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We want to hear from you!
As you may recall, the BOR imposed a contract on faculty late last year. So, we will head right back into bargaining in about a month. We need your help. We need to hear your voice. I have assembled a very brief survey on the major items we have been hearing about it. Won't you spend just a minute or two to complete this survey? The survey asks for your opinion on six proposed items listed below. You will be asked to rate your level of support for each with these responses: Disagree, Uncertain, Slightly Agree, Moderately Agree, Strongly Agree. Then, you will be asked to rank them according to your preferences. - A Step Increase in Salary ($1,000 added to base salary for every faculty member).
- Intellectual Property (undo imposed provisions which remove IP from bargaining).
- Librarian Ranks (undo imposed provisions which allow librarians to be hired without possibility of tenure as well as unfavorable changes to their workload and evaluation procedures).
- Increase percent of self-support overload courses, for which we recently won an increase from 7 to 8% of base salary. This proposal would seek further increases.
- Reduction in Force (layoffs), which would require layoffs based on seniority/rank, require a one-year contract, and full disclosure of analysis.
- Reform Promotion and Tenure Committees, so that only faculty may serve (not administrators) and provide full transparency to the faculty applying.
It is very important that all faculty complete the survey! The higher the response rate, the greater weight our arguments have in negotiations. Please complete the survey now and encourage your colleagues to submit their responses immediately. GO HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY!!! Twelve-Month Payout Implementation We have been hearing from a few faculty who are surprised that the twelve month payout is coming next year. Frankly, I am surprised at their surprise! I have been talking about this for more than a year in frequent email messages and at least one visit to each campus. I know our email list reaches only 85% of the faculty, but nonetheless, most folks don't even read the newsletters. So, now their administration is telling them something we have been reporting for six months. See my letter from September 1. The COHE bargaining team judged that the BOR thought they needed the 12 month payout and that they would impose it. So, as you may recall, we traded the eight percent self-support overload for an improved version of their twelve month payout proposal. The language is quite clear, read it here, pages 32 and 33. All faculty on less than a twelve-month payout will now receive twelve paychecks, beginning with September 30, 2012, equal to one-twelfth of annual base salary less deductions. However, the nine-month contractual period remains August 22, 2012 to May 21, 2013 (and so forth). The administration cannot assign you any duties outside this period (i.e., during the summer) without appropriate compensation. Everyone should understand that each faculty member will get every penny they are owed, just in a later period. Some have suggested that this change makes it difficult to pay monthly bills during the school year. I agree, but my sense is that we are all underpaid and have too many bills and now enough money. This change merely shifts the timing. Where before a nine-month faculty might be able to handle their bills during the school year, they were "running on empty" and "sucking eggs" during the summer. Until I began paying myself 25% every month for summers, I remember some pretty dry Septembers. Other have complained about the lack of notification. To which I respond, see above. COHE has been talking about this for over a year now. Some may argue that the BOR is simply trying to collect interest on our money over this period. This response shows the level of distrust that the BOR has engendered among faculty. While I agree we should not trust them, I doubt very much anyone on the BOR is concerned about this little bit of float. Rather, they are trying to solve a bureaucratic problem. Simply put, the state Bureau of Personnel refuses to accept premiums on our benefits over anything but a twelve month period. So, the BOR must collect and escrow our benefits payments. As a result, several clerks on each campus must review each paycheck from every employees who is less than 12 months every month. Those who are eligible to retire before June 30, 2015 (i.e., will reach "rule of 85" before that date) may decide to opt out of the twelve month payout. To avail oneself of this option, eligible faculty must notify the administration by May 1, 2012. However, I understand the universities' HR, Payroll, and Academic Affairs staff are not fully prepared to receive your decision to opt out. It sounds like the system will create a form (surprise, surprise, a new form) for eligible near-retirees. As they roll out the procedures, I and your local COHE leaders will attempt to keep you informed. (Also, for those who opt out but remain on payroll after 2015, they will be shifted to a 12 month payout.) If you or any faculty remain concerned, confused, or need further explanation, please reply to this message and I will visit with you via phone to explain. ULP on IP Filed On Tuesday, 31 January 2012, the SDEA General Counsel, on COHE's behalf, filed a request for a hearing on an unfair labor practice (ULP) by the BOR. We allege their refusal to bargain intellectual property (IP) as a working condition constituted a ULP. This request before the SD Department of Labor begins the process of a lawsuit, which is likely to end at the SD Supreme Court, to decide whether working conditions include IP (e.g., patents, copyrights and inventions) produced by public employees. Stay tuned.
Your brother in defense of faculty rights, Gary |
