Category: Minutes

A majority of the Council approves the nominations, by the Membership Chair, of the following UFF members to the Membership Committee: Karin Braunsberger, Steve Diasio, Anna Dixon, Leon Hardy, Diana Hechavarria, Greg McColm, Cynthia Patterson, Josh Rayman, Sandra Stone. And Art Shapiro will serve ex officio.

This minute respectfully posted 14 May 2020

The Grievance Chair nominated Stephanie Jacobs for the Grievance Committee, said nomination being confirmed by a majority of the Council.

This minute respectfully posted by Greg McColm on 11 May 2020.

The Publicity Chair made the following nominations for membership in the Publicity Committee, with were approved by electronic vote by a majority of the Council: Joy D’Andrea, Susan Ariew, Stephanie Jacobs, Steve Lang, Steve Permuth, and Patricia Pettijohn.

This minute respectfully submitted by Greg McColm on 9 May 2020.

Time and place. This meeting was conducted at 12 noon on Zoom.

Attendance. Fifteen members, including ten members of the Council.

President’s Report.

• Higher Ed Finances. Discussion.

New Business.

• Chapter Meetings.
  • Motion made and seconded that the Chapter shall meet on alternate Fridays during the Summer, beginning on May 22. Motion passes.

Committee Reports.

• Bargaining. Discussion of Impact Bargaining.
  • Motion made and seconded that the ratification vote shall be conducted by regular mail. Motion approved.
• Treasury. We are solvent.
• Membership.
  • The Campaign. Discussion of the recruiting campaign.
  • Scholarships. There were twelve applicants. The instructor chosen was Mark Hafen. The other five recipients chosen were Scott Grizzard, Ilene Berson, Michael Berson, Meredith Johnson, and Brian Thompson.
• Publicity. The website shall be redesigned.

These minutes respectfully submitted on 9 May 2020.

A majority of the Council met on 17 April.

Nominations by the President:

• Grievance Chair. The nomination of Karin Braunsberger was confirmed.
• FEA Delegate Assembly. The nomination of Karin Braunsberger was confirmed.
• UFF Senate. The nominations of Susan Ariew, Frank Pyrtle III, and Patricia Pettijohn were confirmed.
• Chief Negotiator and Bargaining Chair. The nomination of Robert Welker was confirmed.
• Publicity Chair. The nomination of Gregory McColm was confirmed.

Note: Debra Sinclair is serving as Membership Chair

Nominations by the Bargaining Chair.

The nominations of Susan Ariew, Steve Lang, Barbara Lewis, Steve Permuth, Frank Pyrtle III, Debra Sinclair, Sharon Stone, and Sonia Wohlmuth were confirmed.

Nominations by the Grievance Chair.
Susan Ariew, Chris Davis, Cecil Greek, Steve Lang, Barbara Lewis, Cynthia Patterson, Vic Peppard, Steve Permuth, Josh Rayman, Debra Sinclair, Sandra Stone, Bob Welker were confirmed, but Chris Davis and Cecil Greek subsequently declined.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Greg McColm on 9 May 2020 and amended 10 May 2020.

USF-UFF Chapter Meeting

Time & Place. The Chapter Meeting was held at 12 noon on Zoom.

Attendance. Eighteen members, including twelve members of the Council, one staff, and one guest.

President’s Report.

• Chapter Council Report. The Chapter Council has confirmed Karin Braunsberger as Chair of the Grievance Committee. It also confirmed three more members of the Council, but four more are needed.

New Business.

• Discussion of possible consequences of a tax collection downturn, and options.
• Academic Affairs presented two options to colleges for spring 2020 evaluations: incorporate student evaluations as usual, or give each faculty member that option. Most colleges outside of USF Health that have informed Academic Affairs of their decision have gone with the second option.
• Instructor assignments. The default is to assign instructors 4/4 teaching loads (the same is true of professors by Florida statute), but there are institutional reasons for many instructors having lighter loads.
• UFF was involved in resetting the tenure clock, but has been left out of a number of decisions.
• Question: can a faculty member be required to teach in class when that faculty member would prefer to teach online for health reasons?

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on 26 April 2020.

USF-UFF Council Meeting

Time & Place. The Council Meeting was held 12 noon on Zoom.

Attendance. Twelve of the thirteen members were present.

Status quo. The following are the appointed officers of the Chapter:

• Bob Welker is Chair of the Bargaining Committee.
• Gregory McColm is Chair of the Publicity Committee.

Nominations by the President.

• The nominations of Susan Ariew, Frank Pyrtle III, and Patricia Pettijohn as senators (and therefore members of the Council) were confirmed. Note: there are still four more vacancies to fill.
• The nomination of Karin Braunsberger as Chair of the Grievance Committee was confirmed.

Nominations by Committee Chairs.

• The Bargaining Chair’s nominations of Susan Ariew, Steve Lang, Barbara Lewis, Steve Permuth, Frank Pyrtle III, Debra Sinclair, Sharon Stone, and Sonia Wohlmuth to the Bargaining Committee were confirmed.
• The Grievance Chair’s nominations of Susan Ariew, Cecil Greek, Steve Lang, Barbara Lewis, Cynthia Patterson, Vic Peppard, Steve Permuth, Josh Rayman, Debra Sinclair, Sandra Stone, and Bob Welker were confirmed.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on 26 April 2020.

USF-UFF Chapter Meeting

Time & Place. The Chapter Meeting was held at 12 noon on Zoom.

Attendance. Fifteen members, including ten members of the Council, two guests.

Minutes. 27 March 2020 minutes approved.

President’s Report.

• Election. The following were the results of the election. 88 ballots were received, but one was unusable. The tallies were:
  • For the elective offices:
    • For president: 83 votes for Arthur Shapiro.
    • For vice president: 85 votes for Steve Lang.
    • For secretary: 83 votes for Greg McColm.
    • For treasurer: 83 votes for Sonia Wohlmuth.
  • For the delegation to the FEA Assembly:
    • 78 votes for Richard Manning
    • 78 votes for Greg McColm
    • 74 votes for Steve Permuth
    • 78 votes for Arthur Shapiro
  • For the UFF Senate (and Chapter Council):
    • 77 votes for Karin Braunsberger
    • 71 votes for Leon Hardy
    • 78 votes for Steve Lang
    • 77 votes for Richard Manning
    • 78 votes for Greg McColm
    • 77 votes for Cynthia Patterson
    • 75 votes for Vic Peppard
    • 73 votes for Steve Permuth
    • 74 votes for Debra Sinclair
    • 78 votes for Sandra Stone
    • 72 votes for Bob Welker
    • 77 votes for Sonia Wohlmuth

  Officers and representatives assume their positions immediately.
  
  USF was allocated ten seats at the Assembly, so the President and the Council must now fill six vacancies. In addition, USF was allocated twenty seats at the Senate, so as the President also serves ex officio, the President an the Council must now fill seven vacancies.

• Consolidation. The USFSP Administration is adhering to its position that the default teaching load shall be 3/3. Discussion of administrative and managerial problems at USFSP.
• Tenure Clock. The tenure clock has been pushed back one year.
• Bargaining Survey. Discussion of survey results.
• Networking and Mutual Aid. Many faculty need assistance, and UFF should construct a platform to access aid. Issues that faculty face include: going online, a possible tsunami of Incompletes this semester, contract violations as July approaches, assignment violations as August approaches, etc. If we are to use social media, we must start with a platform or platforms (we already have a website, a Twitter account, and a Facebook group). We will need a system that will facilitate person-to-person contacts.
• Adrienne Berarducci. Professor Berarducci served as a senator, a member of the Bargaining Team, and as Membership Chair. She passed on after a long illness.

New Business.

• The Chapter Council. The new Chapter Council should be convened shortly. It must vote on the nomination of a new Grievance Chair, on filling vacancies in representative seats, and appointments to committees.
• Faculty Evaluations. Faculty may be given the choice to decide whether student evaluations this semester will be used in their annual teaching evaluation.

Reports.

• Grievances. Discussion of outstanding grievances.
• Treasury. We are solvent.
• Publicity.
  • Motion made and seconded to allocate $ 2,000 for the redesign of the UFF USF website, to be done by USF students. Motion passes.

  
  These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on 10 April 2020.
  

USF-UFF Chapter Meeting

Time & Place. The Chapter Meeting was held at 12 noon on Zoom.

Attendance. Fourteen members, including ten members of the Council, one guest, and one staff member.

Minutes. 13 March 2020 minutes approved.

President’s Report.

• Covid 2019. The tenure clock extension has been announced.
• Consolidation. The USFSP Administration is increasing teaching loads, inconsistent with policies of departmental chairs.

New Business.

• Election. The Secretary will transport the ballots to the Chair of the Election Committee, which she will open to be counted at a Zoom meeting open to UFF members.

Reports.

• Bargaining. We have received many responses to the bargaining survey.
• Government relations. A motion regarding professional expenses being incurred by faculty.
  • Motion made and seconded that the Chapter shall ask the Florida Education Association and the West Central Florida Federation of Labor to press their national affiliates to lobby for a tax credit or tax deduction for purchase by faculty of instructional equipment and materials made necessary by the coronavirus crisis. Motion passes.
• Grievances. Discussion of grievances.
• Membership. Modification:
  Motion made and seconded that the scholarships shall be renamed “Research & Instruction”, and shall be for equipment, research and instructional supplies, materials, equipment, and similar expenses, not excluding travel. Motion passes unanimously.
  • Treasury. We are solvent.

  
  These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on 28 March 2020.
  

USF-UFF Chapter Meeting

Time & Place. The Chapter Meeting was held at 12 noon on USF Tampa in SOC128.

Attendance. Eleven members, including nine members of the Council, and one staff member.

Minutes. 28 February 2020 minutes approved.
President’s Report.

• Consolidation. USFSP has announced that it is imposing nonstandard assignments on campus faculty

New Business.

• Chapter Meetings. The secretary will send chapter meeting announcements about Zoom to the fac-activism lists, and an announcement about getting connections via the secretary to the unit.
  • Motion made and seconded that all chapter meetings for the time being shall be on Zoom. Motion approved.
• Student Concerns. It is not clear if students will receive refunds for room and board.

Reports.

• Government relations. Discussion of the various counties.
• Grievances. Discussion of grievances.
• Membership. Clarification:
  Motion made and seconded that the travel scholarships shall also cover travel undertaken during the semester in which the competition occurred.
  • Treasury. We are solvent.

  
  These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on 16 March 2020.