UFF (Faculty Union) Biweekly on the State of the Union

UFF Biweekly United Faculty of Florida -- USF System Chapter 2 October 2014 Email not displaying properly? View it in your browser

Chapter Meeting Tomorrow (Friday) Noon at USF Sarasota Manatee The Friday UFF USF Chapter Meeting will be on USF Sarasota / Manatee campus in room A203A. Directions for reaching USF Sarasota Manatee are posted online, as is a map of the main building, with A203 on the 2nd floor. As for subsequent meetings this semester... On October 17, we will meet on USF St. Petersburg in a room TBA. The meeting will be followed by a tenure and promotion workshop for UFF members (there will be membership forms for anyone who wants to join). On October 31, November 14, and December 5, we will meet at CDB Restaurant, just east of USF Tampa at the intersection of Fowler Avenue and 51st Street. We have an important item on our agenda tomorrow: draft language to revise the Chapter's Constitution to enable filling vacancies. Both the Constitution (and bylaws) and the draft language are posted online. The meeting schedule for the rest of the semester is: October 17 on USF St. Petersburg in a room TBA (and to be followed by a workshop on tenure an promotion - see right column), and then October 31, November 14, and December 12 at CDB Restaurant. All employees of the UFF USF Bargaining Unit are invited. There will be pizza and salad and drinks. Check us out. Join the movement. Bring a colleague. Get Out The Vote! October 6 is the deadline to register to vote in time for the November election, and that's when mail ballots start going out. If you intend to vote by mail, we encourage you to act now. For more information, see The 25 September 2014 Biweekly Extra. Watch for the contract Hardcopies of the 2014 - 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement - the contract that determines the terms and conditions of our employment - are going into the mail, and should arrive shortly. 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. 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. Visit Us on Facebook Visit the United Faculty of Florida at USF Facebook page. This page is a place where UFF members can exchange thoughts and ideas. The page is "public", but only dues-paying UFF members are eligible to post items on the page. If you are a UFF member, ask to join on the page, or contact the Communications Committee. The Committee will invite every UFF member that asks to join. So check us out. UFF members are welcome to join, and non-members are welcome to look.		IN THIS ISSUE The State of the Union In this issue, we feature UFF USF Chapter President Arthur Shapiro's outline on the state of the union, i.e., the state of the UFF Chapter at the University of South Florida. In addition ... The State of the Union. UFF USF Chapter President Arthur Shapiro outlines the State of the UFF USF Chapter. For details on where we're at and where we see ourselves going, see below or click here. The first UFF Tenure & Promotion Workshop will be held on 17 October 2014, right after the UFF USF Chapter meeting (pencil in 2 pm or so) at USF St. Petersburg, in a room TBA. For details, see below or click here. THE STATE OF THE UNION OF THE UNION, 2014 UNITED FACULTY OF FLORIDA, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA A Message from UFF USF Chapter President Arthur Shapiro The purpose of the USF-UFF is to be the exclusive representative of all in-unit employees regarding bargaining for wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment and to protect our rights. These include articles such as evaluations, academic freedom, salaries, benefits, tenure and promotion and grievances in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Listed below are a partial list of accomplishments and plans for the future. Successes and Strengths Achieving a contract for 2014-17 headed up by Bob Welker and Ed Mitchell (UFF Executive Director), with credit to the UFF bargaining team and the administrative team, as well 4% merit pool + 1% administrative discretion (ADI) Reorganizing the UFF grievance function with co-chairs resulting in catching up with our grievance backlog St. Pete Campus – Steve Lang Sarasota Campus – Scott Perry Tampa – Chair Dan Belgrad, with co-chair Sara Dykins-Callahan and members, Andrew Berish, Rebecca Burns, Linda (Christa) Fowler, Cecil Greek, Steve Lang, Vic Peppard, Steve Permuth, and Sonia Wohlmuth Former Grievance Chair Mark Klisch serves as consultant Expansion of Executive Committee from four to five, with the Grievance Chair separate from the Treasurer Relationships with University System Administration generally positive Letter sent to President Genshaft to correct administrative misconduct on the Sarasota campus, for which she has deferred action for the incoming chancellor to address. Among others, these include: Failing to report allegations of discrimination, which is mandatory, that several African-American students reported that a part-time library aide was discriminatory to them A top administrator misrepresenting to the UFF president and the Sarasota Senate that a report had been made, that no substance was found, and that the case was closed. No such action was ever taken by the administrator A toxic culture of intimidation has developed in which clerks and others developed the norm of attacking and criticizing faculty, reporting them for supposed infractions Thus, bullying, harassment and punitive behaviors have occurred Three meetings were scheduled by the College of Nursing (CON) to present evidence to withdraw from the UFF. A part time CON instructor, who chaired the sessions, wrote (June 26, 2014): "For the record we were already to implement a CON based practice group (wherein nurses are mandated to keep up their certification by working in clinical settings in addition to their instructional role) over 1.5 years ago and the union Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) prevented us from doing so. I devoted a year to developing it along with dozens of meetings only to be stymied by the union. They will not change their position even after months and months of negotiations." However: I attended the first meeting and simply stated, “I’m the president of UFF, attended all the negotiations sessions. Faculty practice was never mentioned by the USF administration. Ever.” At the second session, the chair stated, “I was told that the UFF would not permit faculty practice. I was lied to” by a CON administrator Consequently, the motion to withdraw from UFF was dropped Established a Facebook page, chaired by Steve Lang. Three days afterward, the page has 31 group members. All UFF members, and only UFF members are eligible to become UFF members of the United Faculty of Florida at USF page Future planning Establish a plan to increase leadership in the chapter As part of this initiative, establish Co-Membership chairs on each campus to increase membership Attract faculty as officers Visit all chancellors and deans to make sure that they are informed about the CBA to ensure smooth operation of USF Run Tenure and Promotion (T & P) workshops to support faculty in their quest for tenure and promotion. The first one will be just after the UFF USF Chapter Meeting on Oct. 17 in USF St. Petersburg Consider how Facebook can be enhanced For any questions, please come to the next chapter meeting on your campus, where various committees and I will be available. Tenure & Promotion Workshop The first Tenure & Promotion Workshop will be on Friday, October 17, just after the UFF USF Chapter Meeting, at USF St. Petersburg at a location TBA. Topics covered include meeting criteria for tenure or promotion, preparing the tenure or promotion packet, the current tenure process (which applies to every tenure-track employee who goes through mid-tenure view prior to next summer, unless the employee elects otherwise), the new tenure process (which applies to employees who go through mid-tenure review after next summer, or who elect to go through the new process), and the promotion processes. This workshop is open to all UFF members; we will have membership forms at the door, so non-members may join UFF on the spot and participate in the workshop. Participants are asked to obtain their department's written criteria for tenure or promotion: the department must provide such criteria on request. For more information, contact the workshop organizer, UFF USF Chapter Vice President (and USF St. Petersburg Professor) Steve Lang.

		LOGISTICS Chapter Meeting tomorrow Friday, October 3, at 12 noon on USF Sarasota Manatee in room A203A. Click here for the standing agenda. Click here for the minutes of the last meeting. Click here for the minutes of the September 5 meeting. There will be sandwiches, snacks, and soft drinks. 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, contact the Communications Committee.