San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT 1493


Minutes of
General Membership/Executive Committee Meeting

March 14, 2007, College of San Mateo

 

Present: Eric Brenner, Alma Cervantes, Chip Chandler Victoria Clinton, Dave Danielson, Lloyd Davis, Rick Hough, Dan Kaplan, John Kirk, Sandra Raeber, Ernie Rodriguez, Anne Stafford, Elizabeth Terzakis

 

Guests: Ann Freeman, Tania Beliz

 

Meeting began at 2:22

Facilitator: Sandra Raeber

Timer Keeper: Rick Hough

 

  1. Welcome and Introductions

 

 

  1. Statements from AFT members on Non-Agenda Items

 

Ø      Ann Freeman reminded the EC that the AFT leadership needs help from the rank and file. She is concerned about low voter turnout, lack of faculty engagement and faculty alienation. She feels the leadership needs to better communicate to members how they can participate. She also feels the old “Blue sheet” (a snapshot comparison of SMCCD faculty and administration salaries with other districts) was effective because it provided easily digestible information. In 2005 she proposed resurrecting it and again suggested doing so. She believes faculty are willing to commit to small, specific actions, but need to be informed by leadership what those are.

 

While Ernie pointed out that the union also needs faculty to commit to larger tasks and to serve on committees, he also acknowledged the need to address and utilize people’s desires to get involved even on a limited basis.

 

Question: Have we really made progress in improving communication between leadership and rank and file since last fall’s retreat? E-news and regular faculty surveys have been helpful.

 

Elizabeth suggested more local/campus action and greater visibility of campus reps.

 

Ø      Dan distributed handouts addressing compressed calendars and distance education.

 

  1. Minutes of the February 14 EC meeting

 

Approved.

 

  1. P.T Office Hours and related issues (adding minutes, P/T salary schedule, etc)

 

Ø      The process has been frustrating. Retro checks have been cut. The District agreed to pay interest (but not to call it interest), but the amount is still being negotiated. Some retro checks were incorrect, especially for P/T faculty who taught semester-length courses in a compressed schedule (they were apparently paid on the basis of the course rather than FLC’s).

 

What action should the union take to correct the mistakes? The contract states that if the District payroll makes an error, and faculty can document it, the District must make the correction within 5 working days. It was suggested the union send an E-news to P/T faculty with an explanation of the retro formula, asking them to check their paychecks and let AFT know if there are errors (this really needs to be dealt with on an individual basis).

 

Ø      The proposal to add minutes to T/Th classes is off the table – the District did not accept the package we proposed.

 

Ø      P/T salary schedule for Spring is correct.

 

  1. Grievances

 

Ø      Issue: what constitutes a full load for one academic year for F/T faculty? The contract says a full load is 29 – 31 units (28 – 32 for labs) for one year; the number of units taught in one year does not affect the following year (i.e. faculty who teach 29 units one year cannot be assigned 32 units the following year).

 

Ø      P/T Librarians at CSM: AFT 1493 had filed a grievance and an Unfair Labor Practice suit. At the Level 2 hearing the Chancellor said that P/T librarians should have contracts and that overload hours should be distributed systematically. But the head librarian wrote to John Kirk, saying that the P/T librarians still do not have contracts. The Chancellor later said that the case would probably have to go to arbitration. AFT is waiting for a response from the District.

 

The lack of a contract for P/T librarians is an attack on P/T seniority. Harry Joel has stated that the District interprets the contract language about P/T seniority differently than AFT does.

 

  1. Negotiations discussion

 

We need to expand our negotiating team (perhaps adding 3 more members). We really need workshops on all 3 campuses, but we may not be able to hold that many. We will contact CFT for help with this.

 

Possible re-openers:

Ø      Binding arbitration

Ø      Strengthening the P/T seniority portion of the contract

 

Anne Stafford requested that faculty be given some possible re-opener options rather than just an open-ended survey. Dan and Eric will work on a follow-up survey for The Advocate.

 

  1. New Faculty Building at CSM

 

Jeremy Ball attended the most recent Cabinet meeting, where the new faculty building was discussed. Dan will try to get further information from Mike Claire and Rick Bennett.

 

  1. Resolution to Support San Mateo County children and families against ICE raids

 

AFT agreed to support and send to the SMCCD Board of Trustees, the San Mateo Central Labor Council, the San Mateo County Office of Education, and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors

 

  1. San Mateo Pubic Library Labor History Exhibit

 

Pulled from agenda.

 

  1. Timely email response from EC members

 

Ernie stressed how important it is for EC members to respond in a timely manner to emails regarding union business.

 

  1. Distance Education Advisory Committee Update


Tania Beliz raised a number of issues/concerns (some of which we have discussed previously):

Ø      Which platform to use (Moodle doesn’t work well for science courses; E-College, which is currently being piloted, costs $45 per student)

Ø      Faculty compensation/load

Ø      Online degrees

 

Her on-line courses do accommodate some students who cannot physically attend classes. She has created a document outlining on-line compensation and assignment issue, which Dan will distribute to the EC. Tania is willing to join the negotiating team regarding this particular issue.

 

  1. Advocate 30th Anniversary update

 

Moved to beginning of fall semester – September will be exactly 30 years. Planning is going forward. Cost estimated at $5,000-$8,000; event will be held at a union hotel. Dan could use help planning over the summer. No decision has been reached about whether members will be asked to pay a nominal fee.

 

  1. CFT Secretary/Treasurer endorsement

 

The EC voted to endorse Dennis Smith.

 

  1. Concurrent enrollment update

 

Jing Luan had asked Ernie for help editing a Concurrent Enrollment proposal draft by Jing and Nick Kapp. The District wants to expand Concurrent Enrollment. Canada and Skyline will continue to offer a few courses in high schools, but CSM would have different system.

 

District’s motivation: San Mateo high school district is having some labor problems, and CSM has a budget deficit.

 

The District proposes that we authorize the high school faculty to continue to teach their own AP courses at their pay rate, but CSM will grant college credit for them. SMCCD will pay the high school faculty. Both school districts will collect FTE’s.

 

Ernie will draft a response and wants feedback from the EC. He will then run it by AFT’s attorney. Key issues:

Ø      These are college courses

Ø      High school faculty would be paid at a higher rate than CSM’s own P/T faculty

Ø      The District’s proposal circumvents and undermines the P/T seniority article of our contract

 

  1. Oaxaca: Urgent Solidarity Request

 

The EC voted to send an email in support of Radio Planton, the voice of the teachers of Oaxaca, going back on the air.

 

 

 

  1. Open discussion/meeting critique

 

Alma will take a group photo for the AFT website at the next meeting (so be sure to look pretty). Alma and Eric have looked at other AFT websites (the National AFT redesigned a few years ago) – our logo is outdated. One proposal is to host a student competition to redesign the logo.

 

Meeting adjourned: 4:30

 



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