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The CSEA Advocate
March 2, 2019
In This Edition:
A Message from the CSEA President
2018 Tax Updates
Healthcare Benefits – Updates and Reminders
Spotlight on . . . Humanities
Faculty Updates
Faculty Excellence Award
Distinguished Full Professor Award
Know Your Contract
An Invitation to Leadership
Upcoming CSEA Election
CSEA Community Engagement Committee
The Pros of Teaching College Credit Plus
Know Your Representatives
A Message from the CSEA President
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the updated CSEA newsletter. Thanks to all of our contributors and to our editor, Rachel Brooks-Pannell, for all of their work. Please contact Rachel if you have an idea for an article. We welcome contributions from the entire faculty. I will continue to send out updates on important matters, if warranted.
We are also working on improving our website. If you have an interest in website design, please contact Adam Keller.
As you know, Columbus State Community College was awarded the Leah Meyer Austin Award at the Achieving the Dream Conference on February 19. This was awarded based upon “measurable improvement in student outcomes.” Congratulations to you, the faculty, who joined with our staff partners to bring this about.
Columbus State will be hiring a number of full-time faculty to begin in Autumn Semester of this year. Numerous search committees are forming. Our contract requires that an equity advocate who is a tenured faculty member serve on these committees. CSEA is committed to a fair hiring process that encourages a more diverse faculty. If you are trained as an equity advocate, please consider serving on more than one committee. If you are not trained as an equity advocate but would like to be, we are working with HR to expedite additional training sessions. Further information on training is forthcoming.
It is also time to nominate and select Distinguished Full Professors. If you would like to nominate a colleague for the Distinguished Full Professor Award, please send your nomination to dfp@cscc.edu. Thanks.
Tom
2018 Tax Updates
By: Terrie Stolte, Assistant Professor of Business Programs, CPA MA
It’s that time of year again. Tax Day is looming: April 15th.
As you are aware a new tax law is now in place and there are a few important items for filing 2018 tax returns. The most dramatic change was the standard and itemized deductions and the elimination of exemptions. A taxpayer could use the higher of either the standard deduction or itemized deductions when calculating the taxable income. Items included in the itemized deductions include payouts for items such as health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, real estate, state and local income taxes, mortgage interest, as well as charitable contributions and miscellaneous expenses. However, miscellaneous expenses would only be deducted if they were in excess of 2% of adjusted gross income for 2017.
Union dues is included within the miscellaneous deductions group and for 2018 returns is now completely eliminated. Because of the threshold of 2% of adjusted gross income in 2017, it is very possible that the calculation of this deduction did not lower the tax liability, because it was under the threshold.
Perhaps the example below will explain this a bit clearer.
Example: For 2017, an individual has an adjusted gross income of $38,000 with a paycheck deduction for union dues contribution of $600.
Since the deduction allowed is only in excess of 2% of AGI, the payments for union dues would have to be greater than $760 ($38,000 x .02). In order to include this as an itemized deduction, the AGI would have to be much less than $30,000 and the deduction would more than likely have been minimal, not the entire amount of the union dues. In most cases, the elimination of union dues payed as a deduction does not have an impact on the year-to-year tax liability. This small deduction (if it occurred) is what has been eliminated for the 2018 tax returns.
The benefits of participating in the union and paying dues to CSEA is far greater than the small deduction that may have been enjoyed in prior tax years. So, please do not base your participation on the tax law – the tax laws will probably continue to change from year to year.
Healthcare Benefits – Updates and Reminders
By: Eric Neubauer, Professor of Social Sciences
Monessa Bradford, Program Coordinator of Benefits, is no longer at Columbus State as she took a position at United Healthcare. Her replacement is Jason Love, and he can be reached at jlove8@cscc.edu or 614-287-2109. Any questions regarding your healthcare benefits should be directed to him.
Nichole Bowman-Glover, Program Coordinator of Wellness, is the person to contact about the college’s wellness initiatives (as well as the dreaded “points” for the annual wellness incentive). Nichole can be reached at nbowmang@cscc.edu or 614-287-3989.
All other related healthcare, benefit, and/or compensation questions should be directed to Deborah Robinson, Director of Healthcare and Compensation, at drobins5@cscc.edu or 614-287-2177. If you would prefer someone from CSEA to work or liaison with Jason, Nichole, or Deborah regarding your healthcare questions, please feel free to contact Eric Neubauer at eneubaue@cscc.edu or 614-287-5698. Eric is one of the two CSEA representatives on the college’s Healthcare Committee and is willing to work with faculty in helping them with their healthcare benefit questions or issues.
Open enrollment for next year’s healthcare benefits (starting July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020) begins May 1. You have until May 30 to make any updates or changes to your healthcare and benefits options. For more information regarding your current healthcare benefits, go to the following link: http://legacy.cscc.edu/about/human-resources/benefits/index.shtml.
All faculty should be aware that the college requires all employees to submit a spousal affidavit form annually indicating whether your spouse is currently on your health insurance and, if so, whether your spouse’s employer offers health insurance. If your spouse’s employer offers health insurance (and your spouse is currently on your healthcare plan through the college), then the college will apply a health insurance premium to your healthcare plan. If your spouse does not work, is not on your plan, or your spouse’s employer does not offer health insurance, you are still required to submit the spousal affidavit form to the college every year. It is advised that faculty submit the spousal affidavit form to Jason Love, Program Coordinator of Benefits, sometime during the open enrollment period (May 1 to May 30), but no later than June 30. For a copy of the spousal affidavit form, go to the following link: http://legacy.cscc.edu/about/human-resources/benefits/files/medplandocs/MEDICAL%20PLAN%20WORKING%20SPOUSE%20PREMIUM%20AFFIDAVIT.pdf
Finally, understand that the college is self-insured regarding healthcare benefits. In other words, our insurance does not come from United Healthcare. United Healthcare helps the college manage our healthcare needs, and the college relies a great deal on guidelines from them to assist in this process. However, keep in mind that since we are self-insured, the college is not necessarily bound by the same restrictions that could occur with United Healthcare as our insurance provider. Please make sure that your personal physician (or any medical specialist) is aware that your health insurance is provided by Columbus State and managed by United Healthcare. As such, any restrictions on healthcare services normally offered by United Healthcare may not be applicable. For questions regarding this, please contact Deborah Robinson, Director of Healthcare and Compensation, at drobins5@cscc.eduor 614-287-2177.
Spotlight on . . . Humanities
By: Frank Barnhart, Assistant Professor of Humanities
With nineteen (19) full-time faculty members, and tern (10) primary areas of study, the Humanities Department serves thousands of Columbus State students each year with courses in Art, Art History, Classics, Dance, History, Religion, Music, Philosophy, and Theatre. In addition to course work, the department hosts several symposiums and performing arts events throughout the year and faculty members play key roles in all of those activities.
Dea Boster (Associate Professor) is active in the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) and Columbus is the host city for the annual meeting this spring. She also serves on the local arrangements committee for the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) and has served as panel moderator at their annual conferences. Last fall, Dea and Ben Pugno (Associate Professor) completed the college’s first-ever National Endowment for the Humanities grant to design and pilot a new history of Western medicine sequence which is now HIST 2715/2716. Future plans include obtaining a transfer module and developing materials from the project into an OER.
Jennifer Nardone (Associate Professor) and Steven George (Associate Professor) just finished working on the 2nd annual American Crossroads symposium on Friday, February 22. Entitled Make America 1919 Again? Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, a Century and Back, the symposium featured presentations from scholars representing Austin College, Gustavus Adolphus College, University of Mary Washington, and Case Western Reserve University.
Matt Adkins (Associate Professor) recently published an article in Modern Intellectual History titled,“Was Condorcet a Stoic? Rousseau, Universal Education and Rational Autonomy in the French Enlightenment.” The article “considers the philosophical foundations of the French Enlightenment through a close study of the Stoic influences on the Marquis de Condorcet's education philosophy and argues that although Condorcet did not acknowledge any direct Stoic influence, his philosophy of education nevertheless should be understood in the eclectic idiom of eighteenth-century Stoic discourse.” Matt is also currently working on an article on the French settlement in Ohio in 1790.
Frank Barnhart (Assistant Professor) currently serves as the Lead Instructor for Theatre and was proud to announce the 22 award nominations that Theatre Columbus State received from The Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable. The awards ceremony took place on Sunday, January 27 and Theatre Columbus State took home four awards including: Best Play, Best Director, and Best Costumes for She Kills Monsters, and Best Featured Actress for The Cradle Will Rock. Frank will be directing the Theatre Columbus State summer production of Stupid F**king Birdand will be appearing this autumn in the Evolution Theatre Company production of Who Killed Joan Crawford.
Judith Dann (Professor) is leading a three year series of roundtables through the Robbins Hunter Museum in Granville, Ohio. It is called Victoria Woodhull: Phoenix Rising. This series is in partnership with Denison University and was partially funded by an Ohio Humanities Council planning grant. Each of the three roundtables per year focuses on one of the many areas of advocacy of Victoria Woodhull. Victoria California Claflin Woodhull Blood Martin is truly an unsung Ohio hero. She was born in Homer, Ohio in 1838 and rose up from poverty and a dysfunctional family to become one of the most famous women in her time and one of the most influential advocates for women in history. Recently, Victoria has garnered long deserved public interest for her 1872 Presidential campaign due to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in this last election. While this is certainly significant and deserving, Victoria’s story has far more than politics to reveal to us as lessons of American values, humanitarian concerns and fortitude. The Phoenix Risingseries holds three roundtables per year and will draw panelists of local and national notoriety. Information can be found at https://www.woodhullandclaflin.org/ .
For additional information concerning the Humanities Department and its faculty, call 614-287-5043 or visit the office in Nestor Hall 408.
Faculty Updates
By: Amy Ng, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences
Nursing faculty member, Patty Allen, presented options for consideration for veterans to have advanced standing in associate and bachelor’s nursing programs at the Ohio Department of Higher Education Nursing Gathering - Military Credit Meeting. It was held on November 29 at the Northside Columbus Library. Columbus State Community College and Wright State University have implemented transition courses awarding military medic veterans advance standing into nursing programs after touring the Medical Education and Training Campus for the Military in San Antonio.
On November 15, 2018, faculty presented “War Changes Everything: The Cultural Aftermath of World War I at its Centennial. Presenters included:
- Peter “Bo” Riley — Introduction to Historical Context
- Eric Neubauer — “The Past is Never Dead. It’s Not Even Past.”: A Brief
Summary on Palestine, Israel, and the Consequences of World War I on the
Geopolitics of the Middle East
- Zachary Dillbeck — Verses in Mud: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fantastic Response to the Great War
Diane Souza, Restaurant and Foodservice Management Instructor, prepared an amazing luncheon at Christopher’s Restaurant on November 8, 2018 for students, faculty, staff, and administers who are veterans, or who are currently serving in the Armed Forces, as well as their invited guests.
The combined commencement for summer and autumn semesters was held Friday, December 14, at the Celeste Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds. A record 1,400 students combined from both terms petitioned to graduate. Terri Kegley, who has been a mathematics faculty member at the College for 21 years, was the Valedictorian. She earned two associate degrees in addition to her previous bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Over the past few years, Terri has been taking Columbus State classes and has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average with more than 90 credit hours. Columbus State English professor Crystal Clark was the commencement speaker.
Faculty Excellence Award
Nominate your colleagues for the Faculty Excellence Award. Please fill out the nomination form by Monday, April 1. This form can be found at: https://www.cseafaculty.org/CSEAmain/CSEAFacultyAwardNominationForm.aspx. A winner will be announced at the CSEA General Membership meeting at In-Service Day on April 18. The winner will be awarded a plaque as well as a $500 cash reward.
Distinguished Full Professor Award
Nominate a distinguished full professor. The Distinguished Full Professor Award recognizes faculty members who have achieved the rank of Professor and who continue to perform in an exemplary manner through service, scholarship, innovation, leadership, and other professorial achievements. It is intended both to recognize those professors whom faculty should emulate and to reward professors who show outstanding leadership at the college.
Nominations for the 2019 Distinguished Full Professor Award will be accepted through Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Selection criteria can be found: http://legacy.cscc.edu/about/faculty/awards/DFP.shtml.
Know Your Contract
By: Eric Neubauer, Professor of Social Sciences
Section 22.04 (C) ACF Compensation - Supplemental Contracts outlines the number of hours an Annually Contracted Faculty (ACF) member is eligible to teach during the summer, along with the number of required department hours. Per this section of the current contract, the ACF summer workload is twelve (12) instructional hours, plus three (3) department hours to be compensated at the ACF rate. If an ACF carries less than twelve (12) instructional hours during the summer, then the ACF will be compensated at the adjunct rate. If an ACF wishes to teach during the summer, then they are required to submit a request to teach in the same manner and within the same timeframe as tenure-track faculty and as referenced in Section 4.08 of the current contract.
However, the last item in the current contract is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that overrides the maximum workload hours that an ACF can have during summer semester. Per the MOU, ACFs are eligible to teach from twelve (12) to eighteen (18) instructional hours with an additional three (3) instructional hours as overload, for a total of 21 hours. The required three (3) department hours remain the same, giving ACFs the opportunity to have up to 24 hours for summer semester. Other than this, all other elements of Section 22.04(C) ACF Compensation – Supplemental Contracts remains the same.
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – ACF SUMMER WORKLOAD
During the term of this contract, any other provision of Section 22.04(C) notwithstanding, the College and CSEA agree that the summer workload of an Annually Contracted Faculty (ACF) member shall be twelve to eighteen (12-18) hours. The ACF may also teach an overload of an additional three (3) semester hours, for a total of twenty-one (21) hours. The ACF shall also receive three (3) departmental hours compensated at the ACF pay rate.
An Invitation to Leadership
By: Cathy Ritterbusch, Assistant Professor of Justice/Safety/Legal Studies and CSEA Parliamentarian
About four years, ago, a trusted colleague tapped me on the shoulder and suggested I run for office, specifically, to serve as Parliamentarian on the CSEA Executive Committee. I did not know much about CSEA beyond reading its periodic all-faculty communications and paying my dues. I generally supported unions, and I liked the direction the leadership was going. After talking with the person who had previously held the office, to understand what the responsibility would entail, I said yes.
While I have been in many leadership positions in my legal and higher education careers, I had never been a “Parliamentarian.” I bought a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order and studied the OEA Election Guidelines. I familiarized myself with the CSEA Constitution and by-laws, and educated myself on our contract.
Serving the last four years as CSEA’s Parliamentarian has been a mosaic of the human experience. I learned about unions. I learned why this union is so deeply necessary. I learned A LOT about how the College runs, more than I want to know. I learned about the sheer wonderfulness—and the only occasional missteps—of my faculty colleagues across all disciplines of the College. I forged relationships with my fellow CSEA teacher- leaders, as we passionately pursued the contractual rights of all CSEA members. In this intensely political climate, I am proud to say that CSEA leaders know how to respectfully differ with each other and dialogue our way towards a good result. Even in our moments of disagreement, there has never been any question in my mind that each and every one of my fellow CSEA leaders prioritizes the best interests of students and faculty.
Most of all, the last four years have taught me that a strong faculty union is vital to keeping the student experience at the forefront of all that we do in the College.
You already have the intellect. The other qualifications are simple: a willing spirit, a mind open to positive change. Oh, and a sense of humor helps. The rewards are many. Why are we teachers, after all? We love learning. We want to serve others. We want to apply our intellect and talents to shape the future. Leadership in CSEA offers a platform to do all of these. Consider running for office this spring – being a representative, being an OEA Delegate, and/or joining one of our subcommittees. Election details below.
Upcoming CSEA Election
The ballot is almost ready for our CSEA election during In-Service Day on April 18. The positions of Vice President and Parliamentarian will be up for vote, as well as Department Representatives and OEA Delegates. If interested in “throwing your hat into the ring,” either:
(1) Forward your name to the Elections Committee Chair, Rachel Brooks-Pannell, or any Executive Committee member. Your name will be forwarded to the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will determine whether you will be presented on the slate of candidates. Please submit your interest in candidacy in writing (email is acceptable) by March 22, 2019 at 5pm EST. You will be notified whether you have been selected as a candidate by the Nominating Committee by April 1, 2019.
OR
(2) You may complete a Petition that contains the signatures of at least five (5) Association Members, not including your own. If you are not selected as a candidate by the Nominating Committee, you are still eligible to become a candidate via Petition. Petitions must be completed and submitted to the Elections Committee Chair, Rachel Brooks-Pannell (personal delivery or Interoffice Mail to NH 499) by March 22, 2019 at 5pm EST.
CSEA Community Engagement Committee
By: Tammy Montgomery, Professor of Nursing and Senior CSEA Representative for Health and Human Services
I want to reach out and make you aware of a plan to begin a CSEA Community Engagement Committee. The goal of the committee is to make CSEA more visible, to provide some services to the CSCC community, and to have some fun. If you are interested, please email me at: tmontgom@cscc.edu. I would love to get together just after spring break. Thank you.
The Pros of Teaching College Credit Plus
By: David Tom, Associate Professor of Psychology
- CCP students are required to come to class, so overall, their understanding is more complete by the end of the semester than most traditional, non-CCP students.
- High school students adore teachers in ways that undergraduate students just don't. They give end of the term gifts!
- The students typically perform more like honors students than non-honors students. Last semester, out of 72 CCP students in total, only ONE didn't pass.
- Parking at CCP locations is almost universally easy and plentiful.
- Since CCP is free within districts, this is a great opportunity for those who might not otherwise be able to afford a college class to take college classes.
- Classes are sometimes smaller - my largest section this term is 24. My smallest is 21.
- Public schools close for inclement weather WAY more easily than does CSCC. Having my own kids, it makes it so much easier that I'm off if they're off.
- This will be different for all, but there is no traffic at all getting to my CCP location, which is less than one mile away.
- During Autumn and Spring terms, it's a win-win because I'm not on Columbus Campus taking up any traditional courses that may be desired by more junior faculty. By taking nearly my full load in CCP, colleagues with less seniority should, in theory, have a much easier time getting coursework to fit their schedules.
- I personally believe there is a social good to taking psychology, particularly now since we have a whole chapter dedicated to diversity. Helping them to see value in differences at 16 is likely to be more effective than having this taught later in their development.
Editorial by the CSEA Secretary:
We would love to hear all sides of this debate. See information below about submitting to the next edition of THE CSEA Advocate. In the meantime, you can also fill out our brief CSEA survey on what, if anything, would incentivize you to teach CCP courses.
Log in to the CSEA website (link below). Look for the “Survey – CCP Incentives 2019” under “Member Tools.” Answer and submit the five questions. Thank you.
CSEA website: https://www.cseafaculty.org/
Future Editions of The CSEA Advocate
We are still working on updating the format of The CSEA Advocate, but we hope you have found this edition of the newsletter informative. We welcome your contributions, comments, news, and insights. Please send them to Rachel Brooks-Pannell at rbrooksp@cscc.edu.