Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

Present – Michael Abraham, Dennis Cecere, Peggy Codding, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, David Scott, Jeri Sykes, and Will Silvio. 

1. Danny made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. Marti seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.

2. Today’s meeting will be a discussion on the bargain and the response from faculty.

3. We have two faculty members that were not paid for project bands on the 4th of July as they should have been, based on the fact that everyone is part-time in the summer. We may file a grievance based on the new timeline of Sept. 10, a response from the Director of Payroll.

4. Tufts plan is not covering the same as BCBS, we have to discuss options with management as we move forward.

5. There are several groups that will be created as apart of our MOUs. We will be looking for a good representation from the executive committee

- Ethics Point 
- Graduate Studies
- Workplace Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
- On-line Studies Group
- Benefits
- 50-minute Hour

6. Proofreading team, Marti, Jeff, Peter, Jonathan, Wendy, Beth, Peggy, Dennis, Jackson, and Will, our lawyers Jeff and Haidee will also be there.

7. Ratification meeting – Jackson will read some of the proposals that management refused to even listen to. AAA can do the ratification vote on-line and we may use this as a test for an on-line election in two years. We will try to set-up the meeting for Thursday Sept. 26.

Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

Present – Michael Abraham, Prince Charles Alexander, Dennis Cecere, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Jonathan Holland, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Jackson Schultz, David Scott, Will Silvio. 

1. Marti made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. Beth seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.
    
2. We discussed the working conditions for part-time faculty in the Liberal Arts department.
    
3. One goal of the upcoming bargain is to make the process of conversions more transparent – no one really knows the current process.
    
4. We discussed equitable pay throughout the college. Salary compression, adjustments should be made.
    
5. We discussed the upcoming bargain; we begin June 3. 
    
6. The college has to notify faculty of conversions and salary negotiations by May 1. This has not happened. We hope to solve this issue cordially instead of filing a grievance.
    
7. Faculty member that has health issues has not been given any courses in the fall even though he is able to teach and be active at Berklee. This is discrimination – we will be speaking to our lawyer and dealing with this issue promptly!
    
8. We discussed the ULP at the NLRB. The briefs from the lawyers are due June 14 then the judge can take up to six months to make a decision.
    
9. We will set up pre-bargaining meetings very soon.

Union notes from Union / Management Meeting

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

Management – Larry Simpson, Bill Whitney, Kari Juusela, Matt Marvuglio, Darla Hanley, Jeanine Cowan, Chris Connors, Mac Hisey, Heidi James.

1. Larry opened the meeting. Jackson discussed the focus of the meeting today, reviewing all that we have worked on this year.
    
2. 150 Mass Ave. building project, Bill Whitney provided an update on the accessibility project – new elevator and entrance from 142-150. Construction from May-December. The PWC will have office issues while construction is going on but an additional conference area when completed.
    
3. Parking – Chris Connors gave an update. The Christian Science Parking lot – $210 per month, Mass Ave and Huntington. See HR website for information. Berklee may look at daily rates, but right now only monthly.
    
4. Update on switch to Ed Health from Chris Connors. We are on track for moving to Ed Health on January 1, 2014, more info this fall.
    
5. Admissions meetings with departments, Jay Kennedy gave an update. Admissions reps have met with all the instrumental departments, maybe not woodwind yet. They will be addressing the needs of the instrumental departments moving forward. 
   
   Jackson – We need to target specific instruments to come to Berklee; the imbalance at the school needs to be addressed. Let’s meet again in the fall to keep this on the front burner.
   
   Larry – a little over 8000 people have applied, we have admitted 2600 students hoping to get 1000 – we just don’t know who will be coming. We need to look at who is applying and how to get the right students. Currently we have 1100 vocalists – we could fill the entire entering class with vocalists, we promise not to do that! If we want 9 french horn players, we could get them, but it may cost $900,000 – is that what we want to do? We need to look at the A&I process, address the admissions issues, and move forward. We will continue to look at this next fall.
    
6. Graduate programs implementations, Larry Simpson gave an update: three majors completing the first year, another will start next fall for the 4th major in Valencia. Fall 2015 grad programs will start in Boston. Many majors have been discussed. We would rather wait a year to be prepared. We have a lot on our plate; let’s step back and make sure this is properly planned.
   
   UEC: What is the plan for filling the faculty for the program?
   
   Larry: it is designed for the current faculty to teach the masters program.
   
   UEC: what is the weighting for courses?
   
   Larry: we have not decided yet, we will work on this together. We will continue working with the curriculum committee on programs and implementation.
    
7. NEASC report by Larry Simpson. The team came to Boston and one month later two members of the team went to Valencia and everything went very well. We should get the completed report in the next month. Overall, they were very positive in regards to the Boston campus, the programs, and the overall Berklee experience.
    
8. We discussed the weighting of credit hours and faculty evaluations and possibly tying grades to the completion of the evaluations.