Announcements - and More to Come!
AP Caucus: Tues, April 8, Noon to 1:30, SMSU 327 - Lunch Provided
Fixed-Term & Research Faculty Caucus: Weds, April 9th, Noon to 1:30, SMSU 327
Lunch Provided
Tenure-Line Faculty Caucus, Weds, April 9th, 3:30 - 5, SMSU 327
Organization & Strike Threat Get Unprecedented Gains!
- Keep Contract Protections for P & T Guidelines, Past Practices
- Big Shift in Number, Certainty & Length of Fixed Term Contracts
- Advancement Path for APs - Raises Tied to Seniority
- Retain Contract Protection for AP "Positions"
- Meaningful Planning for Academic Quality
- Cost of Living Increases 2.5% and 2.5%, Mid-Year as for Others
- 1.5% Across the Board Faculty Comparator Adjustment
- 8% Promotion Increases
- Travel Fund Doubled, Faculty Enhancement Fund up 30%
- Post Tenure Review Will NOT result in Changed Job Description
- No Retaliation Against AAUP Members for Union Activity
There's more to be done in the Long Campaign for PSU & Public HIgher Ed: to increase state funding; reduce tuition, fees & student debt; and shift campus priorities BACK toward academics and instruction.
But this contract is a big win, and we got it by working together and standing up for our students, our university and ourselves.
With this contract, we go forward toward a PSU that better embodies our academic values, including a student-centered budget; academic freedom; and both security and compensation as rewards for dedicated service to the University.
DETAILS:
On the eve of the April 6th deadline for students to drop classes with a 100% refund, PSU-AAUP and the PSU Administration bargaining teams reached a tentative agreement, signed at 5:30 this morning after a bargaining marathon stretching over Friday and Saturday and well into Sunday morning.
Provost Andrews and President Wiewel's Chief of Staff Lois Davis were on hand all night. President Wiewel consulted by phone throughout the night, having canceled his planned trip to Turkey to attend to bargaining.
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council will decide whether or not to recommend this deal to the members for ratification, in its regular meeting on Thursday, April 10th. If the Executive Council agrees, it will invite members to participate in an electronic vote on whether or not to ratify this contract. A majority vote to ratify will make this our contract for the biennium.
Here's what we agreed to:
Article 8: Past Practices - Current Language, retaining Protection for Past Practice (Unwritten Work Policies)
Article 14: Promotion & Tenure - Current Language, retaining Contract Protection for Promotion & Tenure Guidelines
Article 16: Post-Tenure Review - procedure to be drafted by Faculty Senate, with assurance that post-tenure review shall NOT result in discipline or changes in job description.
Article 17: Academic Professionals - Current Language, retaining AP job security tied to the "position," not your "appointment"
Article 18: Fixed Term Faculty- Seniority, meaning eligibility for multi-year contracts after 4 years, down from 6 years.
80% of eligible faculty on multi-year contracts, up from 45% - allocated by seniority to the most senior fixed term faculty members
Instructors with multi-year contracts: 2 year contracts. Senior Instructors & all other titles: 3 year contracts
Article 19: Professional Development - Travel Fund Doubled to $500k, Faculty Enhancement Grant Fund Increased 30% to $650k
Article 24: Working Conditions - Verbal Harassment Prohibited
Article 27: Progressive Sanctions - Ongoing Bargaining by Task Force
Article 30: Salary
Cost of Living Increases 2.5% each year, mid-year
Increases tied to promotion = 8%
Across the Board Comparator Adjustment for Fixed Term & Tenure Line
Faculty 1.5%, Jan 1, 2015
Compression Adjustment for APs, July 1, 2014
People at PSU at least 3 years but < 6 years: 2%
People at PSU for 6 years but < 9 years: 3%
People at PSU for 9 or more years: 4%
All minima raised to $40k, Jan 1, 2014
Minima between $40k and $50k increase 3% Jan 1, 2014
Minima above $50 increase 2.75% annually
Compensation for new ranks to be fixed in interim bargaining
Salary Pool of 4% of Faculty up for Post-Tenure Review, to be allocated
as raises in manner to be determined by the Faculty Senate
Article 31: Insurance - We will continue to pay 5% of health premiums but not more
Article 34: Library Faculty Development Days - removed from contract at
request of PSU Librarians
Article 44: Term of Agreement - contract will expire Nov 30, 2015; previous Aug 31
date falls weeks before fall enrollment known & Admin willing to talk $$
Letter of Agreement on Academic Quality:
Representatives of PSU-AAUP, the Faculty Senate, PSUFA (part-time
faculty), ASPSU and Admin will craft a plan toward aspirational
comparators, aided by support fund for task force
Letter of Agreement on Paid Parental Leave & Work-Life Policies
Joint PSU-AAUP/Admin task force to consider proposals for paid parental
as available at U of O, and other work-life policies
Memorandum of Understanding: Summer Session - Admin to report to PSU-AAUP
and Faculty Senate on Summer Session 2012, 2013 & 2014, including
total budgets, number of courses and credits taught and contract status of
faculty teaching classes by department and unit.
No retaliation against any AAUP members for activity in contract campaign
Upcoming Conversation about Resolving Outstanding Disputes
It's obviously not the compensation package PSU-AAUP members deserve, but better than we had anticipated in the context of the President's ongoing public commitment to the view that PSU has a $15 million structural deficit.
We will need to keep working to ensure a full shift to a student-centered budget that prioritizes academic investments above all else.
There's more work to be done but, in the meanwhile, let's enjoy Spring Term!
Mary King, President, PSU-AAUP, on behalf of the PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team
VP for Bargaining Ron Narode, with Gina Greco, David Hansen, Bob Liebman, Anh Ly, Leanne Serbulo and Phil Lesch (ex officio)
p.s. To ensure that you receive PSU-AAUP e-mail, check your spam folder in both your PSU webmail AND any other e-mail program you use. Mark any PSU-AAUP e-mail you find in either spot "not junk" to teach your filters what it what!