http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html Berklee Faculty Union: Minutes Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:02:14 -0800 http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#102 February 18, 2010
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Rick made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting as amended and update the website. Jackson seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.

2. Private Lesson policy — any student adding a private lesson will start the week after it is added, this is in the registration manual — we need to check prior manuals — how long has this been in effect? This will be an item at the next Union/Management meeting, we need to see the history — when did it start and how was this communicated to faculty?

3. Lost teaching hours in Composition Department — the Counterpoint 1 course will be three hours a week not two, and Counterpoint 2 will no longer be required by degree, only Film Scoring and Composition majors. This will result in a loss of about 13 hours, which is equal to one full-time position, or, most likely; several part-time faculty members will lose a course. The chair is trying to lower the class size to create more sections, but there is no guarantee.

The Music History course will be moving over to the Liberal Arts department, it will change to be one semester and not two, and we don’t know who will teach the course. Currently, the class size is 85, if we can reduce the class size, we may not lose the hours. The History component of our curriculum is actually going up to six credits with Western Music (2), African/Roots (2), and Music of the Americas (2).

We need to discuss how these CRI changes are effecting our current faculty at a Union/Management meeting. We have a NEASC deadline, when? What timelines have been imposed on all of us?

4. New Benefits Committee member is needed as Jonathan will be stepping down — he has meeting at the same time. We will fill the seat at a later date. We will set a meeting between the three union representatives on this committee and Mike to discuss any recommendations that we will make as a part of this committee.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#102 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#101 February 11, 2010
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Beth Denisch, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Danny made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meetings and update the website. Mike seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.

2. Grievance update — an unsatisfactory review of a faculty member will be going to level two. A grievance has been resolved in favor of a faculty member in a meeting with the faculty member, two representaives from the union, Chair, Dean, and Senior VP/AA. We are currently working on several other grievances.

3. Late private lesson sign-up policy. If a student signs up for a lesson, they are supposed to wait a week — according to one chair — due to payroll — which is done on Monday. This does not seem like a real policy, we need to check further into this, and need to see this in writing. We should discuss this at a Union / Management meeting.

4. Service to the College requirement. We have a proposal that the service component for full-time faculty should be around 60 hours per academic year. We will pursue this during bargaining. Training through the CRI curriculum development is going to be considered service — i.e., training for the new First Semester Seminar. There are several committees that are reaching across the college and not just in the faculty member’s dept.; we need to pursue this further as well. Overall, there is confusion regarding service, committees, CRI, and what qualifies as service for full-time and compensation for part-time.

5. We will discuss lost teaching hours in Composition Department and Performance Division due to the CRI changes and Rick will make a presentation.

6. AFT-Massachusetts Convention, April 30 and May 1 at the Quincy Marriott.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#101 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#100 February 4, 2010
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.
Management — Larry Simpson, Jay Kennedy, Kari Juusela, Matt Marvuglio, Darla Hanley, Chris Connors, Jeanine Cowan, David Berndt, Stephan Croes.

1. Larry opened the meeting. Chris Connors talked about the changes to co-pays and deductibles for insurance. BCBS has not raised our rates since 2005. Prescriptions and the HMO plan will not increase. Most of the co-pays that are changing will only have a $5 increase. There is information that will be disseminated to the entire college. By increasing some of the co-pays the college has been able to lower the percentage increase of our premiums from 13% to 9% and with the increase of some of the co-pays, the overall increase is actually going to be around 6.43%. We talked about how to share this information with the rest of the college.

2. Class cancellations — the policy has been revised (now on-line at campuscruiser). The Union is not opposed to the change, we just want to have the procedure discussed. The Union feels that Management has once again changed a policy without contacting the Union. Issues are: the students don’t always check e-mail before class, a note on the door is very important, and not all faculty are on-line all the time. We recommend that the phone cancellation line stays permanently.

Jeanine: Student Affairs has made e-mail the official form of communication and the student e-mail capacity has been increased to one gig.

Larry: I feel that we have been communicating to the Union before changes are made. If you do not feel that is true, it is unfortunate. We have not changed the policy, only the process. We are trying to provide the student with a more comprehensive way for communication. Our intent was not meant to be disrespectful.

Mike and Larry discussed the policy versus the process. We will leave the x8888 and the note on the door will continue.

3. Mike and Larry moved to adjourn.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#100 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#99 January 28, 2010
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Jeff made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting and update the website. Rick seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.

2. Marti made an announcement that Fiona Merrill Holland was born yesterday; congratulations to Jonathan and Sarah Holland.

3. Mike brought up the recent e-mail discussions regarding course cancellations on-line with campus cruiser. There are a couple of glitches — there will be no notice on the classroom door and campus cruiser does not work well with iPhone, and other smart phones. There is a written policy that classes will be cancelled via phone and management must bargain with the union to change any policy and/or process. There should be multiple ways to cancel a class, there needs to be note on the door, not everyone has a smart phone — usually classes are cancelled for an emergency, we may not have internet access. The real issue is management needs to review the contract and/or contact the union before they make unilateral changes.

4. We discussed space issues in the voice department. We should add this to the agenda for next week.

5. CRI and faculty job descriptions changing — i.e., an Ear Training faculty member teaching a Liberal Arts course? Specific re-training programs?

6. Union/Management meeting: class cancellation policy, space issues for the vocal department, CRI faculty development, we want to give notice that we would like to see management’s financial information: St. Cecilia’s, selling parking lot next to Boston Conservatory, etc.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#99 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#98 January 21, 2010
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Mike opened the meeting, we discussed the minutes from the last union/management meeting. Jeff will send out revised minutes for approval next week.

2. A chair’s son has tragically passed away. We will send a card. The current grievances that need the chair to be present will be in abeyance until the chair returns.

3. A faculty member that changed syllabus during the semester is still awaiting decision from the dean and the SVP/AA, this member has received an unsatisfactory review, the union will be grieving that as well. With an unsatisfactory review, this faculty member will lose their three-year contract. The syllabus is a legal document between the student and the school.

4. A faculty member was reprimanded for using computer during a department meeting. We met with the chair and dean, and will be meeting the SVP/AA. We are only asking for a letter of apology from the chair.

5. A faculty member was given an unsatisfactory review for behavior in a past year where the faculty member was given a satisfactory review. This is not the proper procedure — the issue was not documented in the previous evaluation.

6. The benefits group has been meeting and sharing information about possible options for the school. The next step will be to talk about pension and the options for the school. Everything has been on hold until Washington works a few more things out. The main thrust from the administration has been for us to take the responsibility — self-insured, we manage our own pension portfolio, etc. We are not committing to anything, we are listening to ideas, and this summer during the bargain is when the decisions will be made.

7. We need to put the CRI on a Union/Management meeting — how will the hours be affected for part-time faculty, etc. We need to investigate the options for OUR faculty. Workload issues, we would like to reduce the Full-Time workload, which means more hours for part-time. The new Liberal Arts course First Year Seminar has a lot of issues in it that have not been worked out yet — extra prep time, advising, etc. There are a lot of issues to be discussed before bargaining sessions start this summer.

8. Three-year contract — we have language to make the hours mandatory, we can make adjustments to that language — instead of 27 units per year, average 27 units for three years. We will discuss in future meetings before bargaining begins.

9. Three-year contracts, 50-minute lessons, workload reduction for FT, increase weighting for hours — 1.5 and 1.25, we need to discuss what we are willing to trade for these big ticket items.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#98 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#97 December 10, 2009
Present — Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.
Management — Larry Simpson, Jay Kennedy, Kari Juusela, Darla Hanley, Amelia Koch, John Eldert, Mark Campbell, Jeanine Cowen.

1. Larry opened the meeting, student evaluations. Mike brought up several issues. The public report of individual response rate for each faculty is inappropriate.

Larry responded: we just wanted to make more data available to everyone. We have agreed to do an on-line evaluation to prevent faculty from using class time. We wanted to create a possible dialogue between faculty, not alienate or shame people. We want to get the response rate higher.

Mike: what about the model that Emerson uses, the grade will not be released until the student fills out an evaluation. The old procedure took away class time, we may need some kind of forced mechanism.

Larry: as of now, we will not go to the extreme of holding up grades to increase the response rate. We will not be sending out the individual information to all faculty. Mark Campbell mentioned that right now we are not using Colleague to do the evaluations, we would need a module or mechanism to manage the data.

Mike: the work resides with the students, they need to fill out the evaluations, and perhaps Student Affairs can help them understand the importance of the evaluation process. Also, the fact that one class has been separated out of all other classes is not acceptable. We all agreed to a specific set of questions and content, if that is changed, it is a violation of the contract. The intent is ok, but it must be bargained or at least agreed to by the union. It is a breech of contract.

Larry: I have not seen the separate evaluation, I would need to see that and we can follow up at a later date. Mike passed out the list of questions. We discussed them and their intent. Larry, the intent is connected to the CRI, we should come back to this.

Mike: we need to hold the information until we can bring this issue to a conclusion. Had we been consulted, we would have provided a service and helped the process along.

2. Faculty Performance Reviews — Mike. There have been a significant amount of negative reviews, 8-10 faculty have contacted the Union about their reviews. It is across all divisions and departments, no one particular department or division.

Larry: we have asked chairs to accurately evaluate all faculty in a fair manner.
In the past, chairs have given faculty satisfactory reviews when the faculty are not performing up to par.

Mike: in the past, chairs have given warning about the possibility of receiving an unsatisfactory review. Perhaps we can set-up a warning procedure, there are a lot of ramifications from an unsatisfactory review: wage renegotiations, part-time to full-time, three-year contracts, benefits, etc.

Larry: there is no requirement for a minimum of unsatisfactory reviews in each department, we are asking the chairs to do their job, evaluate the faculty. The grievances that are to be presented will help us learn about our procedures and evaluate our evaluation process.

3. Article XXV Benefits Study Committee meetings — update. Jay, we have had three great meetings, we have only talked about health, but more to come, it has been very eye-opening and educational.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#97 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#96 December 3, 2009
UEC Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Mike opened the meeting, we presented a large package to management last summer during the bargain, we want to go ahead and present the same package again next summer. Highlights include, lowering FT load, increase classroom teaching weighting to 1.5 and performance classes to 1.25, increase minimums for each rank — specifically Professors, PT 3-year contract, defined benefit plan, benefits, PT conversions to FT, etc.

2. Recent arbitrations — 3-year contract issue and guaranteed hours vs. pay, 27 units. We lost the arbitration and now have a lot of work to do to adjust the language of the PT 3-year contract during the next bargain.

3. We currently have the largest student population ever at the college, 4,130. They chose to spend their money on buildings and remodeling those buildings.

4. Charles Cassara presented this year’s budget, electronic copies have been sent to all faculty and are available on the website. Jackson called for a vote to accept the budget for 2009-10 that Charles presented, Jeff seconded, and the vote was unanimous to accept the budget.

5. Elect delegates for AFT-Massachusetts conference: Beth, Marti, Jonathan, Mike, and Rick Applin, Jackson and Jeff will be alternates. Rich made a motion to accept the delegates, Scott Free seconded, and the vote was unanimous.

6. Discuss and vote on extending current Union Executive Committee members’ terms by one year to maintain continuity in the event next summer’s negotiations go beyond September 1. (This would mean the union elections scheduled to take place in April 2010 would, with the approval of the members present at this meeting, be rescheduled for April 2011.)

A faculty member mentioned the possible solution: have the elections and any new members would join the bargaining team, and take over in Sept., perhaps not very conducive to the bargaining process. Discussion continued.

Peter C. made a motion to accept the extension, Rich G. seconded, 44 in favor and 1 opposed.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#96 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#95 with Department Representatives
November 19, 2009
UEC Present — Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Jonathan Holland, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Mike opened the meeting. We introduced ourselves. This position will become very important this summer. Duties, there are two main tasks for Department Reps, one is to funnel issues in your department to the Division Reps on the UEC, to improve communication, and the reverse process — Division Reps to the Department Reps, first announcement to make, remind faculty about the all-faculty meeting December 3, in room 302, a very important meeting. Jackson mentioned a chain of command tree, a flow chart — Mike on down through the ranks.

We will also circulate minutes from the UEC minutes and put the flow chart on the website. This summer during bargaining we may need the use of the phone tree, as the bargaining gets a little more intense, we will need to get the word out. Communication is the key to coordinate our strategy.

Back in 1986, the faculty was so much smaller, we knew everyone and we knew what our support was. We need to know where ALL faculty stand, Department Reps are the only way will be able to know that. We will send out information to all the Reps regarding possible actions and their ramifications.

Communication, do Reps need to collect cell phones? home numbers? The UEC will gather a lot of the information, but the Reps could collect private e-mail, a very important way to communicate.

2. Charles presented the audit, and fiscal report to the UEC, this information will be in the Union Newsletter, on the website, and available at the all-faculty meeting December 3. Marti made a motion to accept the documents as presented, Rick seconded, and the vote was unanimous.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#95 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#94 November 12, 2009
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

1. Jeff made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meetings and update the website, Jonathan seconded, and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.

2. Department Reps are in place and we will meet with them next week.

3. Contract signing will be Tuesday November 17 at 2:15 in Roger’s office.

4. Retirement bonus agreement, the date will be changed to September 1, 2009.

5. Possible upcoming grievances — several simmering, more specifics to follow in the coming weeks.

6. December faculty meeting will be the first Thursday in a larger room TBA. Possible extension of Executive Committee terms by one year.

7. Charles passed out budget information for fiscal year 2010. Rich made a motion to accept the budget as amended, Jackson seconded, and the vote was unanimous.

8. Proposed scholarship recommendation changes — Tod Oliviere made a presentation regarding possible changes in the current process. BAS, one possibility is to create an on-line form on my.berklee.net, this will solve a lot of issues, streamline the process, and make it more accessible. Additional changes in the process may include only one application time per year during the spring semester — not both fall and spring. All information will be confidential and will not be posted publicly. Rick made a motion to support the change in process, Rich seconded, and the vote was unanimous.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#94 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#93 November 5, 2009
Present — Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Haidee Lorrey, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.

Management — Larry Simpson, Stephen Croes, Jay Kennedy, Kari Juusela, Darla Hanley, John Eldert, Amelia Koch, Matt Marvuglio.

1. Larry opened the meeting, H1N1 flu — update, only one reported case of a student, a few staff members may have had it, as well as a few faculty, but no real major situation. No word on the shot for H1N1

2. College and faculty benefits study group update. There will be three meetings scheduled this semester to start the work and we are trying to get the meetings in the faculty schedules next semester. No real power in this group, only suggestions, gathering information, etc.

3. Art XXVII Wages, Letter F. Larry and Mike had a very productive meeting regarding this topic. The date was supposed to change with all the other dates from the contract. The college has agreed to change the date. We can change the language to remove the date all together, we will be bargaining very soon and this will certainly come up

4. Faculty pay issue — a faculty member with a pay issue has been resolved. Larry and Mike worked well together.

5. Transition Contract Appointments. When a faculty member enters the three-year transition contract, a part-time faculty member will be converted to full-time. There are several issues, do we replace the full-time faculty immediately, when they become part-time, or when the six years are over. There also may be more than the four that we have agreed on for this contract.

Management position is that FT faculty on TRC will be not be replaced until year 4 of six.

Is this a person for person conversion, each department gets a replacement, or is this a body for a body, regardless of department? As long as there is a conversion of a part-time faculty member, that is the main point.

The contract will be signed very soon, all issues have been resolved, and we would like to move forward before December. Our next Union/Management meeting will be December 10.
6. Voice Department working conditions. Jay, John, and Matt met with the voice department yesterday; many enlightening issues were brought up. There will be ideas being presented in the very near future, Matt will be looking at re-organizing the courses, the locations, and when they are scheduled. Perhaps we can get Performance Division teaching studios to maximize space and facilities. It is a high priority in the Academic Affairs area.]]> http://berkleefacultyunion.org/news.html#93 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Serving Berklee Faculty Since 1986 - Berklee Faculty Union - Minutes