7-1.
Motion #2: We should gather all available information on all candidates in the local races, and distribute it to Board members
before the next Board meeting, when the Board will vote on endorsements. Passed 8-0-2.
Also agreed that we will send a message to all members saying that this process is happening and to contact Board members if they have any comments.
The remaining agenda items (Department Rep meetings, Constituency meetings, and Incorporation) were postponed until the next
meeting.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (October 6, 2004)
Attendees: Clawson, Spencer, Wulkan, Ishii, Boyer, Brenner, Luce, Krishnamurty, Chakravartty, Grosse, Barringer, Jensen, LaFollette, Brandt, Kamat, Barker, Page, Reardon.
We reported on the debate between Stan Rosenberg and Jim Miller that we, along with the labor coalition sponsored.
Lori reported that we had 12 people who attended our tenure workshop yesterday. We have another meeting on this same topic today at noon.
We announced that the officers will be meeting with Lombardi at 11am.
We did introductions, and we unanimously approved Sylvia Brandt for the board.
We approved the minutes of the September 8th and 22nd minutes.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (October 20, 2004)
Attendees: Clawson, Ishii, Boyer, Brenner, Barringer, Jensen, LaFollette, Kamat, Barker, Page, Reardon, Turner, Krishnamurty, Wulkan
Politics - Long-term
Laura Jensen started us off with some ideas about our long term political strategy, including ways to build long-term relations with legislators. She suggested such things as regular “news from the campus”; a system of “alerts” to all legislators (such as email), particularly passing along positive info; and efforts to connect UMass resources to specific campaigns or areas of current popular interest (e.g. the role of judicial appointments in the presidential race and the fact that we have one of the country's leading experts on this topic here at UMass).
Other ideas that were mentioned: database of relations between faculty and legislators; being honest in our communications in order to gain credibility; pushing the MTA to create a Higher Education Advocacy Center; using the University's information about students and alumni to make connections to legislators districts.
Newsletter
Mark solicited ideas for future newsletters. The following suggestions were made:
bargaining update - above the fold
discussion of the racial climate on campus and ALANA issues for our members
Stan's report on the education commission hearings
cross-campus news
making the back page be news of our members and things going on around the campus.
We had reports on the issue of diversity on campus and discussed the agenda for the October 26th meeting with the Chancellor.
Miscellaneous
We voted to approve the minutes from two weeks prior.
We unanimously agreed to pursue incorporating the MSP, FSU, and JCC.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (November 3, 2004)
Attendees: Turner, Ishii, Wulkan, Boyer, Luce, Chakravartty, Brenner, Grosse, Barker, Barringer, Reardon, Janaswamy, Brandt, Jensen.
Politics
We began with a discussion of the election results, national, state, and local.
Administrative Business
We approved Rama Janaswamy as a new board member.
We approved the minutes from 10-20-04.
Paula presented some details about the International Faculty/Faculty of Color meeting that we are organizing. The meeting will be November 15th, 4-6.
Dan brought forward a resolution to support GEO's healthcare campaign. We passed the following resolution:
“The MSP supports GEO in its efforts to retain quality and affordable healthcare.”
Health and Welfare Trust Fund
Melissa Barringer discussed the H&W Trust Fund. She said that the Fund is approaching some serious problems, and they may have to make substantial changes in the near future.
We are in the second year of a three year contract. In the third year there is no cap on the premium that can be charged by the provider.
We discussed how we might be able to address the structural deficit in the Fund, and what plan redesign might look like.
We agreed that we would put this back on the agenda at the next meeting, and that we would try and get more concrete information about our options (e.g. getting into a different pool such as the one that administrators use, or the one that legislators use)
Bargaining Update and Discussion
Mark Brenner started with summary of the bargaining process, what our goals were when we started, how far we have gotten on these issues, and what remains unresolved.
We also discussed how to start raising these issues outside of the bargaining process.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (November 17, 2004)
Attendees: Spencer, Barker, Wulkan, Brandt, Lawrence, Brenner, Luce, Boyer, McCarthy, Jensen, Ishii, Janaswamy, Clawson, Kamat, King.
We began with a series of informational reports: retro pay; meeting with University president Jack Wilson; course releases within the contract; HELC meeting; newsletter update.
We approved the minutes from the 11-3-04.
We discussed the outcomes of the International Faculty/Faculty of Color meeting. There were 16 people at their meeting, and agreed to form four subcommittees.
Visa Processing
Hiring/Retention/Mentoring
Teaching Issues/Use of Evaluations
Using Existing Channels
We then discussed some ideas for how to expand and enlarge the faculty.
We then had a visit from the SGA. Their priorities for this year are 1) lowering the cost of the things for students (e.g. textbook rentals); 2) Changing the credit hour system from 3 to 4 credit hours; 3) reinforcing the public character of the university; 4) free higher education campaign; 5) racial climate on campus; 6) the autonomy of the SGA as it relates to the Vice-Chancellor of Student Life.
Stephanie Luce proposed a motion calling for an inquiry into the allegations surrounding Vice-Chancellor Gargano:
“In light of the recent developments on the UMass campus, the MSP calls on Chancellor Lombardi and President Wilson to:
1. Conduct a full investigation of Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael Gargano, Director of Student Legal Services Charles Dimare, and undergraduate and former Speaker of the Student Government Association Patrick Higgins and their apparent efforts to undermine the Office of ALANA Affairs.
2. Conduct a full investigation of their apparent efforts to undermine the independence of SGA.
3. Pursue appropriate remedies depending on the outcomes of the investigation.”
13 to 1 in favor of her motion as amended.
Minutes of MSP Board Meeting (January 26, 2005)
Attendees: Turner, Brenner, Weinbaum, Luce, Barker, Barringer, Grosse, Jensen, Janaswamy, Clawson, Ishii, Spencer, Reardon, Boyer, Wulkan, Ferguson, Page.
Dan presented us with a series of announcements, which we reviewed. Note that in an effort to expedite our discussion of such announcements, Dan has begun to include more detailed attachments covering the various announcements.
We approved Laura Jensen as a Vice-President of the union.
We then turned to the picketing code, and discussed the revisions that Gargano has imposed. Beth suggested that we bring it up at the bargaining table.
We approved 8-1 a motion to ask the W. Mass ACLU represent us in a suit against the university's new picketing code, charging that it is unconstitutional.
We unanimously approved a motion to raise this issue as a bargaining demand.
We then turned to a resolution regarding lowering student textbook costs. We unanimously approved the motion Dan proposed, attached to the agenda.
We then turned to bargaining:
Melissa began with a review of bargaining, which Mark chimed in on along with Beth. We covered salary, contract faculty, decline of tenure system faculty, childcare, and support conditions.
We answered clarifying questions and then moved into long-term planning.
Jenny moved “That 1) the MSP release our report on tenure-track faculty decline at a public event in Boston; 2) that the union bring this issue forcefully to the administration at the bargaining table and outside the bargaining table; 3) hold a membership meeting coordinated with the release of the report.”
We passed this motion unanimously.
We voted unanimously to recommend to the bargaining committee language on tenure-track faculty decline that 1) implemented an enforceable ratio of students to tenure-track faculty; 2) that the ratio narrow to 20 to 1 by the end of the contract.
We passed this unanimously.
We agreed to leave the details of the events (Boston release and membership meeting) to those planning the two events.
Minutes of Board Meeting (February 9, 2005)
Attendees: Brenner, Lafollette, Lawrence, Barrington, Barringer, Barker, Janaswamy, Jensen, Page, Clawson, Reardon, Turner, Ishii, Kamat, Chakravartty, Wulkan, Luce, Brandt.
Dan solicited a volunteer for two parking related issues: the routine parking related issues and the bargaining over raising parking fees. We may ask Barbara Steward from the library to serve.
We are likely to cancel the bus to Boston due to the weather, and not re-schedule since it looks like next week we are going to get our retro funding bill passed.
Holly Lawrence and Mark Brenner reported on the meeting with contract faculty.
Our meeting with Jack Wilson tomorrow will probably be postponed due to the snowstorm.
We will stop the web hosting service for the MSP discussion website and continue to retain the domain name.
We solicited volunteers to read the constitution and provide feedback about the changes we should make this year at the membership meeting.
Dan reported on the changes in the picketing code and about the labor chorus.
We approved the minutes unanimously.
We gave a bargaining update, discussing the situation for contract faculty, support conditions, decline of tenure-track faculty and salary.
We unanimously approved to move $100,000 into a CD at Greenfield Savings Bank (or another bank per FDIC insurance limits).
Max reported on the decline of tenure track faculty campaign. We are having a press conference on Feb. 16th, with Ellen, Stan Rosenberg, and hopefully the head of the new joint higher education committee. This higher education joint committee is new (used to be all education) and could be influential in the next few months. Max and others reported on the meeting with Lombardi.
Minutes of Board Meeting (February 23, 2005)
Attendees: Brenner, Lafollette, Lawrence, Barringer, Barker, Janaswamy, Jensen, Page, Clawson, Barrington, Reardon, Turner, Ishii, Chakravartty, Wulkan, Boyer, Luce, Spencer, Ferguson.
We approved the minutes from February 9th.
Dan gave us a retro update. The funding bill covers 6 months, July 1 to December 31, 2003, and is now sitting on the Governor's desk. The bill, as currently written covers retirees, and mandates that the state pay us 30 days after its passage. We are planning to have an all-union party on the day that the retro is paid out.
Melissa and Mark gave a bargaining update. We specifically discussed the salary issue, contract faculty, childcare, and support conditions, and decline of tenure track faculty.
Max then gave a report on decline of tenure-track faculty. He covered the Board of Trustees meeting, the press conference in Boston, and the press coverage that followed, including the Boston Globe story. Max recommended the following next steps:
Hand-deliver the report to the rest of the legislators on March 2nd.
Present the report to the alumni board.
Do a petition drive calling on Lombardi to develop a plan for restoring the faculty ranks.
We discussed the merits of the three points, particularly point #3.
We unanimously approved points one and two. We also approved point three, with one vote against and one abstention.
We turned to the anti-war resolution Ann Ferguson brought forward. We debated the various ways to raise this issue with our members, and Jenny Spencer brought forward a motion:
MOVED: That the MSP will raise the issue of the war in Iraq with the UMass Labor Coalition, with the goal of developing and/or supporting campus-wide educational activities to raise awareness and move towards identifying our members' position on the war.
It was adopted unanimously.
Minutes of Board Meeting (March 30, 2005)
Attendees: Brenner, Luce, Jennifer Adams (visiting), Spencer, Barringer, Barker, McCarthy, Janaswamy, Clawson, Jules Chametzky (visiting), Ishii, Reardon, Wulkan, Boyer, Jensen, Brandt, Grosse, Lawrence, Kamat, Chakravartty.
We approved the minutes from February 23rd.
Announcements
Dan gave us a retro update.
Lori gave us an update on WISEAUD (Women in Science, Engineering, and Under-represented Disciplines). They are having
their event April 14th, 12:00 CS building, room 151. Lotte Bailyn from MIT is going to speak.
April 20th is the first rehearsal of the UMass Labor Chorus.
GEO is having a big rally tomorrow at noon.
The MTA convention is May 13th-14th in Boston. We can send 20 delegates and strongly encourage members to attend.
We approved the following motion: “The MSP enthusiastically endorses the recommendations of the Senate Task Force on Higher Education, and thanks Stan Rosenberg for his tireless efforts to promote the University.”
Tenure-Track Faculty Decline
Max gave an update. We will deliver our petition to Lombardi on Thursday. We went to the State House and delivered our report to most of them, and we are going to go again to finish delivering the report.
Dan reported on our 5-minute DVD idea. Sut Jhally has agreed to produce a 5-minute video for the union, highlighting the issues surrounding tenure-track faculty decline. We agreed that we would ask Sut if we could screen a first cut the video to the board before we send it out.
Diversity on Campus
Jules Chametzky spoke for 10 minutes about the Diversity Commission and gave some responses to questions. We discussed several issues surrounding the Commission's report and the Chancellor's Action Plan.
We unanimously approved Dan's motion calling for a public meeting (attached).
We formed a diversity subcommittee to bring recommendations to the next board meeting. That subcommittee will meet next Wednesday in Campus Center 917.
Minutes of Board Meeting (April 13, 2005)
Attendees: Brenner, Luce, Chakravartty, Page, Lawrence, Boyer, Mix-Barrington, Ferguson, Spencer, Ishii, Jensen, Clawson, Reardon, Barringer, Barker, Wulkan, Kamat, Grosse, Turner.
We began with a discussion of the draft budget. We will recommend a $10 local dues increase, and have drafted a budget accordingly. We voted to recommend this budget to the membership.
We covered several announcements:
Agency Fee Payers
DVD on Faculty Shortage
MSP General Assembly
Forum “Is the War a Union Issue?”
Gender Equity in Academia
Forum on Free Higher Education
Labor Chorus
Long Term Politics
We voted on the Diversity Proposal Points 1 and 2: A-F, with additions by Laura Jensen on point 2C. It carried 16-1.
We voted to eliminate G (issue of targets/goals). It failed 6-9.
We voted on Ann Ferguson's amended point G. It passed 11-2-2.
We had to put aside the rest of our document to consider the bargaining and April 21st actions.
We had a long discussion about bargaining and came up with the following resolution:
“MSP calls on its members to sign a no-retaliation pledge for students who participate in April 21st activities and encourages them to participate in these activities in any way they see fit. We also call for the development of a plan of action for future MSP activities around contract issues.”
We unanimously approved this motion.
We returned to the Diversity document:
We unanimously approved the section on Retention, with approved modifications to 3C.
We unanimously approved the section on Funding and Administration, striking the second sentence on 5.
We unanimously approved the section on Student Affairs as is.
We unanimously approved number 7, the section on Internal Education.
We unanimously approved the spirit of Jenny's motion to create a point five on data collection and monitoring.
Minutes of Board Meeting (April 27, 2005)
Attendees: Barker, Brandt, Clawson, Grosse, Janaswamy, Lawrence, Luce, Page, Spencer, Boyer, Reardon, Wulkan.
Absent: Barringer, Barrington, Brenner, Chakravartty, Ferguson, Ishii, Jensen, Kamat, King, LaFollette, McCarthy, Robinson, Turner.
Minutes of 4/13/05 are incomplete so adoption was deferred.
Newsletter: Items for next issue were discussed.
Retroactive Pay: Members are glad to have received it; there are some questions and glitches.
April 21 Day of Action Assessment:
Very successful: most classes empty, picketing, confronting Romney, teach-in.
Modest success: getting students to call legislators and sign up to lobby in Boston.
Undergraduate leadership was key, but 230+ faculty signed pledge of no retaliation, and we think MSP participation was
instrumental in the day's success. There was a sense that more faculty participated than in the past because students took the
lead.
Bargaining Update/General Assembly
We will explain that we have made progress in bargaining, are “on the cusp” of success, that now is not the time to relax, and that
we are asking people to sign up to picket President Wilson's inauguration if necessary.
Faculty Shortage/DVD/Lobbying
DVD is ready, was shown to Chancellor yesterday; we are checking into various ways of showing it to legislators. There was
discussion about renting or buying a DVD player or laptop for this purpose. The campaign has already been successful in that the
Chancellor is meeting with legislators about his plan to add 250 tenure-track faculty in the next 3 years, and President Wilson has
said that restoring the faculty is his number one issue.
Iraq War Forum
Following a discussion by the MSP Board a few months ago, we have worked with the other campus unions to organize a
forum/debate (May 3, 12 Noon, Campus Center 803). Members of various unions will discuss the merits of the war and whether
this is an issue labor should be concerned about.
Minutes of Board Meeting (May 11, 2005)
Members Present: Barker, Brandt, Chakravartty, Clawson, Ishii, Janaswamy, Kamat, Lawrence, Luce, Page, Spencer, and Turner.
Staff Present: Reardon, Wulkan.
Reports:
Elections: All candidates for Board were elected May 4.
MTA Annual Meeting: This week; 13 MSP members going.
Newsletter: Last issue of year is out.
Staffing Committee: evaluation process for staff almost completed.
MTA's Williamstown Conference: August 7-11; Board members invited to attend 1 or more days.
Bargaining:
GEO has tentative agreement.
We are hopeful of settling today. Dan reviewed what we expect to gain.
Ratification process:
Email with major changes, announce process, announce meeting with bargaining team.
All changes and entire contract (old and new) put on website.
Letter with ballot to home addresses.
Budget:
Faculty renewal is on the legislative agenda. We reviewed the budget process. We are actively lobbying, especially the Senate, and are looking for members to participate in next 2 weeks.
SEIU 888 units to MTA:
Dan presented a history of the dissatisfaction of professional staff on this campus (and other UMass units) with their representation by SEIU 888. SEIU has now agreed that they could be represented by MTA instead. The Board expressed its support for this.
Wilson Inaugural:
GEO will not be demonstrating; Take Back UMass will distribute fliers about diversity issues, but is not asking people to not go in.
Diversity:
We will ask Esther Terry to meet with MSP officers and other interested members over the summer. She is supposed to establish a committee and we want there to be union representation on it.
North End of Campus:
We will have planning meetings this summer to launch an organizing effort among science and engineering faculty in the fall - both to explain MSP's successes and to hear (and respond to) their issues.
Summer Meetings:
Timing will depend on what happens with contract and budget. Will include some sort of end-of-year wrap-up and planning for the fall.
CDSJ Sponsorship of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Event is happening in guise of diversity, but keynote speaker advocates conservative Hindu, anti-Muslim politics. MSP will join others in asking that CDSJ withdraw sponsorship.
Minutes of Board Meeting (June 15, 2005)
Attendees: Brenner, Luce, Brewer, Lawrence, Barringer, Grosse, Spencer, Boyer, Jensen, Clawson, Page, Reardon, Lenson, Barker.
We approved the minutes from May 11th.
We discussed the status of bargaining and where negotiations are sticking.
Motion: June 24th is now considered a deadline after which we will proactively develop a series of actions to move bargaining to closure. Between now and then we will brainstorm creative ideas for what those actions will be.
This motion passed unanimously.
We then discussed how to build support for the Senate Task Force. Max brought two motions forward (see attached). After discussion and debate this compromise motion was put forward:
Motion: This summer the MSP will initiate a process of consultation with the MTA and other institutions that have an interest in the long term expansion of public higher education (e.g. student government associations, alumni organizations, business leaders, etc.). The aim of this process is the creation of a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for public higher education. This consultation will include asking the MTA's Public Relations/Organizing committee to commit substantial funding in this budget year and approaching the MTA board about the long-term need for such an organization. We will revisit the idea of MSP's financial commitment at the end of the summer.
This motion passed unanimously.
We also discussed the Faculty Senate Research Council's idea of publishing pieces of our AFR on the web. We made a few suggestions, including that they highlight work other than publications in journals (performance, community service, etc.) We also highlighted the privacy concerns that we have about the administration using AFR material without consent.
Dan reported on the contract negotiations with the Northampton teachers, which is going very badly. He reported on how we could relate to that struggle.
Dan reported on how we are going to have to make some adjustments to our process of collecting agency fees in cash. We are, this summer, going to try and convert the agency fee cash payers to payroll deduction.
We tried to recruit some folks to a few campus committees. David Lenson volunteered to try and recruit some folks.
We then adjourned.
Minutes of Board Meeting (July 27, 2005)
Present: Ash, Barker, Brewer, Clawson, Gore, Ishii, Jensen, Lenson, Lovett, McCarthy, Page, Paynter, Turner, Boyer, Reardon, Wulkan
Absent: Adams, Barringer, Barrington, Chakravartty, Hemment, Janaswamy, Lawrence, Luce, McDermott, Moffitt, Robinson, Spencer
1. Introductions and Welcome to new Board members
2. Approve minutes of 6/1/5/05 - Unanimous
3. Political Report
(a) Health Care - cut in our share of premiums is a big victory. MTA pushed Legislature to honor sunset
provision in earlier budget (Thanks, Beth!). We should fight Romney bill which would allow cities and
towns to remove health care from collective bargaining and unilaterally reduce employer contribution to
50%.
(b) Retro - MTA's insider strategy is appropriate approach for now; Executive Director Ed Sullivan will
be meeting with Senate President Travaglini and House Speaker DiMasi in August. He is confident we
will get the retro and will be pushing for it all to be appropriated this fall.
4. Contract Settlement
We reviewed the terms of the settlement, noted that it is a strong contract with minimal concessions, and discussed the Sick Bank and salary provisions in more depth. We noted that while there is nothing in the contract about tenure track faculty, we used bargaining to push this issue successfully in other forums. A few points to note for the future:
Salary anomalies could result from increased promotional increments.Members need to be better informed about the availability of PMYR funds.
Who hires contract faculty (DPC or Chair) varies from department to department.
Vote to recommend acceptance of contract by membership: Unanimous
Ratification Process: A lengthy discussion about the relative importance of
Members having access to the exact contract language (which is not yet done)
Getting the contract ratified as quickly as possible
Using the contract gains as a way to increase engagement with the union
Doing the vote by mail, as opposed to at an on-site poll
Decisions: Use a Mail ballot (vote 9-2)
Mail the ballots as soon as possible (vote 10-1)
Send email to unit when contract language is on website
Ballots due back roughly 3 weeks after they are mailed
Hold an information session before ballots are due back
5. New Faculty/Librarian Orientations
Board members signed up to attend sessions with MSP staff and explain the Union and its benefits to new hires.
Other agenda items deferred:
Higher Ed Advocacy
Board and Activists Retreat and MTA pilot program for “Organizing Locals”
Visa Fees (see attached memo)
Faculty Recruitment and Diversity
Minutes of Board Meeting (September 7, 2005)
Members Present: Adams, Ash, Barker, Barringer, Barrington, Brewer, Chakravartty, Clawson, Gore, Hemment, Ishii, Janaswamy, Jensen, Lawrence, Lenson, Lovett, Luce, McDermott, Moffitt, Page, Paynter
Staff Present: Boyer, Reardon, Wulkan
Absent: McCarthy, Robinson, Turner (sabbatical)
1. Status of Contract
The contract was ratified by 98% with well over 400 members voting. We still need to inform the membership of this. University officials, after a positive meeting with A&F Secretary Kris, have submitted the contract to the Governor who has 45 days to submit it to the Legislature for funding. No glitches so far, but in light of past history, we are vigilant.
2. Retro
The UMass President's Office has sent the Legislature a detailed costing of the retro. MSP members are owed about $11,500,000. The MTA is pursuing an inside game and is trying to get all the remaining retro paid as soon as possible.
3. New MSP Vice President
Jenny Spencer has resigned as MSP Vice President. Steve Olbrys was nominated by the officers to succeed her. He was unanimously approved by the Board.
4. MSP Priorities for the Year
The officers recommended, and spoke to:
Higher Ed Advocacy
Family and Gender Issues
Diversity - recruitment/retention
Contract Faculty/Tenure Track Issues
Organizing/Capacity Building
The Board spent considerable time discussing these and other ideas, including
start-up packages and adequate resources to recruit and to make tenure realistic
including elder care among family issues
librarian issues, including the need for increased hiring
the changing nature of our work
the interconnections among the proposed priorities
the need to connect better with the north end of campus
5. MSP Retreat
These issues will be discussed further at the MSP retreat September 30 to which all members will be invited. It was suggested that each Board member talk with 5 colleagues about the discussion of priorities and encourage them to come. Different structures and timelines will be appropriate for different priorities. The following people volunteered to think further about specific issues and to constitute the core of larger working groups:
Higher Ed Advocacy/Politics
Barringer, Lenson, Barrington, Ishii, Barker, Jensen
Tenure Track/Contract Faculty Issues
Gore, Page, Lawrence
Family/Gender Issues
Ash, Lovett, Hemment
Diversity/Recruitment/retention
Adams, Paynter, Chakravartty, Ash, Luce
Organizing/Capacity Building
Brewer, Olbrys, Janaswamy
6. Part-Time Contract Faculty
Many unbenefitted contract faculty with less than 50% appointments are coming into the MSP bargaining unit. There are many complex issues involved, and the implementation of many contractual provisions will need to be clarified. The officers recommended that MSP reach out to this group, learn their issues, and start working with them, but that dues payment be optional until September 2006. One year of voluntary dues payment approved unanimously.
Minutes of Board Meeting (September 21, 2005)
Members Present: Adams, Ash, Barker, Barringer, Barrington, Brewer, Clawson, Gore, Hemment, Ishii, Janaswamy, Jensen, Lawrence, Lenson, Lovett, Luce, Page, Paynter
Staff Present: Boyer, Reardon, Wulkan
Absent: Chakravartty, McCarthy, McDermott, Moffitt, Olbrys, Robinson, Turner (sabbatical)
Retro: The House and Senate passed bill 9/20 which covers 2/3 of what is owed. Governor has 10 days to sign or veto. The Legislature “set aside” money for contracts still being processed.
Minutes: Minutes of the 7/27/05 and 9/7/05 meeting were approved unanimously.
Identifying people for MSP activities: Board members took a few minutes to fill out forms.
Priority Taskforces: The expectation is that we will keep all 5 priorities.
1. Faculty & Librarians (Holly)
Want to do campaign to include librarians in 250 Plan
Starting to organize around implementation of Senior Lecturer title.
2. Long Term Politics (Laura J)
Key goal: develop long term relationships with legislators
What is relationship about? - Make why UMA is great less of a mystery
Priority tasks: maintain good relationships with legislators and build bridges with potentially supportive groups.
Discussion about relative importance and wisdom of focusing on this campus and focusing on all of public higher education.
Ideas: connect with Alumni Association; adopt-a-legislator; teams of MSP members to take on sets of legislators; thank legislators for retro.
3. Diversity (Bob, Jenny)
Planning workshop mid-late October to help departments do diversity hiring. Goal is to develop strategies and networks and to stimulate discussion.
Considering exit interviews to understand retention issues better.
4. Family Issues (Laura L, Julie)
Two areas to focus on:
1. Researching current provisions: use and misuse
2. Researching policies at other institutions (e.g. Princeton's automatic tenure extension)
Discussion:
1. Parental leave vs. Family leave
2. Remember there is contractual labor-mgt committee
3. Need to assess and organize around child care
4. Need policy around spousal hires
5. Capacity Building - skip
Retreat 9/30/05 12-2: Short discussion of agenda and recruiting. Expect to break into task forces for last part.
Report from Chancellor's Meeting - 250 Plan
There is lots of information on the web.
This year's searches primarily to correct teaching workload imbalances; secondarily to fulfill grant and contract commitments and to reward excellence.
Subsequent years' searches allocated based on “measurements with respect to national realities” and a “build on strength” model.
The Chancellor believes everything can be measured, and even if you start with bad measurement criteria, once people see resources being allocated, there will be complaints and the measures will improve.
Visa Fee Update: The campus is assessing a $2,000 fee for faculty who need a visa renewal. Beth has said to the administration that this is a unilateral change and that the university has an obligation to bargain with MSP over th