Union notes from Union / Management Meeting

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Present – Michael Abraham, Prince Charles Alexander, Dennis Cecere, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, David Scott, Jackson Schultz, and Will Silvio.  

Management – Larry Simpson, Kari Juusela, Jay Kennedy, Matt Marvuglio, Darla Hanley, Chris Connors, Camille Colatosti, Maria Bradley.

  1. Larry opened the meeting. Bill Whitney mentioned that the UEC could have a tour of the 160 building. We will set that up.
     
  2. Chris Connors – Sexual harassment training at Berklee. It’s also training and protecting the faculty so they don’t put themselves in an awkward position. The Union’s position is we would like to avoid the outside consultant approach. Perhaps we can get senior faculty involved to make a presentation. Title 9 – we are obligated to report an incident if we see it. It is very important to educate everyone at the college about all facets of this issue. The UEC will nominate members to be involved in the planning and discussions as we move forward. We could also look at gender discrimination at the college at the same time. The track record is clear – if there is evidence management will act.
     
  3. Changes in building security – all doors are locked with additional security guards posted throughout the college. The reaction has been overwhelmingly supportive. As we move forward, we are going to continue from 8am-8pm the buildings will be open but IDs will be necessary, all buildings will be card access only after 8pm. 
     
  4. Snow storm – Menino has declared a State of Emergency, should we close? We discussed all the options.
     
  5. NEASC Accreditation Site Visit March 3-6, Camille Colatosti passed out self-study documents and visitation dates. There are 11 standards that we are judged on by NEASC. The self-study covers all the standards and we will be re-accredited. NEASC uses peer-review and Camille has participated in peer reviews at other institutions. We discussed the meeting schedule for the visiting team: Monday, March 4, at 4 pm in DFRH is a meeting open to all faculty, Tuesday 1-2 pm is a meeting with the UEC, and Wednesday 11 am in DFRH is the exit report.
     
  6. Part-time to full-time conversions process, the letter went out to all faculty Feb. 1, faculty must apply by March 15 and the selections will be made by Sr.VP/Provost and the Academic Deans. Procedure – the chairs write a list of the strongest candidates – then the chairs and deans get together to discuss all the applicants, then the deans bring that list to the meeting to make the final decisions. Needs of the college and the division is a big component – service assignments are key – each department has a different number of FT, not all departments need additional FT faculty. This is a very difficult decision for all involved; over 100 people apply for 12 positions.