Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

Present – Michael Abraham, Prince Charles Alexander, Dennis Cecere, Peggy Codding, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Margaret McAllister, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, David Scott, Will Silvio and Jeri Sykes. Guest: Teodros Kiros

1. Danny made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. Prince Charles seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.
    
2. Jackson – welcome back. The college won the appeal on the unfair labor charge; we discussed class cancelations and the issues of early cancelations.
    
3. Equity policy – Title IX complaints have led to a new policy. The MOU and other contractual language are still in effect. Jackson will meet with Heidi, our lawyer, and will discuss this new policy.
    
4. Congestion in 150 entering and leaving the building due to the construction, what about the possibility of opening the side door to the performance center?
    
5. Transition of BoCo faculty into our community. A small meeting may be set-up with Jackson, Heidi, Larry, and Jim B. Our main goal is that no faculty from BoCo will lose money coming into our unit and no Berklee faculty should be affected adversely. Our plan is to use the same criteria from 1986 when our faculty joined the union and were given ranking, salary, and hourly wages. Musical Theater faculty at Berklee have issues with extra time put in, many hours. We need to organize our side of the street before we bring in their faculty. We discussed the merger at length.
    
6. We need an information request about courses taught, salary, and overall hourly structure for BoCo faculty.

Union notes from Union / Management Meeting

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

Management – Jay Kennedy, Kari Juusela, Matt Marvuglio, Darla Hanley, Camille Colatosti, Tom Riley, and Nikki Kirk.

1. Jackson opened the meeting. Jay discussed the proposed voluntary class make-up days (Saturdays) for the 2015-6 academic year for days the college is closed due to weather. Dec. 12, (finals Dec 14-8) March 5, (MT March 7-11) April 9, April 16.

UEC: Maybe one in February would be better than two in April.

UEC: Faculty need to be made aware of procedures to reserve room, etc.

UEC: This gives faculty options to make up classes as needed.

UEC: We don’t want these voluntary days to become a six-day workweek.

Jay: we will not be extending the workweek. We are working on a broader policy … you can always get a room on Saturday may be a better choice as opposed to putting on the Academic Calendar.

2. Berklee brand – Tom Riley. The visual identity started about 20 months ago. The BOT and the senior management started working on the Vision for 2025. Five committees were put together: Affordability, Curriculum and Technology, Alumni engagement, Careers, Reputation. The reputation committee with Pat Cassell, BOT) commissioned a study from Protobrand. It was a very revealing document – very positive, leading institution of its kind, etc. They see Berklee as one entity (on-line, Valencia, summer programs, etc.). Logo history presentation

    
UEC: We are concerned about losing College of Music.

Tom: the identity needs to encompass all aspects of the college. The current logo does not translate to mobile apps. (presentation continued) one reason we are here today to include more faculty.

UEC: most students are outraged by this new logo – losing College of Music and the natural sign.

Jackson: we are wondering about how much this cost the college.

Tom: there were no extra dollars used, it was already in the budget, it was not extra. They did research, designing new prospectus, total package. I can get you the actual figure.

UEC: Nothing Conservatory About It comes to mind here, launched and then lots of backlash. People still want a connection to College of Music

Tom: I want more input, we need to set up additional meetings. We need to be connected to the logo – see it out and in use. We are not saying this is it and no more input. We need to continue to get input. We are trying to unify all aspects of the brand, Valencia, on-line, and City- Music, etc. We have a lot of support for this logo – it works to coordinate all aspects together.

We discussed the new logo at length.

Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

Present – Michael Abraham, Prince Charles Alexander, Dennis Cecere, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Jonathan Holland, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Jackson Schultz, Will Silvio and Jeri Sykes.

1. Marti made a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. Rich seconded and the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.
    
2. Update on Grad program. We acknowledged what we have agreed upon but we have one significant issue unresolved, weighting. For the three levels of teaching – we are at 1.75, 1.5, 1.25 – they are at 1.5, 1.25, 1.0. We discussed weighting at the college for both undergrad and grad at length.
    
3. MOU group for on-line courses has been completed. We will review and discuss next week.
    
4. New logo – many faculty are outraged at the college for this change.