MSP EXECUTIVE BOARD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007

Present: Banach, Barker, Brewer, Brigham, Freeman, Gencarella, Gore, Hemment, Ishii, Lovett, Luce, McDermott, Moffitt, Page, Paynter, Phillis, Sutherland

Staff: Reardon, Wulkan, Gallagher

Guests: Arthur Pippo (MTA Higher Ed. director), Malcolm Chu (SGA), Jeff Napolitano (GSS), Maria (SGA)Absent: Barrington, Danai, Ganz, Gubrium, Lawrence, Pfeiffer, Scharrer,

1. Minutes

MSP Board Minutes of October 10 were approved unanimously

2. 250 Plan

Max explained why MSP needs to reinvigorate our advocacy for the plan: 2 years in, when the net increase in tenure system faculty should be 100, it is only 20. The administration is still committed to the 250 Plan, but is not sufficiently addressing the loss of 40-50 faculty each year. They don’t know whether this level of attrition, or the current search yield, is normal. The administration also has not made a strong enough claim on the President’s office or the Legislature, so we need to bring this issue back to bargaining. [The Rutgers faculty union recently negotiated an increase of 100 faculty into their union contract.] Comments during discussion included:

** The administration claims departments can’t run enough searches at the same time.

** The push to consolidate departments works against the 250 Plan

** There are not enough staff in departments when 500 people apply for 4-5 positions.

** With the 25 money coming a year in advance (used as set-up funds), what happens in the last year?

3. Department Meetings

Setting up department meetings has been going slowly. We want to go to all departments to discuss what we won in bargaining, details of implementation, and goals for the next contract. Some departments don’t meet in November or only once per semester.

4. Reports

a) MSP was recognized with a plaque at a reception at the School of Education in recognition of our donation of $60,000 for the Melanie Kasparian scholarship over the years. The money comes from payments by conscientious objectors in lieu of union dues.

b) PHENOM: The Higher Ed Summit was very successful. PHENOM will be working to pass the capital bond bill, influence the Readiness Project, and expand outreach and organizing. A report on Affordability was issued and this will be a big theme this year.

c) Readiness Project: 2 subcommittees dealing with Higher Ed. Max sits on the Public and Private Higher Education subcommittee. The main thing people want to talk about is Affordability; also collaboration and accountability. The debate is whether to recommend cost-free changes around the edges or to push for broader legislation in line with the Governor’s grander proposals. Arthur Pippo sits on the UMass and Public Higher Education subcommittee which is focusing mostly on governance issues. The discussion has been very preliminary so far. He doesn’t expect any change to the UMass Board of Trustees. The preliminary report seems to raise the question of a flagship campus, but Arthur says not to worry.

5. General Student Strike 11/15-11/16Students presented information and rationales about the 4 main issues: Fee rollbacks Funding and accountability for diversity Cops out of the dorms Student control over student space

The Board voted (15 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstaining) to disseminate information to members, to recommend that they sign the non-retaliation pledge, and to urge that they participate as they see fit. Discussions about the Chancellor Search and a possible Grievance Officer stipend were deferred to the next meeting

6. Presentation by Arthur Pippo, Director of MTA’s Higher Ed division

MTA now represents 20,000 members in public higher education in Massachusetts.  Leaders from different units will be meeting in a retreat November 30 to discuss upcoming contract negotiations and possible collaboration.There is a major need for more revenue for higher ed, including for financial aid. That is why MTA will again be working for passage of the Higher Ed funding bill which would add $400 million over 7 years.  MTA has also been pushing for a grassroots campaign to change the collective bargaining law (chapter 150E) so that contracts would get funded more quickly. A more modest idea, proposed by Sen. O’Leary, is that if there is to be a Secretary of Education, that s/he would be the conduit for submission of contracts to the Legislature. MTA is not opposed to this, and has been asked to help draft the legislation, but is not giving up on a more far-reaching change to 150E.Another issue is getting health insurance coverage for part-timers. A bill is still pending, but other avenues are also being explored.