From the NEA HigherEd eAdvocate and via NEAToday:

http://neatoday.org/2019/07/31/union-power-in-florida-leads-to-mental-health-win-for-students/

The 2019-2022 FUSA contract has been ratified. Thank you to all who participated in the ratification vote.

When the contract has been approved by the Board and has undergone a final proofing, it will be posted on the website under “Documents & Resources”.

Until then please see the summary of contract changes:
UFF-FUSA 2019-2022 Bargaining Summary

In solidarity,
-FUSA

The College and FUSA will meet for contract negotiations on Monday, June 10, 2019, 1:00PM – 3:00PM. Bargaining will take place at the Student Services Building, YSSB room 308. Ybor City Campus 1320 E. Palm Avenue, Tampa, FL 33605.

We need a strong faculty turnout so please put the date on you calendar and come out to support your union!

 

 

Here is the last message from your FUSA President regarding negotiations for the 2019-2022 contract:

FUSA and the Administration met for the five scheduled bargaining sessions (2/15, 3/1, 3/29, 4/12 and 4/26), and then added one additional session on 5/17 to presumably wrap up a few items and finish negotiations.

Fifteen minutes prior to the end of the bargaining session on 5/17, the Administration announced that the Step System for 2019-2020 would be delayed until mid-year and would not be retroactive, a reversal of their previous agreement. FUSA’s immediate response was that the Administration’s move was ‘bad faith’ bargaining, going against tentatively agreed upon items from previous sessions, contradicting promises made by Dr. Atwater, and representing a last-minute sabotage of the bargaining process.

The FUSA Council met today (5/24/19) and formulated the following response, which was sent to Dr. Atwater and Cabinet:

FUSA Council response:

The step system is an established salary schedule implemented at the beginning of each academic year. One key purpose of this system is to allow the administration to engage in budgetary planning based on a known budget entity. Any budget shortfall should not be taken from the step system. FUSA Council unanimously rejects any modification to the implementation of the bargained step system.

Below are the highlights of items that had already been tentatively agreed upon, which included a continuation of the current STEP salary schedule, with STEP increases going into effect in August as intended and agreed upon.

Top 20 Tentatively Agreed Items 

1. Continue previously agreed upon step system for pay. The system is an incremental method for a clear a clear salary structure and not a “raise” system.
2. Increase of overload rate year 2 to $74
3. Increase of overload rate year 3 to $75
4. Establishment of a one-step equivalency for faculty with 30+ years of instructional service
5. Establishment of a two-step equivalency bonus for faculty with 35+ years of service
6. Establishment of all release time tied to overload rate
7. Reestablishment of the Program Manager position for specific AS programs
8. Concessions on Library and Counseling faculty scope of duties
9. A major modification to the goals process
10. Increase in summer overload to 240 points provided it is distributed as 120 points summer 1 and 120 points summer 2
11. Posting of syllabus in CMS by the first day of class
12. Utilization of the CMS grade book for grading criteria as indicated on syllabus
13. Establishment of Bottom floor Tier 1 Department Chairs
14. Modification to Tier 2 Department Chairs
15. Establishment of Discipline wide textbook adoption committees
16. Expansion of college-wide textbook adoptions for “high enrollment” courses
17. Modification of on-campus office access to 60 minutes after an event and/or in conformance to posted campus office hours
18. Establishment of specific times for summer office hours, which may be online
19. Inclusion of specific categories in the Faculty Evaluation criteria for addressing items in the college mission statement
20. Agreement on language for Academic Freedom

FUSA Bargaining Team will meet with Administration in June. Please consider clearing your schedule so that you can attend and support the negotiations process. I encourage you to sign up to receive the FUSA Informant so that you can stay current with the remainder of bargaining. I have attached instructions so that the FUSA Informant can be sent to your personal email.

Thank you for your attention to this message. The Bargaining Team, your elected FUSA Council and I believe it is important to provide you with this information.

In Solidarity,

Elizabeth Key-Raimer
FUSA President

Mark you calendars for Friday May 17th for the last bargaining session (hopefully) for the new contract.

Friday, May 17, 2019, 9:00AM – 3:00PM

Student Services Building, YSSB room 309, Tampa, FL 33605

Faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend all bargaining sessions.

See you there!

The next bargaining session between FUSA and the administration will be on 4/26 from 9:30am – 3:00pm, YSSB 309.

Faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend all bargaining sessions.

See you there!

Contact the House Education Committee members and urge a NO vote on HB 7115. UFF Opposes HB 7115 Public Records and Meetings: Postsecondary Education Executive Search

The United Faculty of Florida (UFF) represents 23,000 faculty members at twelve public universities, fourteen FCS colleges, St. Leo University and graduate assistants employed at FAMU, FSU, UF and USF.

The House Education Committee will consider HB 7115 at its committee meeting tomorrow, April 16^th, beginning at 1:30 P.M. in Reed Hall (102 House Office Building). The bill does the following:

• Creates an exemption from Florida’s public records and open meetings laws for any personal identifying information of an applicant for state university or Florida College System (FCS) institution president or provost;
• Keeps applicant names secret and outside the Sunshine Laws;
• Exempts the applicant’s name from public disclosure in records or during meetings held for the purpose of vetting applicants;
• Requires the release of the finalist list no later than 30 days before the date of the meeting at which a final action or vote is to be taken.

Floridians have a right to know why these candidates were chosen over others.

Secrecy is not in the best interest of our universities and colleges, especially when it comes to choosing the leadership. The people of the state of Florida—especially students and their parents—deserve the right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and how major decisions that affect these public institutions are made. To quote Barbara Petersen, President of the First Amendment Foundation: “To shield the selection process from public oversight and accountability is, we believe, bad public policy.” (2015)

The UFF Senate voted unanimously to oppose this legislation. Most Florida newspapers have historically been in opposition.

VOTE NO on HB 7115!

 

The House Education Committee will consider HB 839 tomorrow afternoon. The bill contains the controversial “intellectual freedom” survey opposed unanimously by the UFF Senate. Use the committee link above for their contact information, and urge a NO vote!

 

Congratulations to the following faculty memebers and thank you for serving the faculty and the college. Your term officially begins August 1, 2019.

Brandon Representatives — Alex Ambrioso, Kristin Heathcock, Sami Kadamani

Dale Mabry Representatives — Walt Ellis, Craig Johnson, Ken McCullough, Sharon Moran, Susan Pierce-Amaral, Janet Sibol, Sherry Sippel, John Whitlock, Robert Yanez

Plant City Representatives — Charity Freeman, Teresa Galloway

Southshore Representatives — Denise Bristol, Wendy Pogoda

Ybor Representatives – Cheryl Borman, Jeremy Bullian, Rick Gaspar, Tom Tankersley

UFF Senators – Lou Bonavita, Denise Bristol, Jeremy Bullian, Charity Freeman, Teresa Galloway, Timothy Griffin, Sami Kadamani, Ken McCullough, Bryan Shuler, Robert Yanez.

Remember, all faculty are welcome at FUSA meetings. Come and participate in your union!

It’s time to vote for your FUSA Council Representatives and UFF Senators. Voting will take place this Thursday morning at Dale Mabry Campus during our Spring In-Service. You may cast your ballot beginning 7:30a. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday.