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Tenure Reform Bill Signed Into Law
Longer Tenure Clock For New Hires
The New Jersey Legislature last month passed a higher education tenure reform bill which raises the time to tenure to six years from than the current five. Current (tenured and pre-tenured) faculty are grandfathered and this change will only affect new faculty hired after September 2014. As required by the bill, AFT Local 1904 has notified the administration that we are ready to negotiate any revised procedures necessary to take into account the new six year clock. You can find the full text of the bill here. The new law also allows for the granting of instant tenure upon hire, to anyone who has previously earned tenure at an accredited four year institution.
As you have seen, Susan Cole has already made this announcement and has announced the formation of a committee, which we believes is not consistent with the language or intent of the law. The Council of New Jersey State College Locals (CNJSCL), our collective bargaining agent, is in the process clarifying with the State the language and intent of the law with regards to the long standing practice and right of the Local to negotiate procedures.
As you know many of our administrators hold tenure in academic departments and it is our hope that this provision will not be a way to attract administrators but rather will be used to attract outstanding faculty currently tenured at other institutions to Montclair. CNJSCL, AFT New Jersey, Senator Steven Sweeney and the New Jersey AFL-CIO all worked hard over many months to get the bill in its final condition and AFT Local 1904 applauds those efforts.
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New Jersey Well
State of New Jersey Wellness Program
NJWELL is the new incentive based wellness program offered to actively employed members of the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and School Employees Health Benefits Program (SEHBP). Eligible members and their covered spouses or partnership who meet the program's Wellness Goals each year receive financial rewards in the form of a Visa gift card. To learn more about this program, come to the February 12th General Union Meeting (2:30 p.m., SC 419) and meet Doug Martucci, NJWELL Coordinator for the NJ Division of Pension and Benefits.
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Community Outreach Committee
New Chair: Alexander Sperling
Alexander Sperling, Coordinator of Aquatics and Summer Programs for Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports, has agreed to head AFT Local 1904's Community Outreach Committee. He began in his new role coordinating the Care Packages and Pizza Party event for students (see below) in January. The committee's next activity is a trip to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) on Saturday, March 15th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Future activities also include sponsoring the Veteran Students Association barbeque and volunteering activities with Habitat for Humanity in Paterson, NJ, and at the Mount Pleasant Animal Shelter.
If you are interested in volunteering at March 15th trip to the CFBNJ, please contact the Local's office via email @ union@mail.montclair.edu to reserve your spot.
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Pizza Party & Care Packages for Students
100 Care Packages Distributed
On Tuesday, January 7, 2014, AFT Local 1904 hosted a pizza party for students who live on campus and didn't go home during the winter break. At the party, faculty, professional staff and librarians provided 20 pizzas and distributed 100 care packages to students in the multi-purpose room in The Machuga Heights. This year representatives from the Health Promotions Department were also on hand to give out goodies and information on how to live a healthy life to students.
"For a variety of reasons, some students remain on campus during the winter break. Sometimes it's too costly go to go home, some are student athletes who stay and continue to train and compete with their teams, and for others the University is the place they call home," says Alexander Sperling, Chair of AFT Local 1904's Community Outreach Committee. Mr. Sperling explained, "Our members wanted to do something for these students to show them our support and to continue our tradition of making campus a welcoming place."
Union members paid for the care packages for students: a plastic shoe box that contained things such as: playing cards, UNO cards, Sudoko books, cocoa, Cup-a-Soup, granola bars and other snacks, tissues, gum, and AFT-branded items such as Post-it notes, pencils, pens, and luggage tags. "It's our hope that these packages will brighten the time students spend on campus during the intersession," said Rich Wolfson, President of AFT Local 1904.
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Calling All Retirees:
Join the AFTNJ Retirees
The stated purposes of the 10-year-old AFTR chapter include:
supporting the aims and objectives of AFTNJ-AFT; encouraging the interest of its members in matters of pensions, annuities, social security, health care, and taxes; promoting the health and welfare of its members; and cooperating with select organizations whose aims and goals coincide with its own.
Membership in AFTR chapter 8028R is open to all retirees who
were active in the AFT for at least one year. Membership dues
are $20 per year. Associate members may join for $10 per year. Membership applications are online.
The next scheduled luncheon is Monday, April 7, 2014 at the Spanish Tavern in Mountainside. Meet and greet starts at 10:30 a.m. with a short business meeting and program starting at 11:00 a.m. Lunch is usually served by 12:15 p.m.
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BKMUW Scholarship Applications Available
Encourage your undergraduate students to apply
 | | 2013 BKMUW Scholarship Recipients |
Scholarships are available through the Catherine A. Becker, James P.Keenen III, Joseph T. Moore, Anita E. Uhia, and Connie Waller (BKMUW) Scholarship Endowment Fund. Members should encourage their students to apply.
The BKMUW Scholarship Endowment Fund was established in 1997. AFT Local 1904's scholarship provides financial support to full-time undergraduate students at Montclair State University who demonstrate a significant economic need. For additional information, please visit the Local's website and click on Scholarships tab.
The deadline to apply for the $500 scholarships is Friday, March 7, 2014 at 3 p.m. Students who wish to be considered for this award are required to complete an application, write an essay, and get two letters of recommendation from full-dues paying members of the Local.
Questions? Contact Linda Turano, Office Manager for AFT Local 1904 at 973-655-4453.
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Current Events
Links to Recent Articles of Interest
- Gov. Christie calls for additional pension concessions for public employees. Read more about it in NJ Spotlight.
- Amazon warehouse workers in Delaware voted to unionize. Click here to learn more.
- The fight over school closures in Newark moves to the legislative arena. NJ Spotlight details the latest developments.
- Bob Braun also has something to say about the proposed school closures in Newark.
- The four-year graduation rates of NJ state colleges and universities are below 50%. Click here to learn more about Joe Cryan's claim.
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 | Richard Wolfson, President
AFT Local 1904 |
President's Corner
The Spring 2014 semester has started. Snow on the first day of classes and cold. Make that COLD. It gets dark early and the days are overcast and dull. But it's "Spring Semester" and I look forward to leaving the gloves and hat behind when the crocus's start popping up, hopefully in another month or so.
In the last 6 weeks, AFT Local 1904 has been busy negotiating on a variety of issues and settling a grievance on Specialists as well as dealing with new and ongoing grievances. We spent hours negotiating hard in areas that we will detail in our upcoming General Union Meeting on February 12th. But, interestingly during the last two weeks my email was dominated by a discussion of the proposed policy document on Social Media. This is a topic I am passionate about as some of you may remember I was instrumental on developing our first Policy on Responsible Computing as the then chairperson of the Academic Technology Committee.
There is a lot to be concerned about in the proposed new policy but I will not speak to those here as I believe that the central issues are most appropriately debated as governance in the University Senate. The University Senate has both asked for campus feedback and charged the Administrative Affairs Council to coordinate a discussion at their February meeting. I encourage you to send them your thoughts and attend the meeting to voice your opinion. If you believe as I do that there are important issues of shared governance and academic freedom to be protected it is our job to be vigilant. A robust, healthy, Senate debate and a strong Senate aligned with a strong Local will show the administration that shared governance, academic freedom, free speech, due process and our contractual rights are important to us.
So, as we look forward to Spring, we need to be ever mindful of the current conditions and watch out for slippery conditions both on and off campus. I hope to see you at the next General Union Meeting AND the February University Senate meeting. There is nothing more important that you can do than voice your opinions in both of these forums.
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Upcoming Events
General Union Meetings:
Time: 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Where: SC 419
When:
Feb. 12, 2014
Mar. 19, 2014
Apr. 9, 2014
May 7, 2014
Community Food Bank of NJ:
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Where: CFBNJ's Hillside, NJ
When: Sat., Mar. 15th
Faculty Tenure Workshop:
Time: 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Where: TBD
When: Tues., May 6th (designated as a Fri.)
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Scholarships Available
The Essex-West Hudson Labor Council's scholarship award for high school seniors is now accepting applications. Eligible applicants must be accepted at an accredited college or post-high school education program.
Children of full dues paying members AFT Local 1904 who meet the above stated criteria are eligible to apply. The application deadline is April 17, 2014. For additional information, please click here.
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AFTNJ
AFT Local 1904 is affiliated with American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ), which is the state federation of AF T locals in New Jersey. AFTNJ represents 30,000 Pre-Kindergarten to 12 and higher education workers throughout the state.
Want to know more about AFTNJ? Sign up for their news feed by clicking here.
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Data Privacy Day
Data Privacy Day was held on January 28. It is a part of an international effort to empower and educate people to protect their privacy and control their digital footprint.
Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is now a celebration for everyone,
observed annually on January 28.
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