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UFF Biweekly
United Faculty of Florida -- USF System Chapter
6 March 2014
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Chapter Meeting Tomorrow 12 noon on USF Tampa

The Chapter will meet tomorrow Friday at 12 noon in USF Tampa in room EDU 316. Here is the spring schedule for upcoming Chapter meetings.

  • On March 7 in USF Tampa and on March 21 in USF St. Petersburg.
  • On April 4 in USF Tampa and on April 18 in USF Sarasota / Manatee.
  • On May 2 in USF Tampa.
There will be sandwiches, soda, and chips. All UFF USF employees - UFF members and non-members alike - are invited.

$ 500 Travel Grants for New UFF Members - and for UFF Members Who Recruit New Members

The USF Chapter of the UFF will award four $ 500 Travel Scholarships for next summer and spring.

  • UFF USF employees who join UFF this fall (i.e., joined after January 9 and who join no later than May 1) are eligible for one of two scholarships to be randomly selected at the May 2 UFF USF Chapter Meeting. For information on how new members (or non-members who would like to join UFF) may apply, see the flyer for new and prospective members. Non-members wishing to be eligible must have their membership forms in our hands by May 1. In addition, proposals must also be in our hands by May 1. Two proposals from new members will be randomly selected for funding.
  • Current UFF members who recruit at least one new UFF member are eligible for one of two scholarships to be randomly selected at the May 2 UFF USF Chapter Meeting. For information on how UFF members may apply, see the flyer for UFF members who would like to recruit new members. Notice that recruiters should put their name on the membership form for the new member. If a new member is recruited, the new member is eligible for one of the scholarships for new members and the recruiter is eligible for one of the scholarships for current members. Again, membership forms and proposals must be in our hands by May 1, and two proposals by recruiters will be randomly selected for funding.
This initiative is part of our membership campaign. If you would like to become active in the UFF USF Membership Drive, contact the Chapter Secretary.

Join UFF Today!

Download, fill in, and mail the membership form. Benefits of membership include the right to run and vote in UFF chapter and statewide elections; representation in grievances (UFF cannot represent a non-member in a grievance or litigation); special deals in insurance, travel, legal advice, and other packages provided by our affiliates; free insurance coverage for job-related liability; and the knowledge you are supporting education in Florida. AND YOU CAN JOIN NOW AND AS A DUES PAYING MEMBER, YOU WILL RECEIVE A $ 100 REBATE NEXT FALL. Come and join the movement.

Grievances

If you have been the victim of a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, you have thirty days from the time you knew or should have known of the violation to file a grievance. If you are, and at the time of the violation were, a dues-paying member of the United Faculty of Florida, you have the right to union representation. To contact the UFF USF Grievance Committee, go to the online contact form. For more information, see our web-page on grievances.

IN THIS ISSUE

There are Raises and then there are Raises

Last Fall, USF President Judy Genshaft told the USF Tampa Faculty Senate that she was "reinvesting funds and making available $8 million for performance or merit-based increases to base salaries effective January 1st." Considering that the total payroll for "faculty" in the USF System is about $ 200 million, that meant about 4 % on average. Of course, some would get more and others would get less, depending on merit and performance. Furthermore, for employees in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit, such raises had to be bargained, which brings us to the question of exactly what "performance or merit-based" means.

At the February 28 Bargaining Session, the UFF Bargaining Team (which represents UFF USF faculty) told the Administration Team (which represents the USF Board of Trustees) that faculty prefer merit raises over discretionary raises. The Administration Team disagreed, claiming that faculty preferred discretionary raises. That's why the UFF Team asked UFF USF Faculty for feedback on the Administration's latest offer of 3 % this fiscal year, of 2 % (performance-based) merit and 1 % discretion. We are still collecting feedback, but meantime, here is how salaries work.

  • What Kinds of Raises are There and What Do They Mean? There are lots of different kinds of raises. For a glossary, see below or click here.
In the March 20 issue, we will take a peek at USF faculty and professional salaries in recent years. By the way, the UFF Team still would like an average 4 % raise for this fiscal year, per President Genshaft's statement. But meanwhile, some union business...
  • LAST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS. The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida is holding its elections this month, and nominations close tomorrow. All UFF dues-paying members are strongly encouraged to participate, by running or at least voting. THE NOMINATION FORM IS POSTED ONLINE. For details, see below or click here.
Also, since the last revisions of the Constitution and Bylaws, membership has increased by about fifty percent and a number of issues have come up. The Chapter will be revisiting the Constitution and Bylaws, and if you are interested, come to the Chapter Meeting tomorrow.

What Kinds of Raises are There and What Do They Mean?

Salaries are only part of a compensation package that includes perquisites and benefits, and it is the total compensation package that USF uses to attract and retain faculty and professionals. We can see this when we reflect on imposition of a 3 % state income tax on Florida state and public employees (allegedly to pay for our retirement, although the money is actually going into General Revenues); this undermined one of our major benefits while increasing our cost of living (more on this in the next Biweekly). However, salaries are the most visible part of the compensation package, so everyone is interested in raises.

When an employee receives a raise, the letter may not say so but the money comes from different places, from different pots. What raise an employee gets depends on what they are eligible for from each pot. Here are the kinds of raises:

  • An Across-the-Board Raise is a raise in which all employees receive the same amount or the same percentage.
  • An Administrative Discretionary Increase (ADI) is a raise awarded at the discretion of the Administration. Raises may be awarded for special effort, special accomplishments, meeting counteroffers, supporting administrators in faculty meetings, or even no reason at all. Unlike other kinds of raises, in which all the money bargained for must be distributed, the Administration may choose not to distribute some or all of the ADI money.
  • A Market Equity adjustment, also known as a compression / inversion raise, is intended to raise salaries of meritorious faculty whose compensation has been eroded by inflation. The necessity of such raises is a commentary on the funding that has gone into merit raises.
  • A merit raise is based on performance as determined by annual evaluations. The numbers from the departmental evaluations are fed into a formula that produces the raises.
Other kinds of raises that historically have not been offered to USF faculty and professionals, but have been offered at other states, include:
In past surveys, faculty have preferred merit and Market Equity raises while disdaining ADI. However, in recent years there has been growing support for across-the-board raises. On the other hand, the Administration has always insisted on ADI. In ongoing bargaining, attention has focused on merit and ADI.

LAST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida is holding its election this spring.

The UFF USF Chapter election this spring is now underway and we strongly encourage UFF USF members to participate, by running for offices and seats, or at least by voting.The positions open for election are:

  • The four elective offices: the president, the vice president, the secretary, and the treasurer.
  • The seats in the legislative bodies of our affiliates: the United Faculty of Florida Senate and the Florida Education Association Delegate Assembly. UFF senators also serve on the Chapter Council, which oversees chapter business.
One of the best ways to try out union participation is to get in the UFF Senate. The UFF USF Chapter Council, which oversees chapter business, consists of the senators. Senators also get updates on what is happening across the state and in Tallahassee. And you get to meet all those strange people in other departments.

The deadline for nominations is March 7.

To nominate someone, a UFF member should go to the online Nomination form. Self-nominations are encouraged.

LOGISTICS

Chapter Meeting tomorrow Friday, March 7, at 12 pm on USF Tampa in room EDU 316.

There will be free sandwiches, chips, and soda pop. All UFF members are invited to attend. Non-members are also invited to come and check us out. Come and join the movement.

Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out and send in the membership form.

NOTE: The USF-UFF Chapter website is http://www.uff.ourusf.org, and our e-mail address is uff@ourusf.org.

About this broadcast: This Newsletter was broadcast from uff.ourusf.org, hosted at ICDsoft.com, and is intended for all members of the UFF USF Bargaining unit (USF faculty and professionals at most departments). A (usually identical) version will be broadcast to USF-News and USF-Talk from mccolm@usf.edu.

If you do not want to receive the UFF Biweekly, you can unsubscribe below. If you do not receive the Biweekly, but want to, e-mail a message to gmccolm@tampabay.rr.com.