Tuesday, November 8th is the day that New Jersey voters will decide who occupies all 40 New Jersey Senate seats and all 80 New Jersey Assembly seats. As we witnessed over the summer, when the leaders of these two legislative bodies joined with the governor to dismantle our right to collectively bargain for our health care benefits, our state legislators have a direct effect on our terms and conditions of work. This election is important.

The Committee on Political Education (COPE) of both the Council of New Jersey State College Locals (Council) and the New Jersey State Federation of Teachers (AFTNJ) refused to endorse any legislator for reelection who voted to take away our right to bargain for our health benefits. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO took similar action. With rare exceptions (e.g., our own members), AFT Local 1904 does not endorse candidates for office.

A list of candidates that have been endorsed by our Council COPE can be found on our website. We urge you to vote tomorrow.

On October 31^st, Keesha Chavis sent out the annual email sharing the application and procedures for applying for a performance-based promotion. Please note the deadline by which you must apply is January 20, 2012. This application goes directly to the president of the university for consideration after being signed by your immediate supervisor.

Historically, professional staff have not been successful in being awarded a PBP. While we have made the argument to the administration that we do not see enough successful awards, it is very difficult for us to fight harder when less than 2% of the professional staff applies for it. For example, last year, only three professional staff members applied for a PBP, and only one was awarded. Just so you know, the administration considered it a successful year for PBP because 33% were awarded.Yes, ONE IN THREE. Our odds have decreased over the last ten years. They can only get worse if no one applies. PLEASE APPLY.

We realize that completing the paperwork takes time and that at the rate awards have been made, it seems like a wasted effort. However, it is never a waste to showcase your contributions to the university. If you do not receive a PBP, apply again. And again. And again. It gets rather difficult to continuously ignore commendable contributions, and it only builds your case for appeal. Additionally, zoom out and think at the macro-level about this: The more people who apply, the more difficult it is to deny almost all of the applications, so you are helping your fellow professional staff members by applying. One-in-three is unacceptable, but 33% when 11 awards are made out of 33 applications is more palatable.

Many professional staff members are not aware that the person who oversees their responsibilities on a regular basis might not be the same person consulted when it comes to personnel actions. As such, the Local thought a brief clarification about the working relationship between two unit members (such as a department chairs and professional staff) would be helpful to ensure collegial and respectful relationships between AFT unit members.

Pursuant to Appendix I, Section D of the statewide contract and Section 10.7 of the LSPA, for the purposes of conducting appropriate personnel actions, an immediate supervisor "shall be construed as that supervisory management-level person not included in the State College/University negotiating unit and who is first reached in the normal chain of command leading from the candidate."

While it is permissible that a chair direct and coordinate the work of professional staff members in academic departments, or that higher titled professional staff direct/coordinate the work of lower titled professional staff, there should be no crossover into the strict meaning of supervisory roles (hire, fire, discipline, reappointment recommendations, and other personnel actions).These personnel actions must be performed by the first non-unit level manager. However, the person with whom a professional staff member works regularly under can and should help support the professional staff member in personnel actions. This can be done by providing peer reviews, which can/should take the form of a consultation with the affected professional staff member. Positive letters of support to the immediate supervisor, without making formal recommendations about reappointment or promotion, are encouraged in such personnel actions. 

Therefore, if you are a professional staff member applying for reappointment or promotion, be certain to seek support from fellow colleagues, and be certain to garner the appropriate signatures on all personnel action forms. If you need assistance determining who your immediate supervisor is, contact Human Resources to learn who is officially listed for you. If you feel the information provided is inaccurate, please contact Kathleen Hughes: hughesk@aftlocal1904.org.