Department of Good News Amid the Gloom: 13 December 2002
Agreement Reached on Distance Education Contract!
After many months of hard bargaining, we are pleased to announce agreement on a contract covering the Distance Education work of our members through Continuing Education.
The language of the agreement is being polished, but the key points of the agreement are as follows:
1. Our members will retain their intellectual property rights over the content of Distance Education courses.
2. Distance Education courses through Continuing Education will remain voluntary.
3. Approval of Distance Education offerings will be through regular academic procedures.
4. The minimum stipends for such courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level will be substantially increased.
5. There will be substantive and procedural safeguards against unwarranted surveillance of members teaching on-line.
We did not get everything we asked for. But this agreement is a significant accomplishment, particularly given the difficult climate these days. It's forward-looking, provides significant protections and additional remuneration, and should encourage members to offer Distance Education courses via Continuing Education if they want to. It’s one of the good agreements in the country just now.
Much credit goes to the campus administrators on the other side of the table, both campus-based and from the President’s Office, who, after a halting start, bargained in good earnest and worked hard to find agreement.
Equal credit – indeed more, under the circumstances - goes to the MSP bargaining team that drove this to a successful conclusion this fall: Bob Nakosteen (Management), Ron Story (History), and especially Jane Giacobbe-Miller (Management), who headed the team and whose commitment and expertise made this whole initiative a success. Thanks, too, to our invaluable technical advisors, Wayne Burleson (Electrical Engineering) and Gary Moore (Public Health); to Richard Burt (English); and to our legal consultant, Beth Boyer, who sat in on many key sessions.
BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY?
MSP has been around a long time and when the going gets grim our members sometimes forget what we have accomplished over the years. This sheet is just a reminder of some of MSP’s achievements (in conjunction with MTA, our statewide affiliate) over the years.
Salary-related Issues
* Retrieving illegally withheld furlough money with interest during
* Weld regime Putting salary floors in place for the various ranks
* Improving accountability and fairness in the distribution of merit raises by Deans
* Promotion increments greatly improved at all ranks (more than quadrupled for some)
* Negotiating maximum salary increases over the years
Benefits-related Issues
* Liberal sick-leave bank arrangement
* Through MTA, holding the line on percentage of health insurance paid by our members and lifting the cap on state retirement pay
* Professional development money in recent contracts
* Longevity pay upon retirement
* Innovative paid parental leave semester
Working Conditions
* Patent policy and intellectual property agreements to protect our researchers
* Periodic Multi-Year Review policy that is beneficial rather than punitive
* Suspension and termination policy that guarantees due process to unit members
* Clear standards and procedures for tenure and promotion, with MSP assistance on individual cases as needed
Community Issues
* Regularly lobby for improved University budget, capital improvements and deferred maintenance funding
* Participate in and support Save Umass campaign and other teach-ins through the years
* Assisted graduate students in first contract struggle for improved pay and benefits
* Successful campaign to force Weld cabinet to retreat from anti-faculty publicity blitz
Although the list above is incomplete, it should jog your memory (and let our new colleagues know) that this University is a much different and better place because of our hard work on these issues. None of these achievements would have been possible without our collective efforts as MSP members over the years. Please lend your advice and support by communicating and working with your MSP Department Representatives, Executive Board and Officers, and participating in MSP activities.
