Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

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Present – Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Michael Heyman, Jeff Perry, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio. 

Guest - Dennis Cecere.

  1. Danny 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. We discussed the nomination meeting from Tuesday; we are ready to move forward with the transition. Tom McGah will send out info on all the nominees. 
     
  3. We have filed a grievance for a faculty member based on a scheduling problem for the fall. We will move forward fairly quickly.
     
  4. Charles presented the Faculty Report, 536 total, 237 FT (44%) and 299 PT (56%).
     
  5. April 7 will be the 25th Anniversary of the strike of 1986
     
  6. The bookkeeper position has received a bid from Michael Bijon. We discussed the details of the bid and Michael. Mike made a motion to accept this bid with the provision of a signed contract. Rich seconded, the vote passed with two against and one abstention. 
     
  7. We discussed the AFT-MA convention in Danvers April 29th and 30th. Mike, Jackson, Rick, Wendy, Peter, Danny with Peggy and Rich as alternates.
     
  8. Gender discussion will be April 14th, no meeting next week (AFT convention) and April 7 will be Union/Management.

Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

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Present – Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Charles Cassara, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Diane Richardson, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio.  

  1. Jonathan made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting and update the website. Danny seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.
     
  2. Danny made a motion to donate $1000.00 to help Wendy bring a student group to the National Flute Convention.  Peggy seconded and the vote was unanimous.
     
  3. Mike suggested the possibility of making a $500.00 donation to ActBlue, to help unions in Wisconsin repeal the loss of their collective bargaining rights.  Danny made a motion to make the donation.  Peggy seconded.  The vote was unanimous.  
     
  4. We discussed who would be running in the upcoming elections. We looked at each position and who has committed to run or who might be good to run for each position.  Danny made a motion to combine the Secretary and Treasurer position and eliminate the stipend for secretary.  Jonathan seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.  Diane asked about the responsibility of moving up to Division Rep. Mike and Jackson explain the position. 

Union notes from Union / Management Meeting

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Present – Prince Charles Alexander, Rick Applin, Peter Cokkinias, Peggy Codding, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Danny Harrington, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Mike Scott, Will Silvio

Management – Larry Simpson, Jay Kennedy, Darla Hanley, Amelia Koch, Chris Connors, Richard “Mac” Hisey, John Eldert, Matt Marvuglio

  1. Larry opened the meeting. On-line Course Development and Delivery for on-campus students. In the fall of 2011 and spring 2012, there will be one course in each division, two in fall and two in spring to see how this will work for students and faculty. This is not to replace any brick and mortar classes, just another learning modality. We have Berkleemusic and PULSE assets available to use. Perhaps we could have a PULSE presentation during this meeting in the future. Course developers are available to assist faculty in the design of the course. 

    Jackson: what support would be available for faculty? Larry: we are in the process of looking at all the options, course development, release time, service, etc.

    Matt: we are currently running six blended courses of Basic Keys.

    Jackson: can we get access to the course? Matt: yes it is all on campuscruiser, you only need a password.

    Larry: we do not want to turn Berklee into the University of Phoenix, we are not in a hurry, there is no number of courses that we are planning on putting on-line, we just want to get started. Faculty should make the decisions about what types of courses should be offered on-line. We can turn the next meeting into an information meeting about the assets available, Berkleemusic and PULSE.

    Mike: the contract does address the on-line delivery of courses on page 77; we can look at it and continue this discussion next month.
     
  2. Gender Issues at Berklee. The Union Executive Committee has been discussing this issue in our meetings and we have not come to a conclusion at this time. We can discuss today but we will need to revisit this after the UEC reaches a conclusion on how to proceed. Perhaps we could set up a joint Union/Management committee regarding gender issues. Larry: this is not only a faculty issue; we have a diversity and inclusion council that has faculty, staff, and admin. I would be interested in a faculty only perspective to look at and address. The e-mail policies may need to be communicated to avoid future e-mail blizzards.
     
  3. Faculty office space: the 155 building does not have private space to meet with students. Let’s sit down and seriously take a look at possibilities to adjust the space. Classroom facilities also need to be discussed.