Time and place. This meeting was conducted at 12 noon on Zoom.
Attendance. Seventeen members attending, including eleven members of the Council, and one staff member.
Minutes. Minutes for the April 23 meeting were approved.
President’s Report & Essential Issues.
- UFF Survey on Reopening USF. The top priorities were upgrading ventilation to mitigate viral contamination, and universal vaccination.
- USF Survey on Reopening USF. We are informed that 20 % of all faculty responded on the first day.
- Fall Assignments. Many faculty have received fall assignments, some only recently, and some have received only tentative assignments.
- Opacity. The USF Community has been surprised four times recently by the Administration: the decision to eliminate the undergraduate Education programs, to go Face-2-Face in fall, to issue an RFI for the USF Forest Preserve, and not to redirect funds from USF St. Petersburg to All Children’ Hospital. Discussion.
- The Legislature. The FEA dissuaded the Legislature from passing a bill (SB 1014) that would have imposed sufficient red tape requirements on FEA to compromise its ability to function.
- Summer Schedule. The UFF USF Chapter will continue to meet during the summer.
- Motion made and seconded That the UFF USF Chapter will meet on May 21, June 4 & 18, July 2 & 16 & 30, and August 13. Motion passes.
- Public Document Requests. USF has responded to one of our requests with a question.
- COVID-19 on campus. Discussion.
New Business
- Tailgate Parties. USF is playing UF and FAMU in December.
- Motion made and seconded for the use of up to $ 3,500 for two tailgates. Motion passes.
- Regional Campuses. The Crow’s Nest reported that USF St. Petersburg funds were redirected to All Children’s.
- Instructors. There is a survey of instructors, and a report will be issued within a few months.
Old Business
- Tenure & Promotion Workshop on Friday. The workshop will start at 10 am. Interested faculty should contact the workshop organizer. Preliminary discussions with faculty indicate a lot of concern about Academic Analytics.
Committee Reports.
- Grievances. There are a number of assignment disputes on regional campuses. Department chairs have not produced guidelines and criteria for evaluations, tenure, and promotion.
- Bargaining. UFF has placed 24 proposals on the table and have received no response.
- Membership. The Chapter will conduct a recruitment campaign.
- Motion made and seconded to authorize the use of up to $ 3,000 for the campaign. Motion approved.
These minutes were respectfully submitted on 9 May 2021.