The Word from CSEA
Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of November 2, 2006
FOLLOW-UP TO CONVERSATION DAY & AQIP ACTIVITIES
Conversation (In-Service) Day provided an important opportunity for faculty, staff, and administrators to spotlight strengths and shortcomings in the College's operation. In the afternoon session, several important issues emerged from roundtable discussions: the ratio of full-time to part-time employees, the governance/decision-making structure, and employee morale.
We strongly urge faculty to continue participation in upcoming AQIP activities, which will determine what 3 areas will be the focus of improvement efforts in the near future. Please mark your calendars to ensure that your voice is heard during these upcoming events:
November 6-13: All suggestions for improvement collected during Conversation Day will be posted online. Employees will be notified of the posting by a campus-wide email, which will contain a link a site listing every recommendation, including the "Quick Fix" suggestions that capped the In-Service. We will have the opportunity to vote for up to 10 of the suggestions that we believe are most important for the College to address. Faculty participation in this part of the process will be critical to generating action on our concerns, including outstanding issues from our last accreditation in 2000.
November 16 (1 p.m.-5 p.m.) and November 17 (8 a.m.-noon) in Franklin 104: Using tabulations from the November 6-13 online voting, a committee comprised of faculty, staff, and administrators will distill the top suggestions to 3 action projects. Any employee may observe this process, and we encourage faculty to be present.
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
At the request of the Executive Committee, faculty have agreed to accept the following appointments:
FACULTY APPRAISAL COMMITTEE: Rick Bartlett (Business Management), Kent Fisher (Biological & Physical Sciences), Darrell Minor (Math), and Denise Riley (Humanities). This committee will work with administrators to complete the processes under which the new Promotion & Tenure Policy will function.
NEW COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER ADJUNCT PAY PROCESS
At the request of CSEA, Dr. Moeller has agreed to formation of a committee to look into the timing of adjunct faculty pay. This committee will research payroll and hiring processes to determine if there is a way to create a system that will get adjunct faculty a paycheck on the first pay of each quarter, rather than having to wait four weeks (or even five, in Autumn Quarter) to receive their first paycheck.
It is CSEA's belief that faculty who have an ongoing, quarter-to-quarter relationship with the College should not have to wait this long for a paycheck. One possible remedy would spread quarterly pay over six paychecks rather than five, carrying one paycheck into the beginning of the following quarter.
The following faculty have agreed to serve on this joint faculty-administration committee: Dr. Tim Davis (Humanities), Steve Abbott (Communication Skills), and two long-term adjunct faculty, Dr. Darlene Alberts (Humanities), and Tom Woolley (Math). For several years until the Board dissolved Faculty Senate in 2001, Tom worked as adjunct faculty liaison to the Senate's Standing Committee on Adjunct Faculty Affairs.
STRS STATEMENTS
All faculty should have received their annual statements from the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) by now. These statements reflect official STRS records of faculty service. Make a point of checking your statement to make sure that it reflects the appropriate amount of service credit for the past year. If you find any discrepancies or have not received a statement, contact STRS immediately.
Accurate years of service directly affect retirement income. Adjunct faculty in particular should check their statements carefully to make sure your service is being computed correctly.
SENIOR ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED
In a meeting last Friday, Association Representatives elected Gil Feiertag (Business Management) and Steve Abbott as Senior Association Representatives. In this capacity they will sit on the Executive Committee and work as liaisons between Association Representatives and union leadership.
The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.
Steve Abbott, President / x5096
Darrell Minor, Vice President / x5310
Amy Brubaker, Secretary and Association Representative / x5068
Greg Goodhart, Treasurer / x5431
Dr. Jane McDowell, Association Representative / x2656
Dave Busch, Association Representative / x5079
Susan Moran, Association Representative / x5453
Dr. Charlie Gallucci, Association Representative / x5499
Gil Feiertag, Association Representative / x5861
Cindy Evans, Association Representative / x2435
Leslie Smith, Association Representative / x5302
Dr. Wendy McCullen-Vermillion, Association Representative / x2693