PRESENT: Linda Bucher (presiding), Leon Campbell, Gerald Turkel, Danilo Yanich, Steve Dentel, Pat Barber, Sheldon Pollack, David Smith, and Kevin Kerrane (secretary)

After approval of the minutes from the August 29 th Executive Council meeting, Council went into Executive Session for reports from the Grievance Officer, D. Smith, and the Contract Maintenance Office, L. Campbell.

Regular Meeting:

Office Update: L. Bucher initiated proposed a 4% salary increase for Office Assistant Rita Girardi based on the 06-07 salary adjustments defined in the CBA. G. Turkel moved that the increase be 5%. D. Yanich seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

In his Treasurer’s Report, S. Pollack noted that our chapter would still be ahead for the year, even after the payment of $5,000 to the National as part of our pledge.

G. Turkel summarized an e-mail exchange with Maxine Colm regarding eligibility for early retirement. The administration is asserting a right to implement a policy change regarding age and service eligibility on its own , but the National AAUP has stated that age and service eligibility are defined in our part of the CBA (Article IX, Section 9.6 as stated on page 15). After full discussion by the Council, L. Campbell proposed that President L. Bucher write a letter to Maxine explaining our disagreement, on the grounds that changing a clause in our current contract cannot become a prerogative of management.

David Smith announced that, as the Grievance Officer, he was still planning to provide a clarification of “Grievances” and “Complaints”—to be published in The AAUP Voice.

Old Business:

G. Turkel reported that Steve Finner is still working without a contract on the Chapter History. He also noted that Rita Girardi would be sending out flyers to all faculty regarding the October 25 Joint Fall Luncheon Program with the Provost.

L. Bucher reported that she attended the New Faculty Orientation on October 3. It had been poorly attended, but she had given a presentation about the AAUP.

New Business:

Local AAUP membership only option: S. Pollack summarized questions from colleagues about the possibility of joining our AAUP chapter without also joining the National. G. Turkel stressed that our chapter has an obligation to pay dues to the National, and L. Bucher added that it would not be possible to belong to the National organization without joining the local chapter given that we are a collective bargaining unit.

Joint meeting with Executive Committee of the Senate: S. Pollack suggested that such a meeting could clarify policies (about grievances and complaints, for example), and raise issues about faculty input into such areas as appointments to named professorships.

L. Bucher agreed to arrange the meeting.

Salary Equity Studies: L. Bucher noted a number of queries from faculty about the annual process of analyzing individual salaries to determine equity. K. Kerrane observed that the present process includes no notification to a faculty member whose request for an analysis does not result in a salary adjustment—much less an explanation of the methods by which these adjustments are computed. L. Campbell offered to ask Michael Middaugh for information about the algorithm he uses in these computations, and L. Bucher proposed that The AAUP Voice include this explanation, along with a notice about delays in this year’s analyses due to the implementation of a Peoplesoft program.

S. Pollack raised a question about the teaching of on-line courses. The administration has the prerogative of assigning/supervising such courses—but if regular faculty are not given a right of first refusal to teach them, they can file grievances.

National AAUP:

L. Bucher noted the training of new collective-bargaining leaders being conducted by the National Office had been rescheduled for December 1 and 2 (Friday and Saturday) in Washington, D.C.

Council then discussed a request for financial help from the AAUP chapter at the University of Colorado. S. Dentel emphasized that this new chapter has been under political attack. G. Turkel moved that our chapter send a donation of $250. K. Kerrane seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

L. Bucher concluded with a reminder of our two remaining meeting dates this fall: November 1 and December 6—both at 8:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Kerrane