Dear faculty,
This letter keeps you informed on COHE's actions and progress as we prepare for contract negotiations. Last Friday (November 5), the state COHE Board met to discuss our bargaining strategy and proposals.
Of the four strategic options listed in the final question in our surveys, the clear preference was to target a handful of major proposals and fight for them aggressively. To accomplish this, we identified the proposed items which generated the largest number of "strongly agree" responses. We grouped and prioritized these proposals into six major groups of items associated with particular sections of the contract.
COHE's Negotiating Committee (i.e., our bargaining team) will meet tomorrow (Friday, November 12), to assign particular proposals to each committee member. Each committee member will draft language and rationale on their assigned items, which will be finalized and approved by the entire committee. At this meeting, we will also discuss bargaining dates/places and bargaining protocol.
On Monday, November 15, I will meet with the BOR negotiators to develop a bargaining schedule. Thereafter, I will announce that schedule to you.
In arriving at these decisions, we relied closely on the surveys of both COHE and non-COHE members. Since the results were so similar, it gave us good cheer that COHE members accurately reflect the interests of the general faculty. We will share the results of these surveys and our final decisions in due time. Until we have firmed up our proposals and formally proposed them to the BOR negotiators, I am reluctant to release them publicly.
We continue to be curious about your views of the contract. I want to hear from you! Last week, I was present at two well-attended meetings in Vermillion and Madison. We will continue to hold meetings throughout this process.
Upcoming Chapter Meetings:
Friday, November 12, Brookings, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Tompkins Alumni Center (Awesome Veggie Pizzas and Delicious Brownies from Cottonwood Bistro.)
Monday, December 6, Aberdeen, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Place and possible refreshments to be announced
Friday, December 3, Brookings, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Tompkins Alumni Center (Award-Winning Ribs from The Backyard Grill)
Feel free to reply to any of these emails, which are sent from my personal email address garyaguiar1@gmail.com. Please avoid using a BOR-controlled email system. At SDSU, we now have solid evidence that BOR staff and/or their designees monitor our email messages.
For your information, these newsletters are archived here. Or they can be found on our Website (sdcohe.org) by clicking on Resources and then COHE Newsletters Archives.
