December 8, 2023

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Tentative MOA for AY2023-24 (from MC-AAUP and Management)

January 23, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Dear Full time Faculty:

The negotiating teams representing the AAUP chapter and management at Montgomery College have agreed to the following for the collective bargaining agreement for the fiscal/academic year 2023-2024:

Dated December 20, 2022 

The Agreement between the Montgomery College Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (the Chapter) and the Board of Trustees of Montgomery College (the College) provides for reopener negotiations for the fiscal 2024 academic year. After negotiating in good faith, the parties agree that there will be no changes to the Agreement between the College and the Chapter in the fiscal 2024 academic year other than the following: 

NON-ECONOMIC ISSUES 

A joint committee of two (2) faculty members and two (2) members of the administration will meet and confer during 2023 to analyze and provide recommendations around the issue of office hours, presently set forth in Section 5.3(A) of the Agreement. Negotiation over any changes to Section 5.3(A) will be a part of the full contract negotiations beginning in the fall of 2023 or, by mutual agreement, may result in a side letter regarding office hours prior to the start of full contract negotiations in the fall of 2023. 

ECONOMIC ISSUES Section 8.2 – Academic Year Salaries. (A) General. Fiscal 2024 Academic Year: 

Effective the first day of the academic year, the salary of any faculty member who has been in the bargaining unit for at least one semester as of the beginning of the fiscal 2024 academic year shall be increased by three percent (3%) and by as much as an additional $2,700.00, provided that no faculty member’s fiscal 2024 academic year salary under this Section 8.2(A) shall exceed $123,720.00 or be less than $62,319.00. 

A faculty member eligible for a longevity adjustment under Section 8.2(D) (five consecutive years at the maximum and satisfactory performance evaluations) will have a one-time longevity step of $1,600.00 added to the maximum salary under Section 8.2(A), for a total Fiscal 2024 Academic Year salary of $125,320.00. For the Chapter: For the College: 

This agreement was discussed at the AAUP opening meeting on 17 January 2023 and a vote on ratification will be held the week of 23 January 2023. We are appreciative of the mutually collaborative, beneficial, and cordial nature of this negotiation session, as well as the continued trust and support of our AAUP chapter members. 

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the AAUP negotiating team. 

Best regards, 

Sharon Piper, Lead negotiator AAUP- Fall 2023

Carol Kliever,  Director, Employee and Labor Relations

Filed Under: Collective Bargaining, News to Note

Proposed Modifications of the Constitution

January 23, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Please see the below document if you wish to review proposed modifications to the constitution.

AAUP-MC-Constitution Proposed Modifications_1-19-23Download
Filed Under: Collective Bargaining

AAUP Update: Negotiations Primer- next week! Please join us!

April 29, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Dear FT Faculty colleagues, 

Good evening! 

The AAUP negotiating team will be sponsoring a “Negotiations Primer” to be held on Zoom on Wednesday May 4 from 3-4:30 pm, with Monica Owens, a trainer from AAUP National. Monica is joining us to discuss both traditional and interest-based methods of bargaining, the process of negotiation,  and strategies to increase effectiveness at the bargaining table. This primer will be a good introduction to the work of the negotiating team.  We are moving rapidly towards the negotiation of the full contract in fall 2023. To that end, we will be expanding membership on the negotiating team over the next year, so if you have ever thought about, or been curious, about negotiations, please join us at this forum! 

A zoom link/invitation will be sent out with a reminder later this week. Please let us know if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you at our final AAUP forum for this spring 2022 semester. 

Thanks as always for your continued support and trust as we represent you in collective bargaining for our union contract. 

For the Chapter, 

The AAUP Negotiating team- 

Sharon Piper, Lead
Tito Baca
Carrie Fitzgerald

Filed Under: AAUP Events, Actions Alerts, Collective Bargaining

AAUP Update:  Ratification of our Tentative Agreements, Executive Committee Activities, Workday, and More.

February 17, 2022 by Leave a Comment

February 2022

Welcome back:

I hope all of you had a restful and healthy holiday break and that you have had a smooth start to the spring 2022 semester.  It was very nice seeing so many of you at our opening meeting last month and we look forward to seeing many of you during the spring semester at additional Chapter related meetings. 

Tentative Agreements Ratified:

I am pleased to report that our membership overwhelmingly voted to ratify the tentative agreements we reached with Management during last semester’s negotiations.  Also, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to ratify the agreements at their January meeting.  The signed Memorandum of Agreement has been posted in the Chapter documents section of the AAUP Chapter website, mcaaup.org.   Lobbying by members of the College community will commence later this semester with visits to members of the County Council and testimony at the County’s operating budget hearings later in April.  A final vote by the County Council on our operating budget will occur later in May and that is when we will know whether we will actually receive the raise we negotiated.  If asked by our Governmental Relations Office, a member of the Executive Committee will testify at these hearings on behalf of our membership. 

Executive Committee Activities:

The end of last semester and the beginning of this semester was a very busy time for members of the Executive Committee.   We worked collaboratively with the other two union groups, SEIU which represents the part-time faculty and AFSCME which represents the bargaining unit staff, to communicate our concerns with the process that led to the selection of Dr. Williams as our next MC President and to voice our discontent with the return to face-to-face instruction during a period of time when the COVID variant was on the rise.

On December 21 Victoria Baldassano, Director SEIU, Lori Ulrich, President AFSEME, and I met with the BOT Chair Mike Knapp and Steve Cain, Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer, to discuss the process that led to the selection of Dr. Williams as our next President. 

On January 10 we sent a letter of concern to senior managers voicing our concern with the return to face-to-face instruction.  Subsequent to that communication we were invited to meet with the three Senior Vice Presidents to discuss our concerns about this issue. 

On January 14 we sent a letter to the Senior Vice Presidents after we met with them, and on January 21 we sent a memo to the College community outlining our position on the College’s return to campus plans.  Each of these communications have been posted on the Chapter webpage. Please take some time to review these communications so that you can fully understand the extent of our advocacy work on behalf of the membership.

Workday:

Recently I have had several conversations with faculty members and received e-mails from a number of faculty members regarding problems they are encountering trying to process their EAP requests, prepay requisitions, and reimbursements.  HRSTM the Office of Business Services (OBS) is offering a number of zoom sessions to help everyone better understand the new processes we need to follow since the implementation of Workday in early January.  I encourage all of you to take advantage of these training opportunities.  Please see the message below that we recently received in the Employees Matters newsletter.

HRSTM and OBS Host Virtual Office Sessions for Assistance with New EAP Process in Workday

As of January 3, 2022, employees have been  able to initiate the Educational Assistance Program (EAP) request process in Workday. To support employees with this new EAP process, the Offices of Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management (HRSTM) and Business Services (OBS) have been hosting virtual office sessions this month. The next upcoming sessions are listed below:

Register to receive the Zoom meeting invitation. Once you join the Zoom meeting, you will be placed in a waiting room and receive personal assistance on a first-come, first-served basis. Please have your prepay requisition and/or reimbursement documents (i.e., invoices, receipts) saved and ready for review and to be uploaded into Workday. As a reminder, all EAP Travel is reimbursement only and therefore not eligible for prepay. Please refer to the Workday training website for more information and resources.

Below is a link to an EAP Quick Reference Guide that you also may find helpful.

https://info.montgomerycollege.edu/_documents/offices/information-technology/workday/hrstm-and-payroll/educational-assistance-program-quick-reference-guide.pdf

AAUP Strategic Planning:

As an organization made up of a small group of mostly volunteers, we take our jobs very seriously and we recognize the importance of planning for the future of the Chapter. The pool of Chapter leaders is rather small because so few people volunteer to take a leadership role in the Chapter.  Succession planning is vital for our continued strength and success as a Chapter.  I have often said at our faculty meetings that I have been doing this job for a long time and I can’t continue in this role forever.  My continuing in this role isn’t good for the Chapter. Others on the Executive Committee have also served their role for many years.  Succession planning is something that we talk about in our Executive Committee meetings on a regular basis.

Tito Baca, Secretary for the Chapter, submitted a grant application to our National Office with the hope that they would provide us with some funding to help us as we create a strategic plan for the Chapter.  I am pleased to report that the National office accepted our application and agreed to provide us with a $20,000 grant which we will use to help cover the costs we incur as we develop a strategic plan. Training for future leaders of the Chapter, revisions to our Constitution, succession planning, and training in negotiation techniques are a few of the topics that will be covered in as we plan for the future of our Chapter.  The first Faculty Forum we will sponsor will occur on Tuesday February 22 from 5:00-6:00.  An e-mail was sent to all of you earlier this week by Carrie Fitzgerald.  Please see the information below and I hope to see many of you there.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://montgomerycollege.zoom.us/j/99973869445

As the semester progresses, I encourage you to watch for more information on how you can become a more involved member of the Chapter and become a future leader in the Chapter.  If you are interested, I am sure we can find a role for you in Chapter leadership or on one of our future committees.

On behalf of the Chapter,

Harry Zarin, President AAUP

Filed Under: Actions Alerts, Collective Bargaining, President's Message

AAUP November Chapter Update

November 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment

AAUP Update-Return to Campus Plans, Vaccine Mandate, Negotiations, Organizing Group Update

November 2021

Return to Campus Plans:

On November 8 all administrators, staff, and faculty counselors were expected to return to their offices five days a week and each employee can request the ability to telework one day a week.  The regular telework policy of allowing employees to telework up to three days a week has been suspended until later in the spring semester.  Whether you agree with this plan or not, we are back. 

Those of us who work in student service areas are very concerned that we are being asked to come to the office at least 4 days a week and possibly meet with current students or visitors who may be unvaccinated. The fact that instructional faculty and counseling faculty are being treated differently is problematic. Instructional faculty have been told that they can do their office hours remotely while we counseling faculty members are expected to work from our offices at least four days a week.   Despite the fact that all of us are vaccinated, we all know that breakthrough cases of COVID are being reported on a regular basis in the county and at the college.  I believe the administration is counting on the fact that the number of people in the county who are vaccinated is very high and that reduces the likelihood that we will be exposed to unvaccinated people.  We shall see if this plan works or not. 

On behalf of the faculty in the student services area I asked that this plan be revisited and that we be allowed to work with our respective Chairs/Deans to create a 5-day a week presence while at the same time allowing us to limit our individual on-campus presence.  We believe the on-campus demands of the students don’t currently require all of us to be here 5-days a week and we have the data to prove this. Despite knowing this data, the administration did not relent on their decision and we are expected to be here 5-days a week with the understanding that we can telework one day a week.  So much for saying that we are a data driven institution.

Employee Vaccine mandate:

A very important part of the return to campus plans was the Administration’s announcement that all employees, including student employees, were supposed to submit proof of their COVID vaccination to the posted website by November 8.  Requests for religious or medical exceptions were granted on an individual basis and those requests should have been submitted by October 29. 

An integral part of this return to campus plan, included the development of the Employee COVID-19 Vaccination, Safety & Disciplinary Action Protocols document.  See the attached.

employee-covid19-vaccination-compliance-protocols.pdf

Within this document are the discipline and discharge protocols the College developed for all employees who do not provide evidence of receiving their vaccination or those who do not receive a medical or religious exemption.  Several of us on the Executive Committee met with members of HRSTM a few times to help with the development of this document. It is important to note that the discipline and discharge procedures in this document do not comply with the discipline and discharge procedures specified in our contract. The Administration tried to come up with a one size fits all document, remember there are three different unions at MC, and the Administration has asked representatives for each union to sign off on a memorandum of agreement. Last week I received notification from HRSTM that 100% of the full-time faculty were fully compliant in submitting their verification of receipt of the COVID vaccination.  Based on this information I have signed off on the memorandum of agreement and submitted it to HRSTM. 

Student Vaccine Mandate:

The student vaccine mandate goes into effect on January 8 and this mandate only applies to students registered for face-to-face classes.  There is an expectation that those students who are registered for distance learning and structured remote classes who need to come to campus for student services, will also comply with the mandate.  However, there is no mechanism in place to ensure that this happens. 

On behalf of the full-time faculty I submitted a written request to Kevin Long, Chair of the RTCAT, asking that they recommend the Administration reconsider the student vaccine mandate and require that all registered students be required to submit verification of their vaccination status unless they receive a religious or medical exemption. I did this because any student can come to campus and use the services in the learning centers, the library, counseling and advising, the Financial Aid Office, etc. and no mechanism is in place to stop them if they are not vaccinated.  This policy is creating an unsafe environment for all of us.

Kevin brought my request to the senior leadership and as of the writing of this update no change has been made in the student vaccine mandate. I will continue to request that this mandate be changed whenever I meet with members of the administration.

Negotiations Update From Sharon Piper, Chief Negotiator:

Negotiations between AAUP and MC management started on Tuesday October 12. This year we are negotiating for financials (salary, overload and EAP) for the 2022-23 academic year. Both management and AAUP have brought some additional issues to the table, and we are currently in the process of sorting out which of those issues both sides are willing to discuss. In addition to negotiations, we are discussing a possible plan for a return to IBB (Interest Based Bargaining) in future negotiation sessions. The timing for this is optimal with a new management team to work with as we go forward. 

At our first session, we shared with management the 300+ signatures and support statement for the negotiating team organized by the membership. That act was much appreciated by the team and the statement and signatures have been entered into the session notes as permanent documentation of faculty support. 

We are preparing for at least three more negotiation sessions (and possibly four if needed) before the end of the semester. We will make a final report to the membership once negotiations are completed, and the contract is ready for a vote on ratification. Please reach out to any NT member if you have any questions and as always, thank you for your support. 

One final note: the negotiating team is sad to say good-bye to a longtime member, Robin Flanary, who retired from MC this past summer, and happy to welcome a new member, Carrie Fitzgerald, who joins Tito Baca, Ginger Robinson, and myself. We wanted to thank Robin for all her hard work in representing the FT faculty and AAUP, and to thank Carrie for her future time and efforts as a new member of the team. 

Organizing Group Update From Michael LeBlanc:

In September, organizers made one final push to get 300 signatures on our Negotiating Team Support Letter, and we met our goal exactly by the end of the month.  This is a fantastic achievement, and the membership deserves a pat on the back for speaking with such a strong and supportive collective voice.  The organizing email list continues to be a robust forum for collegial conversation around faculty issues.  Faculty exchange information and stories, ask questions of union leadership, and develop opportunities and strategies around faculty issues, especially return to campus issues.  For the rest of this semester and into the spring, organizing leaders will turn their attention to membership outreach, strategic planning, and election forums.  Stay tuned if you’re interested in becoming involved in these initiatives. 

The administration has to make a strong request for funding to support a raise for the employees. We are the only county funded organization that didn’t receive a raise this year. It is time for the Administration to go to bat for the employees. Declining enrollment can’t be used as an excuse to not ask for raises for us. 

ESH Limits:

Prior to the start of our winter session and spring semester I wanted to remind everyone about the ESH limits stipulated in our contracts.  When planning your winter and spring classes please remember that you may work no more than 20 ESH in any one semester, winter ESH counts towards your spring ESH load, and you may work no more than 36 ESH in any given academic year.  Exceptions to these ESH limits are granted in very rare cases by the Chapter upon request from Management. 

Future Chapter Forums:

The Executive Committee is planning on offering more Contract 101 type forums to help involve the faculty in learning more about Chapter activities, what it is like to serve in a leadership position for the Chapter, and about various articles in our Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Look for information about these forums in future Chapter updates.

Spring Opening Meeting:

In case anyone was wondering, our spring opening faculty meeting will be scheduled as a Zoom meeting.  A Zoom link will be sent out to all of you in early January.  The meeting is scheduled for the morning of Tuesday January 18 which is the day the faculty are due to return to work from the holiday break.

Meeting with Dr. Dukes:

Several weeks ago I was fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to meet with Dr. Dukes, Steve Cain, and the Presidents of the other two unions that represent the bargaining staff and the part-time faculty, Chris Standing and Victoria Baldassano.  We talked about a variety of topics that were of interest to each of us. 

During this meeting I took the opportunity to speak about our current negotiations and the fact that we are the only county funded agency that did not receive a raise this year. I stressed that it is important for our administration to fight for us and to make a very strong ask of the County and State for sufficient funds so that each of us can receive a substantial raise next year. We took the hit this year and it is another groups turn to take the hit next year. Below are examples of the raises negotiated by some of the employee groups in Montgomery County, Maryland state employees, and employees in the University System of Maryland.

  • All Montgomery County employees (union and non-union) received a 1.5% GWA (General Wage Adjustment) effective June 20, 2021.  Employee groups also received a 3.5% service increment for FY21.
  • The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved FY22 increases for MCGEO (County Employees) 3.5% or 4.75% increment plus a $1,684 GWA, FOP (Fraternal Order of the Police) 6%, and IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) 5%, on April 27, 2021.
  • Maryland State Government Employees-2% GWA plus a step increase
  • University System of Maryland-2% COLA plus 1.9% increment
  • MCPS Step plus 2% in FY21 and Step plus 1.5% in FY22.

I don’t care if our enrollment is down. The amount of work we are all doing and have been doing during these crazy COVID times has not decreased due to the decline in enrollment.  In fact, just about everyone I have spoken with over the past two years has said they are working more now than ever before.  We don’t mind working hard but we deserve a raise and we need to be rewarded just like any other County funded agency. 

Thank you to the members of the Negotiating Team for fighting for us during these negotiations.

Personally, I hope that all of you and your families are staying healthy during these difficult times.  Please take some time to take care of yourself, get away from work, relax, read a good book, take a vacation, and just be good to yourself.

On behalf of the Chapter,

Harry Zarin, President AAUP

Filed Under: Collective Bargaining, Faculty Viewpoints, President's Message

AAUP Update: DL/OER ESH Request Reminder and Contract 101 Thank You

February 25, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Hi, everyone. I hope you’re all doing ok. I know this is a tough time for lots of folks, and many of you are tired and stretched thin.

I also know there have been questions surrounding course development and compensation, so I’m sending this message to remind you–or alert you–of an upcoming deadline. Per the e-learning side letter (often called the DL side letter), you can request ESH from ELITE to develop a DL course or a z-course. The process is outlined in the letter, and it includes submitting a form to ELITE for consideration. Deadlines for submission are firm, and if you’d like ESH to develop a course over the summer, the deadline to submit your request is March 15th.

You can access the form here: https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/_documents/offices/elite/deeshrequest.pdf

You’ll need signatures from your department chair and your dean, so I recommend starting this process ASAP.

Additional specifics are outlined in the letter, which I’ve attached. Since I’ve recently gone through the process, I’m also happy to chat if you have questions. 

We have an upcoming Contract 101 session on March 30th, and Tammy Peery will join us to discuss the e-learning side letter in detail. This should be a great event since she was a primary negotiator of the agreement. Because the summer deadline is quickly approaching, however, the negotiating team wanted to provide you with the information above ASAP.

We’d also like to thank everyone who hopped on to our Contract 101 session yesterday afternoon. We appreciate your engagement and your support of us as a team. It makes a tough job a little bit easier and a lot more rewarding. It really is an honor to serve you all.

Ginger R. Robinson, JD

Associate Professor, Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Coordinator, Rockville & TP/SS

Criminal Justice Program Advisor, Rockville & TP/SS

Montgomery College

Filed Under: AAUP Events, Actions Alerts, Collective Bargaining

Forum #2: AAUP Contract 101 Notes

February 24, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Contract 101: Grievance Procedures with Tim Kirkner

2/23/2021: 4-5:30 PM

Negotiating Team Members Present: AJ Baca, Robin Flanary, Sharon Piper, and Ginger Robinson

Executive Committee Members: Kay Ahmad, Rupa Das, Tim Kirkner, Michael LeBlanc, Rick Penn, and Harry Zarin

I. Welcome and overview – Sharon Piper

Sharon welcomed everyone to the session and explained what we would be discussing during this forum. Ginger shared the contract with the group and Sharon briefly provided a general overview of the process for grievances.

II. Grievance Policy and Procedures – Tim Kirkner

Sharon introduced Tim Kirkner who is the Grievance Officer for the MC AAUP Chapter. Tim provided some background information on the types of issues that come to him and how they are handled. He shared that not all issues that arise result in a grievance. However, he discussed the timeline guidelines and stipulations for filing a grievance. In addition, he shared that there may be some flexibility on the deadline for filing a grievance depending on when the issues come to light. Further, Tim indicated that parties often do not want issues to get to arbitration so most of the time they are resolved before they get to that point using a variety of mechanisms at our disposal.

He shared that it is often a good idea for faculty to use the college Ombudsman since this can document an issue before it gets to the next level. This may or may not be appropriate for contract violations but can be a first step to calm the tide and begin the resolution process.

Faculty have the right to have union representation at meetings whenever they deem necessary and can stop a meeting at any time should they feel that such assistance is needed. It is also better to get out in front of issues so that no one is surprised later. Deans may also remind faculty members that they may want to have union representation before a meeting takes place but faculty have been told this on many occasions in the past.

Tim did say that many parts of the contract are open to interpretation. So, there are times where he needs to sit in on disciplinary action meetings or potential grieveable issues to ensure that these interpretations are consistent with the spirit of what was written. The Executive Committee is mindful of these instances and works to tighten the language whenever deemed necessary.

Ginger responded to an inquiry about the mediation process and asked Tim to discuss this process further. But Tim indicated he has not used Mediation in his time here and that most jump this step because arbitration is binding and a more finite solution. Ginger commented that there are times when attorneys being present during mediation may be a hindrance so it may stifle conversation. Tim can use the Chapter attorney to solicit feedback and guidance on how to proceed on a particular case / issue but they only represent the Chapter, not individual faculty members so really has no legal standing.

We did briefly discuss the lawsuit that we filed in 2017-2018 as an example of how The Chapter proceeded with mediation when the college violated the contract and claimed financial exigency. Harry shared that we wanted to use arbitration, but the college refused even though this course of action is articulated as the next step when disagreements such as this arise. This forced us to file a lawsuit when our grievance was denied. We ultimately lost our case in court but established here at the college that we would explore all legal options when we felt that the college was not acting in good faith.

Tito asked Harry to briefly explain how we might have to handle these kinds of issues at the college down the road because of recent rulings on class action lawsuits.  Harry shared that if “class action” is not mentioned in a contract, we may not be able to file one grievance on behalf of all faculty members, so each faculty member would have their own filing, which we would likely oversee. The language of the previous ruling was not necessarily binding so we still are not exactly sure how we will need to proceed should a similar situation arise in the future. Harry said that filing individual lawsuits for each aggrieved faculty member would result in a significant amount of work for the college but is not our concern given their response in to our aforementioned grievance and lawsuit.

Sharon and Harry shared that we do have some concerns about the fact that some county groups will get a raise next year so we may need to be a bit more aggressive on negotiations next year, and we will remind the county at budget time that we have done our part this year to help the county recover economically and we hope they remember this next year.

Ginger encouraged everyone to come to Tim or an executive committee member to come to us as soon as they have any issue or concern. Several others spoke about instances where Tim has helped in the past and why having him there is helpful in process, fact finding, and corrective action. If we wait too long to address problems, it may be too late to avoid undesirable corrective actions.

We had some casual conversation on general issues that might arise and how best to address them. But Tim reminded everyone that he welcomes all inquiries and is willing to assist when needed.

III. Involvement with The Chapter – Harry Zarin

Harry did ask again for folks to consider joining us in whatever capacity they feel most comfortable / qualified. This was another attempt to remind faculty that they are welcome and that we need their participation.

After Harry was done, Sharon asked about the timing of these forums and everyone seemed to agree that late afternoons seem to work well. We had about 10-15 faculty, deans, and chairs join us at various times during this session, in addition to the negotiating team and Executive Committee members. Sharon thanked Tim and the Negotiating Team for their efforts on this forum.

With no other questions or concerns apparent, we adjourned at 5:07 PM.

tb/SP

Filed Under: Collective Bargaining

AAUP Update: Contract 101, Survey and Overload Pay

February 23, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Colleagues:

Contract 101 Session:

The following is a message that was previously sent to all of you by Sharon Piper our Chief Negotiator.  I am sending it to you again as a reminder of the informative session our Negotiating Team will be hosting this afternoon at 4:00pm.

“The Negotiating team for AAUP is planning two more sessions of Contract 101 for this academic year. This spring our sessions will cover the grievance process (Article 3) and the e-learning side letter.  Our first session will be held on Tuesday February 23, 2021 at 4 pm via zoom and will feature our grievance officer, Tim Kirkner discussing Article 3- Grievance Procedures of the full AAUP contract.

This is a come when you can, leave when you need to session and there will be a Q & A after Tim’s discussion if anyone has specific questions. We have appreciated the turnout and feedback on the Contract 101 sessions in the fall semester and hope to see many of you next week. Please contact me or the other members of the negotiating team if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions. “

Below is the link for this afternoon’s Contract 101 session.

https://montgomerycollege.zoom.us/j/95877189043?pwd=K2xicHR3b1YxVkV6eDlnTldSM3dnQT09

Your Voice, Your MC Employee Experience and Culture Survey:

It was announced on February 10 that we are being asked to participate in a survey titled, “Your Voice, Your MC Employee Experience and Culture Survey.”  This one survey combines the three separate surveys we have been asked to complete in previous years. As your Chapter representative, I was one of several employees on a committee that helped to formulate the plans for this new survey. Modern Link is the vendor that is conducting the survey and the deadline to submit the survey is March 1.

As was announced in the e-mail we received on Feb. 10, “At the close of the survey, Modern Think will provide the College with a summary of the organizational competencies and relationships that most directly impact and influence our culture. In April through early May, Modern Think will host a series of feedback sessions with College stakeholder groups to share and validate their findings. Then, building on the data and findings from the survey, a proposed action plan will be developed over the course of the summer and shared with the College community in the fall.” 

The e-mail we received on February 10 also stated, “On February 15, 2021, full- and part-time faculty, staff, and administrators received an email directly from Modern Think (surveys@modernthink.net) inviting participation in the survey.  In that email you received: 

  • a web link to the survey, 
  • a unique username and password—issued by Modern Think, and separate from MyMC credentials—to access and complete the survey, 
  • the deadline to complete the survey, and
  • contact information for Modern Think, in case of any issues with the survey instrument.”

I encourage all of you to take the time to complete and submit the survey.  Completing the survey should only take you 20-25 minutes.  We have been strongly advised that the survey responses are completely anonymous so please be very honest when you complete the survey and let your voice be heard.

Overload Pay for Full-Time Faculty:

A number of faculty members have written to me asking about the spring 2021 overload payroll schedule.  The question arose this year because of the larger than usual number of second seven week classes that we are offering this semester.  The answer to this question was announced in the February 3 edition of the Employee Matters newsletter. 

“Due to the increase of second-half term courses for the spring 2021 semester, overload pay for full-time faculty will be processed differently this academic year. This year, faculty will receive overload pay based on their spring course start dates. Faculty should consult with their department’s administrative aide for information about their pay dates.” 

If you have any questions about when you will begin seeing overload pay in your paycheck, please contact your department’s administrative aide.  Your Department Chair and Dean should also have this information. 

I hope you all are safe and healthy and are having an enjoyable semester.  I think you all would agree that remote teaching, counseling, and advising isn’t an ideal way to teach, counsel, and advise our students.  It is also not an ideal way for our students to learn, but it is the best we can do under these trying circumstances.  Since March 2020, we have all done a remarkable job of adapting our courses and services to meet the needs of our students.  The Administration appreciates all we have done as do our students.  We should be proud of ourselves for all we have accomplished during these difficult times so that our students can continue their college education. 

On behalf of the Chapter,

Harry Z.
President-AAUP

Filed Under: AAUP Events, Actions Alerts, Collective Bargaining

AAUP Update: Report on Negotiations for the AY 2021-22

January 19, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Negotiations began 10-19-2020

Met for a total of 3-4 times with discussions by Zoom, and several consultations by phone with Santo Scrimenti, Darrell Van Dusen and our attorney David Kelly.

Members of the negotiation team:

  • Sharon Piper, Lead
  • Tito Baca
  • Robin Flanary
  • Ginger Robinson

Focus of negotiations:

Financials, which includes salary, EAP and overload. AAUP requested the following interests be discussed in addition to financials, which management did agree to discuss. Management did not introduce any side issues for discussion from their side.

Additional interests included:

  • Parking fees
  • Tech reimbursement
  • DL side letter reimbursement
  • Interest based bargaining

In discussing these interests one of our goals was to try to re-purpose the $197K pot of EAP travel money for this year into something we could benefit from.

Resolutions:

Parking fees cannot be waived due to the bond issue for capitol improvements which requires an identified revenue source. We offered to pay everyone’s parking out of our EAP funds. This proposal was turned down because

A revenue source had to be identified (our fees) and
They were not able to provide this benefit to other employees and students

Solution: If you have not done so already and you do not want to pay for parking you are not using this year, cancel your parking and re-enroll next fall when it is assumed we will return to campus.

Tech reimbursement: We provided data from an informal survey (42 respondents) on tech expenses that FT faculty incurred since we went remote in March 2020.  Management admitted to very mixed messages regarding the availability of tech resources and reimbursement for already purchased supplies/software/hardware. Because these processes were already in place and monies from CARES were available to provide support, the commitment was made for management (chairs/deans/HR/ IT) to better communicate the availability of resources for reimbursements and supplies. I am checking with Santo to see if there are any updates to that information for the spring semester and we will make that available on our AAUP-MC webpage so stay tuned.

DL Side Letter: Our argument was that the new use of Zoom and BB Collaborate for the SRT format (called online synchronous classroom in the side letter) and other online resources including OERS and other software constituted a change in online course management systems (item #5 on the e-learning remuneration section of the side letter, which provides for the ability to negotiate for additional compensation). Several options were provided by AAUP for additional compensation, including: increase in reimbursement for ESH for course development, a stipend to each faculty for transition to SRT and 7 week courses for this AY, and decrease in remote class sizes. Management disagreed that our transition to zoom could be considered a change in an online course management system and that as issue this did not relate to financials per se it was not a topic they wished to negotiate now.

The side letter will be re-negotiated in fall 2021, so these issues will all be re-introduced at that time during those negotiations.

IBB: After multiple meetings and some side bar discussions with Santo, Donna Schena and Krista Walker from HR, we have a commitment to discuss a joint IBB training for AAUP and management teams to be held either this spring or prior to the start of negotiations next fall. We are hopeful this occurs, and will keep you posted.

Resolution on the Travel EAP Monies: We reached an agreement and the $197K has been moved for this year to the general EAP monies bucket, so if you have not signed up for virtual conferences, professional organizations and grad school, there is an extra 197K in the pot, please use it this spring!  We will request whatever monies are left over at the end of this AY to be moved into the emergency fund for students to assist them with costs related to attending school virtually during covid. We did this last spring with our extra EAP money, and it was available to all students, regardless of status, which CARES money is not. 

Financials: We were not particularly hopeful going into the financials discussion because of the various things that could impact financial status of the college during an election year and a pandemic with uncertain levels of enrollment.

Our initial ask was the equivalent of a 1.5% increment and 1% GWA, for a 2.5% total increase for those below the top of the scale, 1% for those at the top with 2.5% increases for overload and EAP. These increases were reasonable given inflation expectations going forward. This was countered with no increases for this year, with all financials remaining at the 20-21 levels.

We countered with the equivalent of a 1% GWA to all FT faculty to be applied half in August and half in January, with no increases to EAP and overload rates. This was countered with no increases for this year with financials to remain at the 20-21 levels for next year. The reasons cited were: decreased funding to CCs across the state starting 7-1-2020, no anticipated increases from the state to the college’s budget for the next AY 21-22, an anticipated decline in enrollment of 8.5% and a 25% decline in enrollment for WDCE, with a predicted shortfall of $12 million for the next AY. There are a variety of possibilities to make up this shortfall, but that amount was their best-case scenario.

So, at this point for next year, we are hoping to avoid furloughs now. Written into the MOA is the option for a financials re-opener just in case things improve significantly and there is money for increases. This was added after Hogan gave all state employees a 2% increase across the board for next year.

We are asking you to ratify this contract and are hopeful that we can get through AY21-22 without furloughs, and that next year’s negotiations allow for a better outcome.

Submitted by Sharon Piper, Lead Negotiator, MC Chapter, AAUP

Filed Under: Collective Bargaining

MOA on use of EAP travel funds for AY2021

November 24, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

The following statement is a summary of the Memorandum of Agreement between the AAUP and Management at Montgomery College regarding the use of EAP travel funds for the current academic year (AY2021).  EAP funds are designated as either “general” (tuition, conferences, professional memberships, etc) or “travel” (costs of travel to conferences, etc- including transportation, hotel, meals). The MOA is linked here and under “Chapter Documents”. 

Please contact a member of the negotiating team if you have any questions. 

” In the course of negotiating the AY21-22 AAUP FT faculty contract, concerns were raised about the inability of FT faculty to use travel EAP funds for this academic year because of the current covid constrictions on travel. It was proposed by the AAUP that these travel funds be added to the general EAP funds for this academic year so that they would be available for general EAP usage. This proposal was agreed to by management and a MOA (memorandum of agreement) to that effect has been signed. These funds can be used either for general EAP purposes, or for travel this academic year, should that become an option in the spring semester. Please follow the prescribed protocol for access to general EAP funds as provided by your program or department.”

For the Chapter, 
Sharon Piper, Lead Negotiator

For Management, 
Carol Kliever, Employee and Labor Relations

Filed Under: Collective Bargaining
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