AAUP Executive Council Minutes
October 20, 2008
Room 302 McDowell Hall, 1:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Linda Bucher (presiding), Leon Campbell, Gerald
Turkel, David Smith, Pat Barber, Calvin Keeler, and Kevin Kerrane
(secretary)
The meeting began in Executive Session for with reports from
the Grievance Officer, D. Smith, and the Contract Maintenance Office,
L. Campbell.
Regular Meeting:
Following approval of the minutes from
the September 15 meeting, L. Bucher noted that there were no office
updates for the month, and no current Treasurer’s report (S.
Pollack was excused). D. Smith proposed an addition to the agenda under
“New Business”: a discussion of rights (if any) pertaining
to S-contract teachers.
The AAUP Voice: G. Turkel said that the next issue
of the newsletter would appear after the AAUP fall election of AAUP,
and would include a vote tally. He also reported that “things are
getting better” at the national level, with an increase in
membership and much more cooperation with the American Federation of
Teachers.
Old Business:
L. Bucher announced that R. Girardi contacted Steve Finner
re: the chapter history project – Steve hopes to have a draft a
draft of our chapter history by the end of the year.
L. Campbell and D. Smith reported on work by the Salary
Equity Review Committee.
Reviews, which will be done for all faculty, are expected to
be completed early in the spring
semester. Problems have arisen most often from salary
compression rather than inequities in rewarding merit.
Our members of the AAUP/Administration Annual Evaluation/
Merit Pay Committee are D. Smith, S. Pollack, and G. Turkel. At the
insistence of the Provost, the committee’s September 29 meeting
included deans and department chairs. In light of CBA Article 12.3, all
departments are to review their merit criteria and their methods of
translating appraisal scores into merit money. D. Smith observed that
the administration’s determination to make merit a greater
determinant of salary increases can only work within a system that is
fair, transparent, and free from caprice.
L. Campbell suggested that, in negotiating the next CBA, we
should try to prohibit the practice of some departments that award
merit money as a percentage of salary, so that a higher-paid faculty
member would receive more merit dollars than a lower-paid colleague
with exactly the same appraisal scores. G. Turkel noted that such a
prohibition might be fairer, but would also add to the problem of
salary compression.
G. Turkel reported on the Diversity Task Force meeting of
October 6, which attracted only a small turnout. Much of the meeting
focused on accessibility and accommodation for handicapped faculty.
Also discussed were issues of minority faculty: questions about hiring,
and about limiting the service obligations of new hires.
Discussion of our 2008-2010 elections turned to the use of an
electronic ballot. L. Bucher said that using an outside contractor
would cost over $2,000, whereas we could organize the balloting
ourselves by using the program known as Survey Monkey. The consensus of
Council was that we should try this as an experiment, especially since
this election was likely to be uncontested.
New Business:
Faculty Survey:L. Bucher noted that Survey
Monkey would also be used for our canvassing of non-AAUP members, which
could be done during the election period.
S-contract teachers: D. Smith reviewed the recent controversy
over an S-contract employee who was teaching seven courses, but had no
UD benefits. As a result of publicity over this case, such teachers
will now be limited to two courses a semester—i.e., half of the
official teaching load for full-time faculty—because anything
more would impose tax and insurance obligations on the university.
Within the terms of the CBA, D. Smith said S-contract
teachers are not part of the bargaining unit, and so there is nothing
that the AAUP can do. G. Turkel suggested that the plight of these
teachers could be addressed in the next round of negotiations, and L.
Campbell said that he would ask the university’s legal counsel
(James Boudreau) to clarify the requirement imposed by the IRS.
The meeting adjourned with a reminder the next Council
session is scheduled for Monday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Kerrane
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