UFF/USF Chapter Meeting
April 20, 2007
In attendance: J. Martin, A. Shapiro, S. Permuth, M. Klisch, B. Welker, J. Noonan, S. Dorn, M. Karlins, S. RamÃrez Wohlmuth, S. Greenbaum, S. Ariew, J. Langford-Johnson, G. Milton, C. Green, C. Ruiz, K. Mukherjee, H. Vanden, B. Ingalls, S. Fogel, N. Guenther Discenza, H. Blymiller, F. Ottanelli, G. Benadusi, S. Ickes, H. R. Kaplan
Adoption of the Agenda: The agenda was adopted, ‘with flexibility.’
Ratification: The contract provisions were being ratified by bargaining unit members during the course of the meeting; the process began immediately after the adoption of the agenda.
Consultation: The next consultation was scheduled for 12:30 to 2:30 on Monday, April 23, 2007. Consultation agenda items were discussed, including who would speak to each item.
Reports:
Bargaining: May 11, 2007 is already scheduled for the first bargaining session for the re-opener of the full contract, even though no one on the UFF team was consulted on that date/time. Part of the picture is, of course, what is in the budget passed by the legislature. The issue of promotion for non-tenure-track faculty came up – and the termination of said employees without any reason. Perhaps what are needed are multi-year contracts like what Florida Gulf Coast University has.
Grievances: M. Klisch gave an explanation of how the grievance process works and some information about grievances in process, including the 2 chapter grievances.
Communications: G. McColm was not available for this meeting, but S. Dorn mentioned a typo in the last newsletter.
Treasurer: S. RamÃrez Wohlmuth announced that the chapter has money in the credit union account.
Coalition of Campus Unions: S. Dorn distributed a copy of the by-laws of the Council of Campus Unions. A motion was made, seconded and passed to have UFF-USF join the council.
UFF Senate:
Central Labor Council: There have been some changes in the distribution of representatives to the CLC. Roy Weatherford has been representing the chapter, but since he is retiring soon, another person will be needed. Let S. Dorn know if you are interested in representing UFF to the CLC.
Library Task Force: This was formed prior to the Senate meeting and met the Friday before. Their ambitious agenda includes looking at ways to enhance the image of library faculty across the state and increasing salaries to be on par with colleagues across the country.
Distance Learning Task Force: The Senate also established a task force to look at distance learning and its ramifications on faculty. If anyone has interest in serving on this group, please notify S. Dorn.
UFF Executive Director Search: The interviews are scheduled for the following Monday, April 23, 2007. S. Dorn distributed copies of the 3 remaining candidates’ resumes to the group. If anyone had recommendations about any of them, they were to phone him over the weekend.
Release Unit for Fall: A motion was made and seconded to provide a second release unit in the fall for Roy Weatherford. After discussion, the chair announced a secret ballot vote. An appeal was made of the chair’s decision, and the appeal was upheld by the chapter. A voice vote approved the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jana Martin