December 2014 Newsletter
Update from Harry N. Zarin, G Counseling, Chapter President
Opening meeting:
The spring 2015 open meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 20th at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus, in the in the Cultural Arts Center.
Our full faculty meeting is scheduled to begin around 10:30 after morning speakers, including Dr. Pollard, and should run until about 12:00 p.m. .
Please attend this meeting. The Union’s Executive Committee will update you on Chapter affairs and on the progress of negotiations which, this year, cover all aspects of our contract. We look forward to your feedback. Please come and talk to us.
Negotiations:
In the November newsletter, I mentioned that progress had been made in negotiations, that the teams were meeting, and that we were all interested in coming to an agreement as soon as possible.
The Union and Administrators have met several times during the course of the fall semester and have made progress, reaching several tentative agreements on a variety of monetary and non-monetary issues. A break in the negotiations occurred in November while several members of the management team went on the County-sponsored trip to India.
The teams will meet again on Friday, December 12th and will continue to work on resolving several important issues, including general wage adjustments.
I am sure that many of you read the December 5th memorandum from Dr. Janet Wormack, Sr. Vice President for Administrative and Fiscal Services, about the FY’16 budget progress and fiscal update. I can assure you that we are all very aware of the fiscal situation in the state and the county.
We will be working closely with management to come to an agreement on a salary package that is affordable as well as equitable, given the raises received by the other bargaining units and administrators at the College.
New Faculty: Please Join the Union:
This is a reminder to all full-time bargaining unit faculty members who are completing their first semester of employment at the College. Each of you has an important decision to make. Based on Article 7.7 Modified Agency Shop:
“…any faculty member hired into a bargaining unit position shall, by the conclusion of his or her initial semester of employment, be required to have dues deducted pursuant to Section 7.2 (A) or pay a service fee established by the Chapter as compensation for the representational services rendered.”
If you are a newly-hired faculty member and have not already joined the Chapter or submitted an application to the Chapter indicating that you are agreeing to pay a service fee, you must complete an authorization for dues/service fee deduction form and submit the form to Bill Talbot, (R) Accounting, Chapter Treasurer.
You may access this form from the Chapter’s website at www.mcaaup.org by simply clicking the “Join the Chapter” tab. If you have any questions about this requirement, please do not hesitate to contact me or any other member of the Executive Committee.
Contractual Obligations:
All members of the Chapter should take some time to review the contract.
While this may not seem to be the most exciting thing to do during your free time it is important for each full time faculty member to be aware of your obligations as a member of the bargaining unit.
For example, are you aware that you may not work more than 20 ESH in any given semester, that you must work at least 30 ESH each academic year, that you may not work more than 36 ESH in any given academic year, or that you may request a reduced workload by submitting a request in writing to the campus Vice President/Provost? Are you aware that you may receive an increase in salary if you are awarded an advanced degree, certificate, or license in the discipline for which you were hired?
You will also note that, with regards to our pay, there is no mention of stipends in the contract.
If a member of management mentions paying you a stipend for services rendered, this is not allowed under the terms and conditions of the contract. These are only a few of the important provisions in our contract that covers the terms and conditions of our employment at Montgomery College. Please take the time to review this document.
Jon Kreissig:
Over 40 years ago Jon Kreissig joined the faculty of Montgomery College as a member of the Physical Education Department. Unfortunately Jon passed away very suddenly on Friday, November 21. He was one of the last remaining tenured faculty members at the college.
During his tenure at the College he served as a teacher of health and physical education classes and as the Germantown baseball coach. He also served as a coach of track, cross country, and football, and he served as assistant Athletic Director at the Rockville Campus for a period.
Jon was involved in many community and civic organizations, was an alderman in Frederick County, MD, for 12 years and served as a representative of the statewide Association of Faculties for Advancement of Community Teaching.
During our time together as colleagues, we worked closely together to help a number of students in his classes who were having difficulties both in classes and in life. Whenever I asked for his assistance he always replied by telling me that it was all about the students and he simply wanted to know what I needed him to do.
His dedication and service to our students will be missed.
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