Present: Ash, Banach, Barker, Brewer, Brigham, Danai, Gross, Levine, McDermott, McGinty, Misra, Phillips, Phillis, Schmalzer, Smethurst

Staff: Gallagher, Reardon, Wulkan                

Absent: Adams, Brandt, Domier, Gubrium, Luce, Paynter,

1.         Senate Election

            The Board had a discussion of the right and wrong lessons to draw from the previous day’s election of Scott Brown.

2.         Minutes of December 16, 2009

            Approved unanimously

3.         Request to Reopen the Contract

            The Patrick administration has asked MSP and other unions to reopen the contracts with the intent to seek concessions comparable to what some other state unions agreed to – furloughs and delays of raises by 364 days in exchange for return of health co-pays and deductibles, the intent to avoid layoffs and a guarantee to have the contracts funded by the legislature.  The unions in MTA’s Higher Ed Leadership Council is opposed to reopening the contracts but agreed to meet with the administration to hear what they have to say.  Randy will be attending such a meeting on January 28.

            The Board discussed the history of what our members have already given back, reasons for not agreeing to concessions, and ideas of what sorts of improvements we might trade for any concessions.  There was agreement that we need to do an education campaign among our members and that any change to the contract would need to go through a democratic process including a vote by the membership.

 4.         Upcoming Campaigns

            a) PHENOM’s Campaign “For a Great State of Mind” – multi-year campaign to get state appropriations for public higher education up to the national average and student costs down to the national average.  Campaign Kickoff at UMass Amherst January 31, 3-4:30 PM.

            b) Contract Funding – if we do not reopen the contracts we will have to fight hard to get the contract funded.  This would include outreach to students and legislators.

            c) Campus Priorities – as there is an increase in teaching for profit, MSP must figure out how to defend the key missions of the University.

5.         Committees and Bargaining

            a) Gen Ed – impact bargaining about the change from 3 to 4 credits may impact more than Gen. Ed.  We have a committee almost set; it will consider the impact on workload and the precedent-setting nature of any agreements.

            b) Distance Education – our committee has met once with the administration and will meet again soon.  We want a uniform policy for the creation and delivery of on-line courses.

            c) Pre-Tenure Release – There are different policies in different colleges; we want teaching release around the time of the 4.2 review in order to maximize the chance of success gaining tenure.