The Word from CSEA
Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of March 9, 2007
PAY FOR SNOW DAYS
It appears that managers and department chairs are receiving confusing information from Human Resources and other administrators about how to handle paying employees for the snow days last month. Department chairs have been reluctant to approve payment for hours that would have been worked on those days by quite a few adjunct faculty tutors.
All faculty and staff are supposed to be paid for the hours they would have worked on the days that the campus was closed due to severe weather. College Policy 3-16(B), which covers interruption of campus operations, is clear on this: "In the event of the college's operations being interrupted for not more than two days per quarter, all employees [emphasis added] will be compensated at their normal rate of pay for the interrupted period."
Since tutoring hours are hours that have been assigned to faculty for the duration of a quarter, tutors appear to qualify for their pay for the interrupted period. In addition, many employees reside in counties that were under Level 2 or Level 3 snow emergencies during morning hours when they were assigned to be at work.
It would seem that the College would show consideration and not nickel-and-dime professional hourly employees about whether they would have worked in the hours before the campus closed officially.
We encourage faculty to fill out separate time cards to receive their pay for the tutoring hours they would have worked on the snow days.
It's hard to believe that administrators would attempt to avoid paying adjunct faculty in particular in this situation-first, because Policy dictates that they be paid; second, the money is not an additional cost but already part of the College's FY 2007 budget allocated by the Board of Trustees; and third, the action shows a surprising disregard for the hourly professionals who make up the backbone of the College's teaching staff. Refusing to compensate teaching professionals with money that has already been allocated for their assigned work is unworthy of an institution that claims to value its employees.
EMPLOYEE BOOK SCHOLARSHIP
Staff Advisory Council and the Development Foundation will kick off an Employee Book Scholarship this year. Donations to the scholarship will reimburse full-time employees enrolled in any CSCC course up to $100 for textbooks purchased through the Discovery Exchange.
To encourage funding of this new scholarship account, the Development Foundation has agreed to match dollar-for-dollar the contributions of any NEW DONORS to the Development Foundation. Contributions can be made in a single payment or through payroll deduction. Scholarship criteria and a print-out for payroll deduction forms are available at http://cscc.edu/Foundation/Forms/Payroll Deduction Form.pdf All donations are tax deductible.
CSEA has always encouraged faculty to contribute to scholarship funds. If you have not made a contribution before, this new fund offers an opportunity to help fellow employees with their educational goals and double the value of your donation at the same time.
IT'S TAX TIME
Union dues usually qualify as a miscellaneous deduction on Schedule A of IRS Form 1040. Miscellaneous deductions must be at least 2% of Adjusted Gross Income to qualify as legitimate deductions.
A part of union dues ($30.45) is used for lobbying, and this amount may not be deducted. Therefore, the amount of dues CSEA members may claim for a deduction for this tax year is $649.55.
FINALS WEEK REMINDER-OFFICE HOURS
We remind all full-time faculty that office hours must be kept during finals week. These hours do not have to be at the same time as those scheduled for the rest of the quarter but can instead be scheduled for your convenience.
The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.
Darrell Minor, President and President-elect/ x5310
Amy Brubaker, Vice-President / x5068
Susan Moran, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Mary Morgan, Parliamentarian-elect / x5768
Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative / x5096
Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative / x5861
Judy Anderson, Association Representative / x5822
Liz Betzel, Association Representative / x5329
Mark Bocija, Association Representative / x5049
Dave Busch, Association Representative / x5079
T.J. Duda, Association Representative / x5309
Dr. Charlie Gallucci, Association Representative / x5499
Cindy Evans, Association Representative / x2435
Bob Mergel, Association Representative / x5034
Dona Reaser, Association Representative / x5475
Gilberto Serrano, Association Representative / x3863
Leslie Smith, Association Representative / x5302
Kathy Struve, Association Representative / x5330
Dr. Wendy McCullen-Vermillion, Association Representative / x2693