Description:
Updates are provided re: work done over the summer through MSP's Worklife committee particularly concerning workload, the current situation around federal stimulus monies for UMass, and funding of MSP's recently negotiated 2009-2012 contract. MSP also announces the formation of a political organizing committee and invites interested members to attend its first meeting. Finally, a reminder of MSP's new member reception begin held on September 15.
Dear MSP Members --
Welcome Back...
... and I mean that literally as I hope you all had a chance to get away, take a
break and recharge your enthusiasm. It has been a busy summer and will be a
very busy academic year.
The forecast is rather daunting, and I'll break it down into a few categories.
1. Budget/money
The federal stimulus money did come through for FY10, but only after $400M was
diverted from education spending to pay for other gaps in the FY09 state budget.
PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts) filed a complaint
with the U.S. Dept. of Education about this diversion, and resolution is
pending, but it may be that some additional funds will be available in FY11. If
not, the funding gap in FY11 could be very large, >$25M, and could lead to a
call for significant programmatic reductions.
It is the mission of the MSP to advocate for proper state funding of the
university and to ensure that every dollar available is spent as effectively as
possible. To the extent that funds on campus designated for spending on general
operation and salary are instead being diverted to other uses in the midst of
our current budget challenges, we will advocate for a corrected distribution of
those funds.
Our MSP contract (and those of other bargaining units on campus) are not yet
funded. We are working with the other unions, university administrators (who
are co-signatories) and legislators to get our contracts funded through a
supplemental budget bill.
1a. Political Organizing
Given the importance of the state budget, the upcoming Governor's race and other
legislation affecting public higher education, we are ever mindful of the need
for political awareness and action. The MSP has formed a Political Outreach
Committee, headed by John Brigham (Political Science), to consider the important
issues at hand. This group will meet for the first time on Wednesday, September
16 at Noon in Hampshire House 120 (across from the MSP office). All members are
invited -- please attend with good ideas.
2. Faculty Workload
The MSP/Administration joint committee on work-life issues has been working very
hard over the summer and is developing a series of reports describing the
working lives of faculty on campus. Among the more striking results of their
work was the finding that the average tenure system faculty member at
UMass-Amherst works 66.4 hours/week. This is true in an environment where
faculty numbers are decreasing, staff numbers are decreasing, student numbers
are increasing and research (money earning) efforts are increasing. Stay tuned
for a lot more interesting data and analysis!
3. MSP welcome to new faculty and librarians
On Tuesday, September 15 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. there will be a welcome reception
for new MSP members at Jenny Spencer's house - 43 Fearing St. in Amherst -
(just a few steps off campus). Please come and bring any new (or slightly used)
faculty members along that you happen to know.
BTW. PHENOM has a deal with 6 vendors that will give them ~5% cut on textbook
(and other) purchases. If you would like to recommend these vendors to your
students it will help support PHENOM's efforts. Students would go to
www.phenomonline.org and click on "Buy books and support PHENOM".
Good luck in your endeavors this semester!
Randy Phillis
MSP President
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