American Association of University Professors
University of Delaware Chapter


301 McDowell Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE  19716
Phone: 302-831-2292; Fax: 302-831-4119; E-mail: aaup-mail@udel.edu


Home Membership People Resources News CBA Constitution & Bylaws Student Award

Minutes from May 4, 2005 Open Faculty Meeting

10 - 11:45am; 347 McDowell Hall; Revised

Present: Tammy Anderson, John Bieber, Richard Braun, Linda Bucher, Leon Campbell, David Colton, Doug Doren, Howard Garland, Kevin Kerrane, Chuck Mason, Eugene Mueller, Charlie Pavitt, Lisa Plowfield, Charlie Riordan, David Smith, Pamela Stazesky, Doug Taber, Gerry Turkel, and Judy Van Name.

President Linda Bucher called the meeting to order. She reminded everyone that they received the proposed contract via email and they would receive a ballot during the coming week. The Open Faculty meeting is an opportunity to meet with the Executive Council and the AAUP Bargaining Team.

Chief Negotiator David Colton reminded everyone that, at this time, all full-time faculty members may vote on the proposed contract. He also stated that during bargaining, one always has "what if" thoughts about the process. He then presented the proposed contract.

5.10 Adequate cause for dismissal was defined, i.e. incompetence, gross irresponsibility or moral turpitude. The Contract Maintenance Officer reviews the evidence for "just cause" cases. This would allow faculty members to challenge termination through arbitration rather than the courts. Many faculty members wanted this. Administration cannot change the definition since it appears in the CBA.

5.11 states that documents will be distributed via CD-ROM.

Article VIII. Grievance procedure. It was clarified that "academic freedom" which has been deleted is included earlier in the contract.

9.6 Article IX, Personnel Benefits. Retirement leave policy added "or a full year retirement leave at 75% salary" along with the option of a half year retirement leave at full pay. This also makes it consistent with the sabbatical leave policy.

9.7 The new Superior Vision plan will cover family members and partners; however, partners will not be a part of flexible benefits. U.D. pays for the individual faculty member's portion and the faculty member pays the difference for family members/partner.

9.14 Maternity leave. The primary caregiver (which is gender neutral) has the option of an administered workload during the semester of birth or adoption or the semester immediately following. The timing is determined by the faculty member. No proof is required for primary care-giving responsibilities. It is the department chair's responsibility to administer workloads accordingly.

11.9 Workload. It will be possible to mix and match credit contact hours and teaching contact hours based upon the department's workload policy. Although this affects just a few departments, it is important.

12.4 Revisions regarding merit were made to the contract. Prior to the revisions, merit policy had to be "consistent" which could be interpreted differently. Now, if faculty receive the same number for merit, they should receive the same dollar (or percentage) increase in pay. This might reduce the number of grievances by as much as one half. It was noted that merit metrics may be accessed on the Provost's web page.

Memo of Understanding - Arts & Sciences buyout. One course = 12.5%, the second course must be negotiated. It was noted that the College of Arts & Sciences is the only college that returns part of the buyout to their departments. Buyout for two courses per year is unusual, but could be negotiated.

President Bucher recommended that the Memorandums of Understanding be made accessible on our web site: www.udel.edu/AAUP/

Memo of Understanding for parking includes meeting once a year to discuss/resolve the problems.

Memo of Understanding to discuss the cost of health care for retirees. A committee will address the increasing cost of Medigap during the life of the contract. Administration said it will not affect current faculty but it might affect future hires. There is NO way there should be a two-tiered system for health care. It will be important to have faculty input on this matter. We need to look at the percentage increase in terms of real dollars. There are different ways this can be approached. It was noted that qualified faculty members could be asked to serve on this committee.

Salary

It was pointed out that we bargain for salary rather than total compensation. We must take the comparative salary figures with a grain of salt. Comparisons were to the four institutions in our region: U of Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers and U of VA.

For the first time, the administration came to the table and said "we want to give you money." They argued "market forces" which was not relevant since it applies to everyone. The Bargaining Team wanted to shift some of the money from the full professors to the associate and assistant professors.

The new minimums affect 21 current faculty members for an average of $150/Assistant Professor.

There were no structural adjustments for full professors in the last contract.
Across-the-board 2%/year plus structural adjustments. Structural adjustments only go to faculty rather than the rest of the University.

Number of professors: 355 including 100 named professors
Associate professors: 310
Assistant professors: 284

Total full-time faculty: 949

It was noted that the percentage increases in the proposed contract are 1/2% more than the increases in the previous contract.

The CPI is currently 3.3%. The most recent number for the mid-Atlantic region is 2% (2003-2004).

President Roselle's philosophy is that the reputation of the University depends on the full professors. He also wants to provide incentives to Associate Professors for promotion. It was noted that there would be an increasing gap between full and associate professors. The minimum salary for Assistant Professors will be $50,170. It was noted that these policies might result in opportunities for administration to make changes in University programs due to retirements. It was also noted that the administration is not concerned about the gaps between ranks of the faculty. The administration is interested in creating a fourth tier of faculty members who are selected by administrators. Currently there are about 100 named Professors.

It was asked whether the computation for average faculty salaries includes named professors. Since it does, it was suggested that we might want to compute it with and without the named professors in the future. It was also noted that we might want to focus on raising the minimums for faculty in the next contract. Finally, it was noted that half of the special adjustment money that President Roselle gave the faculty went to the chairs this year.

Respectfully submitted by Judith Van Name